Kerry Jehanne-Guadalupe
It is amazing how knowledgeable we are as a species. Our minds have organically evolved through time. We have knowledge, skills, and awareness that we could not even imagine centuries ago. Yet, while a vast consciousness regarding all that is, all that exists, is “blowing in the wind,” our knowledge and human capacity to understand the infinite remains limited. Perhaps that may be part of the rules of incarnating and playing within the physical realm.
I have often wondered how our perceived reality impacts our individual and collective advancement. I have witnessed how, at times, one’s notion of reality can feel so accurate that one consciously avoids or unconsciously rejects the need to question one’s worldview. It is as if the person feels that they hold the absolute truth.
It is the intention of this writing to suggest, as we journey through diverse spiritual paths, to be mindful of the danger of assuming that one carries absolute knowledge and awareness of the vastness of the universe that surrounds us. As someone once shared with me, “We don’t know what we don’t know.” Such awareness of uncertainty, the great unknown, can spirit our humility while being encouraged to continue to live, learn, laugh, and love.
Fields of Consciousness
Some consider that everything in the 3rd dimension has a supportive, energetic field. Energetic fields can exist for everything from molecules to galaxies, including inanimate objects like crystals and rocks, to beings like plants, animals, and humans. Within each energetic field, information is stored as vibrational frequencies. Energetic fields are understood to hold the codes of form and function and, therefore, are likely to strongly influence how an object or being behaves. In other words, what we see in the 3rd-dimensional reality, a crystal, for example, originates from a subtle energetic vibration that then gives rise to the physical expression.
The aforementioned premise seems to be illustrated in a number of contexts. For example, essential oils have a supportive, energetic field of vast awareness that endorses their functions in the 3rd dimension. Likewise, a wellness modality, like massage, has an energetic field that holds the wisdom and consciousness of the modality. Some believe that ascended masters have diverse fields of consciousness that we, as humans, can directly or indirectly interact with.
Some speculate that fields of consciousness are dynamic and, therefore, can contract or expand. People can feed energy to these fields and make them larger: if many people use essential oils, the energetic field of essential oils grows; if we pray to a guru, we can expand the field of the guru. Yet, this does not mean that the fields’ natural tendencies to continue to evolve may not be tainted by human thoughts that are not innate to the field. Dominant and collective human patterns may feed and enhance or deplete and distort a field of consciousness.
I imagine that there are countless fields of consciousness available to us, and we have the option to tap into various ones at different times. I envision this to be similar to watching one television channel while multiple other channels exist. As each television station has unique programming, I imagine each field of consciousness has its characteristics and vibration. If a field of consciousness has features of x, y, and z, then when people tap into that field, they can begin to accept and exhibit the vibration / thoughts / behaviors of x, y, and z. Perhaps, when we tap into and entrain to a field, we are programmed and conditioned to frequencies of that field that then, in turn, establish and regulate specific kinds of thoughts and behaviors.
Suppose a field of consciousness is encoded with trickery related to spirituality. If we entrain into that field, we might experience a level of deception and, therefore, entrapment due to the consciousness embedded into that field. I have met many people who believe they are 'free' and have entered an enlightened plane of existence. Yet, I wonder if they have been disillusioned because they have tapped into a field laden with false light, a deceptive field that tells them they have arrived at a state of enlightenment. Subsequently, they feel that there is no illusion to transcend because the field they are tapped into conditions the mind to think they are awake and sovereign beings.
Can we have a false sense of breaking free? How do we know we have moved up in consciousness and not just over to a similar consciousness that is merely well-disguised as freedom?
The notion of: “I am spiritual, not religious.”
I have heard many people asserting that they are “spiritual and not religious.” Some individuals distinguishing their practice as spiritual and not religious have sounded genuine. They have shared profound and beautiful stories about their journeys of deepening their connection to humanity and beyond through the guidance of an undefined universal source. Yet, others have shared, "I am spiritual, not religious," with a sense of self-importance, as if being spiritual is superior to being religious. In these conversations, a comparison with and sense of being “better than” others have been witnessed.
There is nothing wrong with feeling special. What seems to be disturbing is when feeling special comes at the expense of others being perceived as not “good enough,” “spiritualless” or from a “lower spiritual consciousness.” Superiority complexes and judgment of others may be the unintended costs within someone’s intentional spiritual journey as they devalue another person’s religious choice, practice, and/or experience.
