Rattled by a pothole on your spiritual journey? Time to plant a garden
How does your garden grow?
I hit a pothole in my spiritual path recently that rattled me so deeply I had to pull over and check the integrity of my current mode of mystical transportation.
During a recent discussion of A Course in Miracles, I was telling another participant in the group about David Hawkins' levels of consciousness. Hawkins, an author, teacher and psychologist who died in 2012, had been a leader in the world of metaphysics with his groundbreaking book Power vs. Force that influenced many New Age and metaphysical teachers including Wayne Dyer.
Hawkins' book Transcending the Levels of Consciousness lays out his attempt to systematize what he calls "the stairway to enlightenment," tracing the energetic levels of our consciousness as it moves from its lowest vibrational state of shame, rising up through hate, apathy, fear, anger, pride, courage, willingness and acceptance until we reach the higher states of love, peace, and bliss.
When I mentioned Hawkins' system, this participant pointed out that Scientology has a similar "Tone Scale" that moves from bodily death, up through victimhood, fear, hostility, and boredom into higher "tones" of cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and serenity of beingness.
This was the pothole that jarred me so deeply. Scientology? Really? Am I truly slipping into a cult mentality with my beliefs? I really had to take a long, serious pause and think on this.
What came to me is the realization that truth is truth, no matter where we might find it. I truly do believe that in this bodily state we are created from the energy of the universe. All matter is energy in some form, so it vibrates with the frequency of that energy. Even a table or other seemingly solid objects vibrate – though their vibration is slow, seemingly even motionless, at such a dense state.
The fact that even Scientologists can see this doesn't make the principle itself false. Instead, it simply shows truth can be present anywhere, even in religious and spiritual systems that get everything else wrong and seek to control people. Every religion, for example, has a version of the Golden Rule of "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." That doesn't mean those religions can't still be manipulated by our egos to create something that harms people instead of edifies them.
That being said, even if "levels of consciousness" or "tone scales" are a bunch of New Age hooey and trying to systematize such things is folly, I don't think the overall idea of how our state of consciousness affects our lives in general is a lie. In fact, I have seen evidence in my own life of how one can ascend from lower states of consciousness into higher ones and totally transform the world we experience. But, if we reject this idea because some Scientologist agrees or we believe the level system is bogus, then I suggest a new frame: Think of your life as a garden.
Whatever we put our attention on in our lives is what grows. You've heard the old story about the two wolves we each have inside of us. There's a wolf of fear and wolf of love. The one that survives is the one we feed. Similarly, with a garden, the seeds we plant and nurture are the ones that will ultimately grow.
There was a time in my life when the seeds I planted, nurtured, and harvested were those of fear, hatred, cynicism, anger, mistrust, and general despair about the world. I planted this garden in the fertile field of my disillusionment with life after the childhood divorce of my parents. I saw a world where there was no safety, no lasting relationships, where people could easily abandon those who they said they loved.
That angry and dark world within was reflected outward. The people I attracted into my life were of the same mindset – they were angry, mistrustful of the world and cynical, and they hated the same people and ideas that I did. They were just as pessimistic as me – and they, too, were the sort of people who abandoned others and were selfish, stingy and recalcitrant.
There came a time, though, through the teachings of Dyer and other New Age leaders, that I realized that I didn't have to keep tending this dark and despairing garden. They helped me give myself permission to be willing to plant different seeds in my garden, even as my ego kept telling me this whole "higher consciousness" thing was a bunch of baloney.
I tried it anyway. I plowed under my garden of anger and despair and began to plant new seeds – those of love, generosity, kindness, joy, and compassion. Like a miracle, over time another world began to take root and grow. What bloomed within me – and subsequently around me in the form of other people and community – was kindness, generosity, love, peace, and joy.
Those recalcitrant buds I had previously tended have now gone to seed, because I no longer tend that part of my garden. Do some them still pop up as weeds? Of course! Our whole spiritual journey is about tending the whole garden of our mind – even the pockets of recalcitrance that remains. Jesus once said the poor will always be with us – which means our poor ways of thinking will never be completely weeded from the garden. This means we must be mindful of what we're planting and how we are tending our garden. This is our curriculum.
A Course in Miracles says that we always have the power to make new choices. That means, we must be constantly choosing again in each moment to plant seeds of love, peace, joy, and compassion whenever the weeds of hatred, despair, fear, and anger pop their heads up in our garden.
What are you planting in your garden? If we expect to grow love in the world, we have to plant those seeds of love within and tend them lovingly and consistently. This is the way to move into a higher consciousness for ourselves and the world. If this still seems to be too woo-woo a concept, though, don't worry about it. You don't have to believe in any system, or spirituality, or religion. Just be about tending the garden of your thoughts and be diligent in planting seeds of love, peace, joy, and compassion for yourself and for others. That will be enough.
Namaste,
Rev. Candace Chellew
Jubilee! Circle Spiritual Director
What are some of your pothole moments and how have you recovered from them on your spiritual journey? Share in the comments!
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Take 20 with Candace
What do Uncle George, Santa Claus, pyramids, and Solomon have in common? Candace talks about the images of God we carry inside us in this episode of Take 20. This week’s Take 20 is comes from Jubilee! CIrcle's celebration from March 27th: “The Barrier of God.”
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About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true, Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.