As many of you know, I’ve been reporting on the existential controls that can, and do, exist with non-dual teachers/teachings.
These controls have a surreptitious way of being masked and hidden especially under the cloak of numerous spiritual concepts.
As the Zen saying goes “Though gold dust is precious, when it gets in the eyes, it obstructs the sight.”
Born out of (the) fading patriarchal non-duality there have been many spiritual concepts that have ensured the silencing of those who have been harmed by certain authoritarian-leaning spiritual groups.
Concepts such as using one’s own discernment derided as ‘judgement’…feeling the forbidden anger at deliberate abuse (sexual or otherwise) and facing the love-and-light crowd…pre-mature forgiveness where there has been zero accountability…and the list goes on….and on.
It is in situations of harm at the hands of teachers, that there is often gaslighting….using the very teachings themselves (especially with regard to stories)… to ensure the truth never gets told.
However, there are very few spiritual concepts as potent and as radically dogmatic as the ‘tyranny of The Now’ (a perfection of descriptive words attributable to the great poet David Whyte) in silencing those who have an important ‘story-to-tell.’
Some stories need to be told…especially stories that reveal abuse at the hands of spiritual teachers.“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou
There was/is the absolute necessity of telling-the-facts-of-a-story (some describe this with, yet another, spiritual concept of ‘blame’) …a process needed for removing the mantle of victimhood (there are indeed victims)…and of coming into a birthright of genuine authenticity.
I like what David Whyte has to say about this ‘tyranny of the now’ stuff:
“Maturity is the ability to live fully and equally in multiple contexts; most especially, the ability to courageously inhabit the past, the present, and the future all at once; the wisdom that comes from maturity is recognized through a disciplined refusal to choose between or isolate three powerful dynamics shaping human identity: what has already happened, what is happening now and what is about to occur.
Immaturity is shown by making false choices: living only in the past, or only in the present, or only in the future, or even, living only two out of the three.” ~ David Whyte
- -Presence is available in an important recounting (most especially of harm and abuse) and healing of the past;
- Presence is available in this here-now…and
- Presence is necessarily available in the planning-for-a-future.
- In all 3-timelines Presence is the common denominator…in all time-space(s). And, for Humans, healing in all three is necessary.
“The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.” ~James Baldwin
In an on-line conversation with spiritual teacher Rita Friedman she responded to the very beginning of my recounting the harm by saying:
“Those caught within this particular out-of-integrity drama (https://integrityintruth.com/clarification-of-videos/), will have reckoning, trust me.
You may be one of those vehicles for reckoning but if there is you, there are others as well, and that is a strong karmic push that will occur.
Even if you never said a word, it would…and will…occur. But I suspect that it is there so that you can burn off the mantle of victimhood.
You are doing what you are designed to do as part of that burn off.” ~Rita Friedman
And THAT may be precisely why there are so many spiritual concepts around our precious individuation…it’s a potential threat against what is commonly known as ‘patriarchal, radical non-duality.’
The following link describes the existential danger of radical non-duality: https://integrityintruth.com/the-existential-danger-of-radical-non-duality/
Timelines do not wield a stronger power over the Power-of-Presence. Attention is our super-power.
Thank you for reading…Warmly,
-Leslie@ integrityintruth.com
(Image: Presence, courtesy Bing Images)