From my perspective, there seems to be a field of consciousness related to the statement, “I am spiritual, not religious,” that people entrain into that is not truly about spirituality. Could it be possible that as some of us begin to search for a spiritual path, we unintentionally connect to a channel of consciousness of deception being masked as a spiritual path? It is my belief that, yes, this is possible. Some, or many of us being exposed to this writing, may be able to testify to this experience in multiple ways. Thus, cultivating ongoing strategies / techniques / approaches / rituals for assessing our beliefs, cognitive patterns, and behavioral blueprints becomes imperative.
I have interacted with friends, acquaintances, and strangers who seem to firmly believe there is a black-and-white distinction between spirituality and religion. This group appears to believe that only religion comes with doctrines, dogmas, codes, cannons, clothes, and ritual practices. To them, religion seems to be a set of restrictive rules and regulations that is, or can be, often corrupted, divisive, and a means to control people. From this perspective, being religious means handing over one's power to an authority and blindly performing sanctified rituals while belonging to a particular institution devoid of all good, love, and even God.
Some people who subscribe to this viewpoint of religion believe that a person cannot access God through religion. Some who consider themselves “spiritual, not religious" refer to religious people as ‘sheep’ in an antiquated system, as if calling a human being a sheep, or by any animal name, is spiritual. They don’t seem to see any good in religion, often have a complete aversion to it, and sometimes a visceral reaction to the word 'religion.' Some historical figures who worked for the better of our humanity may disagree with this perspective of religion. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa were all religious.
Some who hold the above-mentioned perspective often claim that spiritual people have an immediate, direct, and personal experience of the divine, as if all religious people worldwide do not. They insist that spirituality comes from the soul, not rules, regulations, dogma, doctrine, theology, and ideology. To them, spirituality is a pure unadulterated pathway to the Divine.
One can argue that the moment a person indicates that spirituality is about freedom and religion is not is simply a moment where a person may be trapped in a field of confined consciousness. Can one feel that they have escaped or are beyond religion, yet unconsciously - unintentionally carry over what they think they have escaped from to their version of spirituality?
There are aspects of some religions (e.g., concepts of damnation, religious wars, subsequent bloodshed, and some clergy that are pedophiles) that are devasting to the human soul, to say the least. I do not deny the harm that some people engaging in religious practices have created for many or deny that a movement toward spirituality can be part of our human evolution.
It is understood that some people may reject and judge religious practices due to the actions committed by some religious leaders or members of a religious denomination. Yet, to stigmatize religion as a whole (e.g., to refer to it as “bad,” “less than,” or “inferior to”) does not seem to be reasonable. Would it be fair to attack the dignity of spirituality based on the fact that some spiritual communities have become cults, some “shamans” or “gurus” have been identified as sexual predators, and the existence of mass suicide, homicide, gaslighting, and many more horrors in the field of spirituality?
We, as humans, can spiral upwards on our paths, the spirality of spirituality. What has spiraled upwards out of religion? I ponder this because, to me, there is a distinct overlap between some religions and some spiritual communities, as if some concepts/notions of spirituality are born out of religion. To some degree, spirituality and religion feel like the same consciousness, only higher up on the spiral. They are not two contrasting forces, yet potentially, in certain circumstances, the same force; two branches of the same tree.
This brings up the question I pondered above: How do we know that we have moved to a different consciousness and not just over to a similar consciousness that is merely well-disguised as freedom? I can imagine that it is very possible to disconnect from one field only to enter another similar one in vibration and consciousness.
Some people who say, “I am spiritual, not religious,” have claimed that spirituality is all about the heart, and religion is about the mind. Yet, there are a ton of mind-body-spirit organizations within the spiritual movement. Mind, body, and spirit, yet, where is the heart?
Some similarities between some religions and some spiritual communities that I have witnessed:
1. Handing power over to another (church authority / gurus and psychics)
2. Have an intermediary between a person and the Divine (priest / shaman)
3. Divisive: us vs. them (Jew vs. Christians / Awake vs. Asleep)
4. Superiority complexes and judgment of others
5. Doctrines (bible / a plethora of spiritual writings, podcasts, blogs, etc.)
6. Clothes (cassocks / white garments, beads, certain jewelry)
7. Ritual practices (Seven Sacraments / fasting, ceremonies, etc.)
8. A means to control people (doctrine / gaslighting)
9. Extremes (guilt and shame / toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing)
10. Restrictive rules and regulations
11. Corruption and politics
12. Abusive behavior of leaders
13. Racism and inequality
14. Hierarchical structures and misuse of power
15. Dogma
Can some forms of spirituality become a religion once confined by rules and dogmas?
