This week we have a guest post by Brielle Love Eden. She posted it in a Facebook group called Grounded Spirituality a discussion group for Jeff Brown’s new book of the same name, and she allowed me to republish it here. Given the behaviour we’ve seen in our Tibetan Buddhist cults, I thought you’d find it interesting. Perhaps some of you have come, or are coming to the same kind of conclusion. Please share what you think of this view in the comments.
DEAR FRIENDS- Because I want you to be completely free of the
undeserved suffering you have been struggling with your whole life, I am about
to say something which is both “spiritually incorrect” and essential
to reclaiming your birthright of happiness.
Despite the bland and comforting saying about the wide array of
religions and spiritual paths- that they are all equally liberating and
therefore “all roads lead to the same place”- the honest truth is
that they actually don’t!
Or, you might say that they do all lead to a common
destination….
Which is a dead end.
Because none of them are grounded in, and sharply focussed upon,
what will really heal your pain and set you free.
Allow me to explain why this is so!
In my years as a Core/Bioenergetic Psychotherapist and teacher
of unconditional self-love, I have had the honor of working with many brave
people- true spiritual warriors- who had invested decades of their lives into
their religious and spiritual beliefs.
Many of them were brilliant and accomplished teachers of these
paths.
They ranged from Buddhist meditation masters to world traveling
yoga teachers, from devout Christians to devotees of various gurus or modern
teachings like the Law of Attraction or A Course in Miracles.
What did they all have in common? Just this- they had put their
faith and trust and every drop of effort they had into these worldviews and
disciplines.
And yet they were still burdened by inner conflicts and
relationship struggles, recurrent frustration and lingering unhappiness.
Most of these people were desperately struggling with anxiety
and depression and haunting self-doubt. They felt far from being truly free.
Sounds familiar?
Their unresolved conflicts- which were primarily with their own
honest feelings and Real Selves- had not been reached and released by the ways
they had been taught to look at and work with themselves.
Certainly they had made valuable gains from their years of inner
work and from the partial truths contained in the paths they had followed.
But they had not gotten to the bottom of their problems, and
thoroughly broken the inner chains that bound them.
Each of them was wise, and desperate, enough to realize that
they were never going to be free if they stayed strictly on the road they were
on and kept on doing what wasn’t really getting them “unstuck”.
So here is what I helped them to wake up and see. And what I
taught them to do to finally claim the grail of happiness they had struggled so
long and hard to reach.
First of all they had to recognize- regardless of what they had
been told by their traditions and teachers- that their anxiety and depression,
their lack of fulfillment and genuine joy had its true origins in the
dysfunctional treatment and negative conditioning they had suffered DURING
THEIR CHILDHOOD.
For example it wasn’t their (non-existent) “Original
Sin”, their “karma from past lives” or their Buddhist
“ego” which was causing them to suffer.
And that to finally be free they needed to break through their
emotional blocks and numbness, and thoroughly express/release the stored-up
childhood sorrow and anger, pain and self-defeating attitudes (fear, guilt,
shame, self-doubt) that were keeping them bound.
There is no substitute for this heroic and infinitely self-compassionate
work.
To avoid becoming fully conscious of the impact of your
childhood keeps you forever trapped in the darkness you are afraid to face.
The other essential healing task they needed to whole-heartedly
embrace was to unconditionally love and accept themselves.
Learning to warmly understand and validate everything inside
you- and see your own unique beauty and perfection through the eyes of love-
enables a person to be at peace with Life and at one with their Real Self.
And in the end that loving relationship with YOU is the ONLY
THING that leads to lasting fulfillment!
So if you are a practitioner of any religion or spiritual
discipline I urge you to wake up now and realize that none of these can
possibly get you all the way to where you need to go.
Why? Because they don’t keep you completely focussed on the real
problem- your buried and unredeemed childhood suffering and the shame and
guilt, fear and self-doubt you so undeservedly carry from the dysfunctional
treatment of your developing infant, child and adolescent self.
And on the real hope- which lay in
accepting/expressing/releasing every last drop of your stored-up anger and
fear, hurt and grief.
All of this as you learn to unconditionally see, love and
validate the Beautiful and Authentic You.
It’s time to open your eyes and realize that “you can’t get
there from here”!
But if you seek with all your body and spirit and heart and soul
to love and liberate the Real You, I guarantee that you will find your way home
to the unchained aliveness and blessed life of happiness you have always
deserved! LOTS OF LOVE- BRIELLE
P.S. I have developed a rich array of practices and meditations
designed to help you face and release your stored-up emotional pain (especially
from your childhood) and awaken the grace of your Unconditional Self-Love.
These are available for your study and use in the Notes section of my Timeline
and on my Psychotherapy page.
Be brave, move forward, work hard- and set yourself free! YOU CAN DO IT!
What do you think of Brielle’s point of view? Does it ring true to you or relate to your experience in any way?
If you’d like a more private place to chat about your ongoing spiritual path after you’ve left an abusive community, you can join the Beyond the Temple Facebook group. This group is for people who don’t want to talk about abuse, but want to keep in touch and share their discoveries, inspiration and challenges as they move on with their lives.
If you want to talk about abuse, then Rigpa or ex-Rigpa students can join the secret What Now? group. Apply via the contact form here, telling us about yourself and why you want to join the group.
Students from other Vajrayana communities who need somewhere where they can talk about abuse and find survivor support can join the Survivors of Vajrayana Abuse and their Allies group.
Note that you will not be added to these groups if you don’t answer the questions.
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