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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy: The Awakening Generation
Toasters, Shoes,and Spirit
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by Ann Marie Judge |
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Many of my friends in my generation of spiritual seekers see materialism and the physical world as the ultimate source of all our problems. Actually, this is not so new at all—there have been practicing ascetics and spiritual masters for centuries who work to rid themselves of the “desires of the flesh”—but it is making a huge comeback in the world of my peers.
It makes sense that the younger generations would particularly see materialism as the corrupting force of humanity. Especially government, sexuality and religion—if someone blames these huge forces of humanity to be corrupt or corrupting, the root is very often in how they are no longer about people but about things; personal gain at the expense of others.
Today, we’re watching capitalism engulf the world, our materialism starting wars, religions clinging for dear life to their offering boxes, widespread epidemics flourish through sexual activity, and the culture of shopping and mass media exploding to catastrophic proportions. In our homes, many of my friends watched their parents finally achieve the “American dream” of wealth and physical beauty, only to realize that they were still unhappy.
We are learning to oppose ourselves and history in order to establish a new way of being. By rejecting the material, we are staying, “I am not like those who wish to define themselves by what they have. I wish to define myself for who I am and what I do, and in doing so, I can learn to be happy without the crutch of the material that inevitably will fade anyways.”
But there is a problem with this, too.
When you look at something in the world and say “bad,” you’re doing yourself a great disservice. In truth, nothing in the world is bad. And by the same token, nothing in the world is good, either.
When certain things take on labels because of popular belief, individual experience, or simple opinion, a huge chunk of learning and experience is cut out of a person’s life. Take sexuality for example. Sexuality is very, very powerful; as such, most people can say they’ve had some bad experiences with it. And it only takes one bad experience to hurt you, for all the power sex carries.
The problem is that, if you let that color all your opinions about sexuality for the rest of your life, you’re missing one of the most powerful parts of human experience. The same goes for material things—we’re too quick to say that if one thing within a category is bad, then it must all be bad. We like to forget the flipside of things, the wonderful objects and technologies that color life, grant us the ease to pursue intellectual and spiritual things instead of laboring daily, and make us comfortable; things like bubble baths, hot teas, beautiful architecture, back massagers, bath robes, soft bed sheets, medical technology, toasters, dishsoap, master paintings…
The point is, none of these things initially come with a label. It’s humanity that loves to have an opinion on everything, sometimes for good, and many times to our own detriment.
The true question is therefore not if anything is good or bad. It is this: Is your life run by ego, or is it run by spirit?
Each individual person is the last say on what they think about something. So, the root of the issue is how you think, what part of your being you are living from.
The Hindu interpretation of life states that there are four different aspects to life: Artha, or "worldly gain", Dharma, or "universal truth," (among many other things), Kama, or" sensual pleasure", and Moksha, liberation from the cycle of reincarnation. One goes through Artha, Kama, and Moksha as stages in life, but the all-pervasive aspect is that of Dharma, the "universal truth," the guiding moral principle or energy that runs through all of life, and that connects all life.
By following this model, you go through materialism, sensuality, and spiritual liberation, but you are always operating with the Dharma, the ultimate truth that guides you always to follow the spirit even while pursuing the material.
Being human does not mean denying the very fact that you exist in a physical world, surrounded by material things.
No matter how spiritual you are, there is a reason you chose to be placed in a body and in the physical realm, instead of just staying within the realms of spirit.
One of my healers once told me that one of the best things you can do for your angels is to let them be in your body for a moment, to let them experience what it is to have physical sensations and feelings. You see, even the divine is curious to know what it feels like to be a human.
Don’t take that for granted. And don’t let yourself believe that if only you could overcome that desire for those shoes, or that craving, or that sexual desire, you would be happy. Instead, ask yourself where it is coming from. What part of you is having this desire? If it is a place of love and spirit, then heed it. Even new shoes can be uplifting, if you let it be as such. If you’re going to spend money, do it with all your heart! Eat that chocolate cake, but promise yourself you won’t kick yourself afterwards.
Start treating yourself with respect.
Say, “My desires are coming from a place of love for myself and a wish to grow and live as a sensory, experiencing human being.” If you feel something coming from a place that does not feel very good, don’t just squash it. Instead, ask yourself, where is it coming from? Am I unhappy, so I eat that donut? If so, then what could I do to make myself happy?
Give yourself some credit. And while you’re at it, give the world some credit, too. |
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Ann Marie Judge
Crystal Child, Student of Life, Spirituality, & Writer
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Ann Marie graduated from high school in 2005. She attended Beloit College in Wisconsin for her freshman year of college and will be attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the spring of 2007 for photography.
Not yet old enough for acronyms at the end of her name, she considers herself a student of life, and has been deeply involved in the spiritual community since her first awakening at the age of twelve. Since then, she has had much education in the metaphysical and spiritual arts by a wide variety of teachers and healers. She was very quickly recognized as a Crystal and Indigo child, as well as a clairvoyant and intuitive.
Because she was able to begin living for the spiritual at a young age, her dream is to reach out through her writing to other young people that are experiencing similar awakenings while still being within the educational system and a society that often does not recognize or nurture young, spiritually-gifted ones. Her vision is to form a community of spiritually-minded young people so that the younger generations will be prepared to be guides and teachers as the spiritual consciousness of the world continues to rise.
Though much of her life is still largely potential, she feels this time in her life is the first step in fulfilling her dream of becoming a published writer so as to serve the children and young people of the world that feel the spiritual stirring within. As well, she hopes to educate parents on how to nurture and understand what is going on in their children's minds from a young person's perspective.
Visit her website at
www.RandomActsof
Literacy.com
to read her works, view
her art, and gain insight into the spiritual experiences of an Awakened young person."
Find the forums at
www.RandomActsof
Literacy.com/forums, as well as a link to it on the navigation of the RAOL homepage.
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