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Becoming Our Own Wise One, by Stewart Bitkoff

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

There are as many ways to God as there are created souls.—Muhammad

In our culture, who assumes the role of holy or wise one? In more traditional cultures the holy, wise one is a central figure. Often, they advise the king/queen, sit at the right hand of the chief, understand human behavior and prescribe medicine, help pass along the oral history of the tribe, and have an inner connection with universal wisdom and Truth. When a difficult societal issue arises, this individual is central in helping decide direction or outcome. Daily, they are consulted on a variety of issues.

Today, this diverse role and function has been spread across a team of specialists. For guidance, we go to a priest, counselor, doctor, psychologist, historian, politician, or lawyer, depending on the nature of the issue. Because of the complexity of some issues, this specialist may not even live in our own community, and to consult them we make an appointment, months in advance, travel to get the advice/treatment, and pay a fee.

This specialist model has pluses and minuses. Specialists, because of training, have information and expertise not available to others. In some endeavors, these people are essential and our culture cannot be without them. However, by separating out problems and going to others for solutions, we lose sight of the fact that, for the most part, it is possible to manage our own concerns. Within the wise one model, one person, who is readily accessible, knows us, and is part of our tribe/family, can solve a majority of issues.

In both models, the holy/wise one and specialist model, there is reliance upon others. While it is important in today's technological world to have the option to consult a specialist, we have generally forgotten our own individual potential and multi-level capacities. With training, we can become our own source of wisdom and through inner perception manage a wide range of daily issues, consulting with specialists as indicated.

Gradually, we are returning to a model of self-reliance and individual responsibility. We are shifting away from dependence upon others and searching for our own inner wisdom to manage our life. Tomorrow each person will be their own wise one, consulting with specialists far less frequently and only when required. This is the next stage in the evolutionary process.

Building Self-Reliance
How will this shift in personal awareness occur? We are in the beginning stages of it. Look around and notice the increasing interest in different religious philosophies that maximize individual human potential and how so many are returning to spirituality-based living. See the general discontent in the way government is being run and the growing awareness that neither republicans nor democrats can save us. From the outside, our way of life is being attacked by terrorists who want to return to a more traditional and religion-based social system (as defined by them). It is generally recognized that greed in the market place is destroying our middle class. The family fabric is being strained with couples having to work three jobs. Soon we will be a society of rich and poor.

Many are beginning to wonder, what went wrong? Also, many are searching for real, lasting answers.

We are living in an age when people are turning away from authority-based in favor of individual-based action. Over time, many have realized that we have given up too much responsibility to authority, government, and institutions, and gradually people are taking back control of their lives and working locally to solve their own problems.

The shift has occurred and will continue. Remember—a better world is created one person at a time.

A Missing Ingredient
In order to create better, more complete people, we have to add the missing spiritual ingredient. This enriching element balances individual greed and helps the individual realize that because of our complex world, often our best interest is served helping our neighbor. For example, we may have to spend money to upgrade the air filtering capacity of our car engine so that we have clean air to breathe. This may cost personally, but in the long run the air quality of everyone is healthier.

According to the mystic, the missing ingredient and balancing factor is higher consciousness. This consciousness, because of its alignment with Truth, enables the individual to work toward collective interest. his potential is latent in everyone, and its individual development and operation will help save us; we can then continue with our own evolution.

Personal spiritual development is a new frontier and area of inquiry. How can each traveler develop inner wisdom and reach higher consciousness? How can each become a wise man/woman and achieve excellence in their daily life?

There is a way to do this, but we have forgotten where and how to look. The next phase will see its full reemergence.

How do I go about finding the missing ingredient? Turn back to the religion of your birth; become a better Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, etc. Seek the inner core of religious experience: do not be satisfied with the outer shell of religious teaching and fossilized rules created by others. Find your own inner, vibrant Truth, and become a spiritual traveler. Each of the great religions provides a structure or framework from which to begin the inner journey of exploration of self and higher consciousness.

And, if for some reason, your journey is restricted by the religion of your birth, seek Truth and higher consciousness in another spiritual path. Pray and ask for a different way to open to you. Pray for a guide and teacher who will show you your own inner potential and teach awareness of your own growing spirituality. Find a teacher that is aligned with Truth and who will give you tools to uncover your own strength and teach you how to proceed on your own.

In this endeavor, three factors must be aligned: the student, the teacher, and the grace (Baraka) of the path.

It is tradition that the teacher calls to the student's sincerity or purity of heart; this is the factor that enables the student to be successful.

How do you grow sincere in your efforts? Seek Truth or wisdom for its own sake not for what it will give you. Seek Truth because you love and must know it. Then, as The Light or God wills, the golden or inner path will open to you.

This is the balancing factor, the missing ingredient. One day this awareness will be as common as the growing realization that there is an underlying or connecting energy in the universe.

