MISLEAD BY SPIRITUALITY

[BigJohn]

Some claim the ultimate is Spirituality.

Some have claimed they have been hampered in their growth by questionable beliefs.
Some have claimed they have been financially/physically hurt by someone claiming to be spiritual.

Please share your experiences.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Some claim the ultimate is Spirituality.

Some have claimed they have been hampered in their growth by questionable beliefs.
Some have claimed they have been financially/physically hurt by someone claiming to be spiritual.

Please share your experiences.

Yes,I think that Spirituality is the ultimate but people have differing ideas on it,that is the beauty of spirituality.The thing that gets me is people trying to push their beliefs on you without real proof.
I believe what sits right for me and I think that is how Spirituality should be.I haven't been financially hurt(apart from paying £2 every time I go to the Spiritualist church lol).The good thing about spirituality is that you're constantly learning though by now I think there is not much more I can learn but then again someone might change my idea of thinking completely.Lets see.

[zipzip]

I haven't been hurt or harmed, but when I stopped believing in God, I had a huge void.

It didn't sit right with me.

Now, life is different and things have worked out in great ways and I am so grateful.






zipzip

[ocean breeze]

Yeah, i've been hurt by spiritual people before. One time a gang of Buddhist monks viciously attacked me as i was walking through an alley way after dark. I wasn't too happy about that.

A woman tried to put a spell on me too.

Be careful everyone. The world is a dangerous place. Lots of crazy spiritual people out there.

Deleted: because it ended up in wrong thread.

[Miss Hepburn]

If I ever had been hurt by a self proclaimed person or business...
I would not dredge it up and give it life again. (Been there, done that...not really a good thing.)
I would know, btw, they were not very advanced 'spiritual people'
to rip others off or lie, for example...like not make good on what they did
improperly.
Oh well, ya move on to another with hope you find an honest person.

No surprise that many are misled. There's an awful lot of spiritual snake oil out there on the web...often sounds good, prefaced by a romantic or dreamy headline pic....but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

It often starts with a factoid paraded as a fact then builds on assumptions. The real giveaways are the bogus premises behind what sounds like logic; false logic; contradictions; inappropriate analogies with physics, poor science ("activating junk DNA" a priceless example) and encouraging experiment that could be dangerous without preparation. Always see if there's provenance behind what attracts your interest. If something has been developed over a millennia it's probably more usable than something dreamed up on a rainy afternoon by some wannabe guru. Distinguish between religion and spirituality.

Best to ask why you think you need spirituality, spiritual development, self-development at the outset. What underlies your need? Contemplation and whatever degree of honesty you can muster may guide your setting out. Our motives can change though and if you get it wrong don't be afraid to rethink; if you outgrow or develop beyond a belief or set of practices, go where your instincts take you. It sometimes takes a while to strip ourselves of delusion - a gradual process for most - so it's always "be as honest as you can" realising you may revise your level of honesty as you go.

With false premises you can use logic to "prove" the moon is made of cheese.
.

[Blue Tiger]

No, I've not been harmed or misled by spirituality.

However, that's probably because I am skeptical of crazy, inflated claims. I don't believe in LoA, don't accept the notion of Twin Flames, don't send money to anyone for secrets or blessings.

Honestly, there are so many who prey on desperate, lonely, gullible people these days. You have to be cautious and really think about the claims they're making. If they seem too good to be true, ask yourself why EVERYONE isn't on the band wagon. If, for example, LoA was true and effective, why are there still so many poor people?

As in all aspects of life, most grandiose claims are simply rubbish.

[Altair]

Definitely agree with Lorelyen and Blue Tiger.
Lorelyen's examples can lead to all manner of problems in society..

I've read stories about people being fooled by guru's when they have early stage cancer. Because the guru is seen as a real authority [and as the person who's in the oneness cannot be questioned] they buy into the advice of doing a water fast for weeks. The results were worsened cancer and death.

Well, if things go wrong you can always say the victim is just sinful or has bad karma. Sigh.

Another example is the poaching of animals in the name of traditional medicine. Eat tiger or bear parts and you'll have more strength. Pff, going by looks alone I think people from those countries should hit the gym instead. Spiritual beliefs are wiping out animal species and drastically reducing biodiversity.

So yeah, I think many are being hurt by beliefs.

[Jyotir]

This is a fairly simple issue.

To be clear, it is not spirituality that misleads.
It is the conditional ignorance of the physical existence that does so, in whatever form, and often by its persistent intercession.

If it is called "spiritual", but nevertheless does mislead, then by definition it cannot be spiritual.

That would be an example of the very misleading of ignorant identification - a misidentification, whether conscious or unconscious - which is to say: a specious substitution of that which by nature is false, for the purpose of discrediting, diverting, and disparaging the legitimate manifestation.

Spirituality is the conscious evolution of truth in the physical that is guided by the truth itself.
How could truth be misleading?

~ J