Jacob Nordby claims to break out in soul hives when someone calls him a spiritual guy these days, and wonders if wearing that label could be a trap.
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I used to like to say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual”.
Lately, I have become itchy with that label. It seems to separate spiritual people from the rest of humanity in some way.
Also, it sets up a whole group of people who call themselves spiritual teachers and, I hate to say this, many of them are clever charlatans.
With that statement I just landed on a whole lot of people’s shitlist. After all, selling spirituality has become big business and a bunch of folks are not going to be delighted that I am pulling back the curtain and revealing the great and powerful Oz in this way. Spirituality has turned into an industry bringing in over $9 billion per year—and that is probably a conservative estimate.
But it isn’t just the hucksters and salespeople who give me a case of soul hives. I sometimes break out in a rash these days in many gatherings of sincere, good people who have enrolled in the religion called Spirituality.
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When I finally mustered the courage to leave the harsh Christian religion of my own youth, I eventually found refuge in what appeared to be the wide-open and loving community loosely known as Spiritual.
At first I felt safe, welcomed and free for the first time in my life. Most in spiritual circles have an almost fierce insistence on non-judgment—which was something I had never experienced before. I thought I had died and gone to Nirvana. What started to surprise me was the following:
- Some days I felt as though I had dropped acid and wandered into a Spirituality Carnival. Over here, someone was selling “Crystals that will purify your soul and connect you to the energies of exalted masters from other dimensions”. Over there, a sideshow barker was calling out, “Step right up, step right up! For only $4.99 per minute, the amazing Psychic will talk to your departed grandmother and also tell you how to manifest your perfect soulmate.” Down the row a bit some other people were selling Aura Underwear and Shamanic Popsicles. I love the mystical and mysterious, but I found that I was expected to swallow stories of alien origins, absolutely believe in re-incarnation without batting an eye and pretty much accept every wild version of reality that came down the line from anyone claiming the title of Spiritual Teacher. And there were so many of them.
- The spirituality gang had its own language, dress code and tone of voice. Sure there were plenty of variations, but some broad themes emerged and I started to wonder if I could measure up in certain circles if I just showed up as myself, dressed any old way and spoke in common vernacular.
- The concepts of spirituality—oneness, non-judgment, the illusory nature of time and this world to name a few—were being used as cop-outs to avoid feeling the intensity of life as a human being.
In fact, many of the ego play-things spirituality was supposed to erase like anger, jealousy, greed and superiority (and even having an ego itself) simply showed up hidden behind Love & Light Namaste-masks.
I have come to differentiate not at all between what is spiritual and the rest of life. There is only Life, all of it is good and the more I am aware of this in every moment, the more my spirit comes alive.
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In the quest to move away from the heavy old beliefs of religion, Spirituality has morphed into whole new dogma sets which, like the followers of many other religions have discovered, don’t work well in every day life. Rather than embrace every gorgeous, fractured bit of ourselves, we would rather chant concepts at each other. We quote out-of-context excerpts from teachers like Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Krishnamurti, Buddha and Eckhart Tolle in a sort of Enlightenment Jousting to prove that we know more than other people. We use sayings about innocence to shame our fellow travelers and fail to notice the irony of it all.
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But you should know that this rant of mine doesn’t mean I deny the Soul—that divine spark which mysteriously shines through the eyes of us all. I don’t hesitate to tell you that I experience real magic and delight in exploring the fascinating realms of mind, matter and spirit.
And what is Spirituality, after all if it isn’t the pursuit of something real; the experience of what lies beyond the body and mind but can be integrated and embodied?
I have come to differentiate not at all between what is spiritual and the rest of life. There is only Life, all of it is good and the more I am aware of this in every moment, the more my spirit comes alive.
Frankly, I don’t care what religion any of us chooses. The roots of the word itself come from the Latin: Re (again) + Ligare (to bind). Religion, understood this way, is to bind again what is visible and invisible. That’s quite a different proposition than lining up to learn catechisms and conform to someone else’s notions, isn’t it?