Balanced Living
Until I achieve this inner understanding, what am I to do? Try to live a good, balanced life. Achieve excellence in something. Seek to help others and develop the many aspects of yourself. Make time to listen to your inner song. Stay away from that which is destructive. Do things in moderation and try not to hurt anyone. Be kind to yourself and others. Be a good loving person that is an asset to their family, community, and world.

If you do these things, in time, the inner missing ingredient will develop. As it develops, it will help you fully utilize all of your skills and abilities. Added spiritual capacity is a balancing and enabling element, helping the traveler reach human excellence and completion.

And when this occurs, you will be a king/queen in this world and the next, having your own inner wise one to consult.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2009. All rights reserved.

I once had the experience of seeing an old man appear on my television screen while I was watching a program. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was not an actor in the scene, but I didn't know who he was and have never seen him since. My husband also saw him. He was a washed out image seated in an armchair. I had taped the program, but when I played the tape back, he wasn't there! What do you think this was? If it was a spirit trying to make contact, why has he not done so again? Thank you!

Ann

Dreamchaser:

You and your husband had quite an interesting experience!

There is a veil between this physical, earthly world and the Otherside, and every once in a while, that veil is thin enough for us to catch a glimpse of the other world, or of someone living in that dimension. This is what happened with you and your husband - that's why you couldn't see the man again when you replayed the tape.

Sometimes you'll catch a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of your eye, or feel like there is something or someone else in the room with you. When you look up, however, there is nothing there. If the veil were thin enough, you would see all kinds of activity happening around you.

The world is something like a tree. When you cut a tree down, there are rings representing each year that it was alive. The size, shape, and color of those rings all signify something. In fact, scientists can tell all kinds of things about what happened in a certain year by looking at that ring.

There are layers similar to this on the world, though most of the time, we can't see the layers with our physical eyes. Just think of how many layers must be attached to the place where you are living!

First and foremost, there is the land itself. What has happened on that land over the course of time? Who has lived there? What happened to the people who lived on the land? What kinds of buildings were erected on that land in the past? What happened to those buildings?

Every single being who graced that land left an energy imprint, and those energy imprints are embedded onto the layers. There can also be energies and so-called ghosts just passing through that aren't attached to that particular place. (Not every spiritual being is locked into one place or one area; in fact, most beings can travel freely.)

What you saw on that film was another layer. It's possible the spirit man you saw was on the set the day that program was filmed, or perhaps he just decided to pop into that chair during the time you were watching the movie. Either way it doesn't really matter, for the result was the same: you saw him!

The reason for seeing him is the important thing. I feel you needed to see that there is more to reality than what our eyes can see. You needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that some kind of other world exists. You already knew this, of course, but you didn't have any real proof of it until you saw this man.

You are going to start seeing more and more of other worlds now. Don't be afraid of anything you experience, for nothing otherworldly can hurt you.

I wish you pleasant interactions.

******

Astrea:

One of my dear friends works for the telephone company in Oklahoma. She is very sensitive to spirit energy, so she usually picks up on any spirits that happen to be around.

For the past ten years, she's been working with what she calls her night people. These folks are telephone operators who worked the graveyard shift before they departed this world, who haven't moved on. Since no one she worked with has died since she's been there, these spirits are attached to this PLACE, not to HER.

This workplace used to have a lot of employees, but now that new technology has taken over, what was once done by thirty people is being done by her and just one other coworker. She says that from time to time these spirits change, but for the most part, she's been working with the same crew now for about fifteen years.

It's a quiet job, and they weren't accustomed to talking to one another much, so these spirits just show up, sit, think that they're doing their jobs, go out for meals, smoke, etc. She says sometimes the smoke smells so strong it makes her cough!

The other living person who works with her can't see these night people, but she does agree that there is a certain presence or energy there. My friend has lived with apparitions all her life, and though at first she was pretty scared, they feel like friends to her now. In fact, they keep her company. They don't talk to her, but they sometimes respond with a wave or a nod.

Your old man was enjoying his stories on TV when he showed up on the television you were watching. Often when we don't know the person who is appearing to us, their spirit will appear doing something they commonly liked to do. The man you saw was an avid TV watcher, and towards the end of his life, he spent most of his days in that armchair.

Spirits carry electric impulses. The biggest complaint I hear about ghostly spirits is that they mess with the lights, the TV or (heaven forbid!) the Tivo. (I used to dance in a studio where one of the dead dancers regularly knocked out all the fluorescent lighting.)

When people die, they don't always make a fast transition to a new life. Some people can go on for years thinking they're still here. This is especially true of lonely people who didn't have much human interaction when they were alive, for not much will seem to change for those who linger near this plane when they cross over.

This man's appearance at that moment was just one of those random visits the dead make as they're passing through. The reason he never resurfaced is probably because he moved on in his journey to another dimension.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.