Microcosms
I imagine there is a possibility of an incalculable number of fields of collective consciousness that support our various notions of reality. What happens when a group of people tap into a similar field and co-create their reality together? Communities or microcosms can be places where people can co-create their reality with their own set of facts and truths congruent with the field of consciousness they are entrained. Within each microcosm, people can gain a false sense that their collection of facts is accurate and reject information that contradicts their perceived and constructed worldview.
Perhaps, what's real and true depends not upon fact but upon the field of consciousness. People who believe Earth is flat are possibly not uneducated / uninformed as much as they are educated within a field of consciousness.
We, as humans, can be entrained into constructs / structures that influence our worldviews and notions of reality. The forces at play to create a reality are multifaceted, including social, educational, economic, political, and psychological forces that shape people and communities. What are the energetics behind such forces, and how do we, as humans, influence and be influenced by the energetics or fields of consciousness supporting the forces?
· How are we influencing these fields, and in turn, how are these fields affecting us? Is it a closed circuit? Is it a mutual occurrence?
· If we collectively built energetic fields of deception related to spirituality and ascension, what influences come back to us? Can we keep ourselves disillusioned with our collective thinking?
· What could be the results when millions of people continue to feed distorted consciousness fields over hundreds or even thousands of years?
· Can these fields be so extensive that when the next generation comes alone, it is easier for them to tap into that field through entrainment as well as feed it through believing in it and therefore expanding it?
If we praise a false guru, does our praise turn into energy that feeds the field of the guru? Perhaps through rituals, symbols, images, the written word, sermons, and speeches, we enhance the entrainment to a particular field. If we practice rituals born from a distorted level of consciousness, I would imagine the rituals would lead us further away from our ultimate truth rather than toward our truth.
It leads me to wonder if we can be hypnotized by a field of consciousness that we ourselves created. Can we trap ourselves within our own creations?
I have met many people who believe they lead the way in a great awakening for humanity. Yet, I wonder if they may be connected to a field of consciousness based on a false ascension path. I ponder this because they seem to consider themselves conscious and separate humanity into those who are awake and those who are asleep. By doing so, they promote an ‘us versus them’ consciousness while claiming they are above duality. It seems contradictive when interconnectedness and interdependence are claimed, and yet language and behavior of divisiveness are witnessed. It is concerning when some people feel justified in attacking others they deem asleep because ringing the wake-up bell is in the name of a great awakening. They will send light and love along with justified bashing, judgments, and verbal attacks.
Unfortunately, it seems that some people are perpetuating the darkness they believe they are dissipating, which is why I think there is a possibility that some who believe they are ascending to the 5th dimension are on a false ascension path. This is not a judgment, as we all have our own paths, and I know I have my entrapments, some of which I see, and I assume many that I am unaware of.
My reflections are not a judgment of others but a deep questioning of what makes one susceptible to a descent into irrational thinking, and even violence, all while firmly believing they are the chosen ones. I think it is possible that we, as humans, can believe we've exited a matrix yet, can be tapped into a level of consciousness that is not aligned with the so-called peaceful and sustainable future we believe we are creating.
It is my understanding that we can get indoctrinated and socialized into a way of being, believing, and behaving. That alone can explain how we can become a product of the environment and social, political, and educational structures in which we were raised. Yet, I wonder what is ultimately influencing agents of socialization, such as the family and other educational structures. What is the ultimate causal point of the structures, and what are the energetics or fields of consciousness behind the systems themselves?
Breaking out the structures we have been conditioned to can be challenging. We are wired as human beings to be socialized into the norms and myths of our culture and communities. As a result, our notion of reality can feel like our truth and what is true in general. I feel it is the work of the soul to reach beyond the ideas and notions presented to us, as it can sometimes be easier for us to be socialized into a culture than to break free from our indoctrination.
Spiritual Aphorisms
One way to sense what we, as humans, have been entrained into is by assessing the words we speak and how we engage in conversations. Spiritual aphorisms are brief sayings or expressions meant to be imbued with wisdom and substance. However, some sayings, taken out of proper context, are not necessarily packed with wisdom but pack a punch. Some sayings are shared to liberate; yet, they can confine. Some are believed to relieve pain; yet, they can cause more wounds.