And let’s face it…
Life is an endless attempt to word the unwordable, to make what cannot be touched walk on the ground, to embody what can never be fit inside a single lifetime.
We see reflections of ourselves in sunrises, hear our perfection in thunderstorms and babies’ laughter–touch, taste and feel–and then try to somehow remember all of that while taking out the trash, paying bills and a million other ways we have invented to forget.
We weave together within ourselves mud and spirit, shadow and light, animal and angel.
No wonder humans feel crazy most of the time.But you aren’t crazy. You are doing a heroic thing by being here as yourself in the world.
Do you suppose we can get real and honest enough to accept our own true birthright without creating yet another artificial label to stick on our chests? I would love it if you would join the conversation by posting your comments below this article.
Photo Credit: Flickr Commons/Erik Fitzpatrick
Author’s Note: I honor the gifts of everyone–authors, speakers, teachers and healers, etc. My life has changed in profound ways during shamanic retreats, while reading books and listening to talks. This article in no way diminishes the work of genuine people sharing themselves with the world. Information or experiences that help humans become more empowered is priceless, but anything which keeps people in endless reliance on some guru is just more of the same stuff we don’t want.
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Jacob (oh no, another label) 😉
You nailed it ! Gonna share this all over the place.
Wrote this back in 2007 and thoroughly appreciate your updated version – http://www.wave1111.com/1/post/2011/01/im-not-religious.html
btw – where can I sign up for the $19.99/month offer you mentioned to Suzanne? wink smile
Thanks Jacob. So beautifully expressed. I feel we grab onto spirituality or religion to avoid the pain or reality of life rather than diving in to the beauty and sometime chaos that is our existence. Certain friends say, “I want to get rid of my ego!” I think “Wait! isn’t ego part of the operating equipment of being here as human?” It has to have a purpose here, doesn’t it? Were we given something from the get go that we have to get rid of? Seems like just another concept like original sin. I like asking myself “what if” questions.… Read more »
These milestones/stepping stones on our journey to realising the oneness of all that is and that none of us is broken are worth flagging up, Jacob. Glad you did. ♥
Great article Jacob! I agree so much. I was sitting in a gathering of spiritual types who were discussing meditation and ego in glowing terms. I asked about this thinking of ego that they obviously sought relief from in meditation. “Do you ever just delve into it?” Blanks stares. I described MY form of meditation, which is basically to wallow around in problems and woes for hours, turning them over and over, investigating, feeling them, in the expectation that after I get sufficiently familiar with all their aspects, solutions will present themselves. And they do. I’ve been doing this all… Read more »
Millard,
Thank you so much. It is wonderful to see you again.
Thanks man. I don’t go far… 😉
Thanks for this honest piece.
“Shamanic Popsicles?” LOL.
The idea of ‘fellow travelers’ speaks more to me than any guru would.
I’m glad we’re traveling along together.
haha!
Thank you, Shawn.
I chuckled while I wrote “shamanic popsicles”, so I’m glad I wasn’t the only one having a party with the voices in my head 😀
Yes. This. Exactly this. Thank you. :,-) I grew up in a rigid, dogmatic, fundamentalist church, and got kicked out of Sunday School class as a teenager for the crime of “asking too many questions.” I never understood why God gave me a brain that was capable of reasoning and questioning, then basically expected me to check that brain at the door when I came to church. I walked away from organized religion in college, vowing I would never, ever go back. (famous last words….) I have considered myself Christian, atheist, agnostic, and just plain confused. I have dabbled in… Read more »
Thank you, KatyD
I love what you said about your own spiritual practices. Let’s face it, we all crave connection and there are many things that happen in a group setting which I would never deny are profound.
Thanks for being here!
