Traumatized by spirtuality?

To be honest, I hope a few members read this thread and think more carefully about the beliefs they subscribe to and try to get others to believe.
Rosewater is one of too many who are being traumatised by the irrational and unhelpful beliefs many spiritual people still see fit to peddle without questioning them.

Do you want to buy some snake oil, Shepherd? if you splash it on someone it turns them into a green-skinned, two-headed demon that pours a mean martini :-)

I agree with the peddling of beliefs by 'Spiritual people', but then shouldn't Spiritual people be enlightened enough to be aware of how their words affect other people?

I also believe that there are too many people putting their beliefs in too many of other people's Truths, and that's where things can get very ****-eyed very quickly. I don't have a problem with people who agree with other people's beliefs if they truly resonate with their own - I do it myself. But to start accepting blindly other people's beliefs when you think you should, that's bad news. It's even more bad news when their words are reflections of their own fears, and suddenly those demons and monsters become all too real. Personally, I say it as I see it and it's for the reader to agree with or not - including this post.

When I first started out on this Spiritual Journey, I thought I had to believe the words of the gurus because hey, they were gurus after all, right? Then a wise man said something that changed my thinking. "Find your own Truth." Find your own Truth, Rose. Tear down all those concepts and throw the book out of the window. Then start again. You can only see the Universe through your own eyes.

When I first started out on this Spiritual Journey, I thought I had to believe the words of the gurus because hey, they were gurus after all, right? Then a wise man said something that changed my thinking. "Find your own Truth." Find your own Truth, Rose. Tear down all those concepts and throw the book out of the window. Then start again. You can only see the Universe through your own eyes. _

Yeah I can really resonate with that, when I started my spiritual journey I was bombarded with "truths" that I should believe in and as these gurus were the so called experts I fell for it hook, line and sinker. It wasnt until I started learning to explore and ask within that it began to change. It was hard at first as i had invested time and money into some of them and of course I also wanted some of them to be real for various reasons. But when you ask within, you have to be prepared for the answers and you might not like what you hear. I am aware that the answers are not necessarily the truth, but they do step outside the box and open up a universe of possibilities which were closed due to the limiting spiritual beliefs I subscribed to before. I now know, no belief is true, hence it being called a belief in the first place and I enjoy exploring the possibilities without being held down by someones version of spirituality.

but then shouldn't Spiritual people be enlightened enough to be aware of how their words affect other people?

It's not their fault as they are conditioned in so many ways to believe that they are right and are doing the right thing to save souls, other people etc. Some believe they are fighting a war against darkness etc and have turned it into their fate and destiny. They wont take lightly to being told that what they are fighting for doesnt exist. They only see the smaller picture and not the bigger one.

Times are changing though and you can see it in this forum with members like yourselves expressing other possibilities for those trapped within their beliefs to see a way out.

While I've been out of the loop on this - I too have been in Rosewater's position - particularly where it concerns 'karma'. Before I ripped that a new bum-hole and kicked it out of my psyche...I had the same feelings towards that that this body originally had with regards to it's Roman Catholic upbringing...so there were in fact TWO things I had to wing into the rubbish bin.

I had remember feeling like I had traded in one guilt trip for another guilt trip - from the Roman Catholic 'sin/guilt' thing to the New Agey 'karma/guilt' thing.

No thanks...I'll pass.

Greenslade: Turn that fear on what you fear.

[Cassy]

I sympathise with Rosewater as I also suffered trauma when I became involved in a group who teach protection techniques and believe in “entities” and negative energy. As this almost seems to be central to “new age” spiritual belief these days I steer clear of spiritual groups and teachers, not only because I think there is a real danger (I had clinical depression for 2 years as a result), but also because I’m not able to trust them.

[Cassy]

Originally Posted by shepherd

Times are changing though and you can see it in this forum with members like yourselves expressing other possibilities for those trapped within their beliefs to see a way out.

Yes, when this was discussed on the "dark energy contradiction" thread a while back (now sadly lost) there was fierce opposition to views like Shepherds. Now it seems that happily more people are agreeing to them.

[Chrysaetos]

Originally Posted by shepherd

Yeah I can really resonate with that, when I started my spiritual journey I was bombarded with "truths" that I should believe in and as these gurus were the so called experts I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

I now know, no belief is true, hence it being called a belief in the first place and I enjoy exploring the possibilities without being held down by someones version of spirituality.

I agree with the above.

Originally Posted by Cassy

I sympathise with Rosewater as I also suffered trauma when I became involved in a group who teach protection techniques and believe in “entities” and negative energy. As this almost seems to be central to “new age” spiritual belief these days I steer clear of spiritual groups and teachers, not only because I think there is a real danger (I had clinical depression for 2 years as a result), but also because I’m not able to trust them.

I think it's very good to look for other explanations, and it's also worthwile to listen people with years of study on physiology, brains, and medicine have to say.

I mean, it can be nice if we have a spiritual explanation for stuff when we have physical or mental problems, but does it provoke more paranoia, or does it really helps us letting things go? Faith healing is very old and was widely used in the Middle Ages, yet people couldn't prevent lots of diseases.

I got to agree as well with what Shepherd said regarding the whole 'guru business'...

This subject of being traumatized can also be taken the other way around - I had people telling me that I'm not a 'walk-in' (I don't care to use the label, but in this case...) or that I didn't have a soul exchange. They were acting like they knew me better than I knew myself - even though they weren't living my life. I have to admit to being traumatized by that as well (and these were 'spiritual' people who were - like what Shepherd stated - supposed to be full of 'spiritual truths').

[NightSpirit]

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
~~quote from ACIM~~

Originally Posted by Rosewater

does anyone else feel this way? spirits, lower entities, aliens, negative events in the name of lessons, reincarnation, fate, karma, kundalini and going insane..

I have been through a lot in my life.. this was too much for me to swallow i think.. just knowing what's out there, that we can be exposed through itk, that spirit thinks going through negative events helps us gives us growth etc. I think i have been given more than i can endure as is.. been really breaking down bc of all of this.. anyone go through something simliar? how do you cope?

Yeah, I can say that I've been traumatized by religion and spirituality on various levels but for some reason, I still feel the need for it.