Spiritual aphorisms, like "pain is an illusion" or "there is no such thing as a victim," can be both helpful and harmful, true and false, liberating and entrapping. Such sayings can be accurate in the higher dimensions (pain is an illusion) but not true in the 3rd dimension (there is actual physical pain from being shot with a bullet; real emotional pain from losing a loved one, etc.).
Imagine surviving rape or war and someone saying, "There is no such thing as a victim. Your soul chose these experiences before you incarnated for the purpose of growth. There are no victims, so your story of victimhood is not accurate or relevant. You are simply living in the lowest vibrations. Your so-called perpetrator / enemy is also the divine incarnated, so there is nothing to feel wronged by, let alone forgive." On a higher plane, there may be no victims; yet, here on Earth, in the 3rd dimension, there are experiences of being victimized.
From what I can sense, there seems to be an increase in overlapping higher-dimensional truths with the 3rd dimension. There seems to be an increase in “spiritual groupthink” (a collective consciousness that discourages independent thinking, processing, and expression of differences). The ultimate question may be, how do groups of people within the field of spiritual practice become entrained into a field of consciousness that perpetuates such ideology since spirituality is about questioning?
Another common spiritual aphorism is, "Your so-called perpetrator / enemy is your greatest teacher." Yes, it is true that we can, and do, grow through our life experiences. Yet, I do not believe that someone who abuses us is our ‘greatest teacher.’ What are they teaching: how to abuse? How to feel pain? How to heal the wound created? It is not them doing the teaching; the dynamic of an interaction is the teacher and how we face and overcome any abuse / wrongdoings we have endured.
On a higher plane, perhaps there was a soul agreement to learn through hardship, “I will provide you an opportunity to learn about forgiveness because I will do something horrible to you in the next life.” From a higher perspective, the soul who agreed to do harm provides an opportunity to learn; they are not teaching in the 3rd dimension; they are doing harm as that is their role. To me, the teaching resides in how the person victimized overcomes the obstacle.
There is a big difference between: They are my greatest teacher & the situation is providing the opportunity for me to learn something. From a higher perspective, I am not dismissing the service the soul provided by, perhaps, agreeing to do harm, nor am I excusing their behavior in the 3rd dimension. Blending the dimensions is only sometimes helpful in the process of recovery. Saying, “There is nothing to forgive because it was all contracted before you incarnated," misses the point that forgiveness might be the soul’s lesson.
Aphorisms abound that take higher dimensional truths and place them upon our 3rd-dimensional reality:
“Everything happens for a reason. Since you created this, there must be a reason your soul chose this. You choose every experience, even the most horrible thing you have encountered. You are responsible for all the pain and suffering you have brought upon yourself as you created this.” Yes, we are responsible for our healing process of any pain we have endured. Yet, even if everything is predetermined, and we ‘signed up’ for all tragedies we have withstood, there is a time and place to bring in a higher perspective that doesn’t endorse spiritual bypassing or blame and shame the person who has been victimized.
“It is just an illusion anyway, so no need to get all worked up about this.”
“Just choose positive thoughts and feelings. Anger is not spiritual. Anger is a substandard emotion, so your anger simply lowers your vibration even more.”
Another doozie is, “If you are pointing a finger at someone, you are pointing three fingers back at yourself. If you see it, it is inside of you as everything you see is a reflection of you.” The notion that if we see a characteristic in someone else, it is a projection of us might be accurate within the multidimensionality of our existence. Yet, it only sometimes applies in the 3rd dimension. It is my perspective that we have lived many lives and have been in many roles. We are part of all that is. Nevertheless, we don't incarnate as all roles in one incarnation.
I had a rather gnarly experience with a sexual predator at a retreat center who used shamanic sorcery to lure in his 'prey.' I can look at him and say he is a sexual predator and a sorcerer, which is accurate. I am naming his behavior. I do not need to search for any tendencies toward sexual predation or sorcery in myself. It is not as easy as saying, “As within, so without. If I have an issue with someone, I must have the same characteristics.” I can sense the importance of being cautious and not assuming that what we believe is the absolute truth or applicable in all situations.
“You must have had some issues that you needed to look at around sexual predation and sorcery. It is a gift. Be grateful.”
“There is no one to blame" does not mean someone cannot be held accountable for their abusive behavior, even if done unconsciously.