I arrived at similar conclusions of spiritualism and religion a few years ago myself. I found so called spiritualists on the “enlightened path” taking elitist attitudes & viewpoints above other people, passing judgment over others. Arrogance & condescension, effectively alienating those who didn’t accept and regurgitate the same quotes and views from books they did. I found that “spirituality” can be and is practiced as religion and is susceptible to the same delusionary pitfalls as any religious practice. Sure, I’ve had experiences that changed my life on a deep level, a soul level. and If I explained would sound crazy… Read more »
Thank you for writing what some of us are thinking! Great mind-reading skills, you have!
oh, Suzanne!
For $19.99 per month, I’ll read your mind and map exactly how to attract a new Ferrari or a vacation to Fiji if you like. 😀
Brilliantly expressed (why am I not surprised?). For me, religion is the dogma, doctrine, container around ideas of the Divine. Spirituality is the direct connection between my being and the God of My Understanding, to coin a 12 step term. There is no separation between my ‘spiritual life’ and the rest of what I might do on any given day. It’s all One. I laughed at the huckster concept. I have had the opportunity to connect with many of the movers and shakers and blessedly have found most to be authentic and heart-forward. Some are what a friend refers to… Read more »
I have a friend who recently died. One of the things that contributed to her death was her immersion in the mantras of the ungrounded spirituality movement: the body is an illusion, your suffering is an illusion, the ego is all bad, ‘just ask for what you want and it will come’, presence is what happens when you watch your pain from across the room. These dissociative, dehumanizing perspectives were appealing to her because she wanted so desperately to turn off her pain and to find an easier way. This would have been fine if she had simply utilized these… Read more »
Jeff, so sorry to hear about that. I’m with you 100% that dissociation and dehumanization (in the guise of “higher” being) are not the way. I love your term “enrealment.” 🙂 I’ve been working through philo-religio-spiritual issues for over 50 years now (young starter, first concept of a “soul” at age 4 or 5) and the best “technique” by far in my experience is blunt honesty. Brutal honesty if necessary. With ourselves and each other. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful the kisses of an enemy. People are my friends if they tell me the truth.
Jeff Brown,
Thank you for weighing in. You nailed it. I hallucinate that we would enjoy comparing notes-from-the-road in person some day.
Millard,
I appreciate you. Thanks for being here.
No more self-avoidance masquerading as enlightenment. The “new earth” begins in the emotional body, the body temple, the repressed emotions, the healthy ego, the grounded personal identifications, the “power of then”. Witnessing the ‘pain body’ and calling that presence makes as much sense as kissing a frog and calling it a prince(ss). It’s time to stop confusing dissociation with expansion. Presence is a whole being experience. If a spiritual teacher has a flat lined affect and deadened energy, then you know that they are the furthest thing from enrealment. They figure if they can fool us into believing they have… Read more »
Great article, love the fresh perspective. I am a someone who really loves history and thru my studies of history, specifically Roman Empire and Medieval times I found that Religion was simply a construct used to control and educate populaces. It started more as an educational platform as most people were illiterate and there were serious things they needed to have taught to them. Example to not eat pork back in the day made sense because of how fast it can go by or to be taught about forgiveness or to be taught there is a “Hell” and “sins” to… Read more »
Thank you for sharing that, Patrick. I am fascinated to learn how we are all walking through the wild fields of consciousness together.
Whether ones religion is Catholic, BMC, Baptist, Pagan, Wiccan, Buddhism, Nature, Judaism…..etc, I have always viewed Spirituality as living ones religion in their community.
I have to ponder, filter and think on this. lol
Spirituality IS NOT religion. That’s like saying sweaters ARE Macy’s because Macy’s sells sweaters. Spirituality is free and comes from within as well as among others. Religion is the store/business that was created to reap a profit FROM spirituality. Spirituality is a PRODUCT (religion is NOT a product but a STORE where the product is sold) There is JUST as much of a difference between spirituality and religion as there is in sweaters and department stores. I’m a spiritual (sweater-loving) person… Now which church (store) should I go to to get my spirituality (sweater)…. catholic? (Macy’s), maybe presbyterian (Kohls) or… Read more »
None of the popular brands (churches,stores,call-it-whatever) suits a sophisticated Soul better than a DIY sweater 😉
Hahaha…