Even though the above aphorisms have often been shared with the intention of being supportive, they can often backfire and leave someone feeling disempowered and deeply confused in their healing process. It is not only that spiritual aphorisms and concepts can get thrown around without much thought at times, but they can also be used to frame someone’s experience in a way that is not even remotely true for the receiver. Within some healing circles, I have seen people who don’t want to proceed in an activity being told that they have “blocks” to their wellness. This has been done without even asking the person they are speaking to about their truth and reasons for not wanting to participate in the activity. One may not forget that the practitioner or the method itself may not resonate with someone.
I have also witnessed occasions when participants want to leave an event and are judged as having “commitment issues,” to the point of being suggested that they should stay to work out those issues. Yet, it is important to acknowledge that the group may not be appropriate for the healing journey of the individual or people who have decided not to stay in the event. A number of “spiritual concepts” or “buzzwords” can be tossed around, as it has been my observation, without one asking: does this resonate with you, what is your truth, what are you experiencing, what do you need? Those making a judgment may feel that what they are delivering is “good medicine." Yet, they may not recognize that their words can be transmitting a form of poison that is detrimental and disempowering to the recipient(s).
I have often heard short ‘spiritual sayings’ spoken in soul-crushing ways. The sayings are expressed, sometimes forcefully, as if packed with wisdom and substance. Sometimes aphorisms are expressed through one’s ego, making the deliverer of the saying feel special and knowledgeable. Sometimes the expressions are shared with a genuine desire to serve others, all while the person sharing wholeheartedly believes what they are saying is true and helpful, such as "pain is an illusion."
Whether a person is operating from their ego or a heart's genuine desire to be of service in a loving way, I wonder if they are connected to groupthink within their communities or connected to a field of consciousness that is not truly about spirituality and healing. Perhaps groupthink is influenced by a field of consciousness, which influences people to transform spiritual concepts into dogma.
Mastering Our Evolution Process
It is valuable to recognize that through our evolution we can support one another without assuming an absolute understanding of what we or another person is ultimately experiencing. Asking questions and being attentive to our needs and the needs of others can help us clearly practice Justice St. Rain's idea of "One Light – Many Lamps." In this context, the idea simply means recognizing that there are multiple paths to the same goal, healing or attempting to live in harmony with Spirit.
I honor the difficulties and adversities in the pursuit of truth. As stressed in this writing, notions of reality that one may entrain to can feel so factual to the point of one not questioning its effects, especially when enforcing one’s truth on another person. Furthermore, if falsities have persuaded us, then it makes sense that when truth is presented, it can feel like a nonsensical myth that is easy to deny. Understandably, we may reject any evidence of truth when being blinded by falsities.
If someone comes along to show us where we may have been led astray, they can be seen as a heretic or insane. I feel that it is not that our ego cannot handle what we believe in is not valid; it is possible that we don't even know to question because the falsity we are entrained into often feels so real. Misconceptions can dampen our pursuit of truth or even prevent us from being on a path to pursue truth because we may have been captivated by a field of consciousness.
It is believed that we can enhance fields of love, peace, and harmony, and as we do, they can be more easily accessed by others around the world. This has been referred to as ‘feeding the field environment.' I wonder if our human progression entails not only feeding positive fields but also dismantling false fields. Perhaps, part of our evolution entails healing anything that has previously enabled any of us to be entrained to distorted fields to begin with.
I think it is critical that we understand how we can believe we have accessed the truth but can be deceived at the same time. It is a time of skillful discerning whether the old, constructed self is truly being disassembled or simply entraining into another field of consciousness. I feel that we need to be adeptly astute, masters of our evolution.
As we collectively dream of a glorious future, I feel it is imperative that we increase our abilities to discern frequency; to decipher the vibrations with which we are creating. Discerning prevents us from being deceived by deceptive fields of consciousness as they present themselves as the light. If we circumvent discerning, what we expect will be our reality of peace and freedom might be a realization that we have only been trapped by the deception of a field leading us astray.
I believe it is our responsibility to discern what we accept as accurate and have faith that the illusion of any false aspects of our reality will be illuminated as we gain wisdom. This wisdom might come through the art of humbly questioning what has been handed down to us; being in our knowing; receptively accessing the innate wisdom of our hearts; and overcoming cultural conditioning to look outside ourselves for truth. I believe we can sort through anything misleading with our keen awareness of our hearts.
