Holding Your Power: Keep the Teachings, Not the Teacher

A while ago I attended the Conscious Life Expo in LA. There were hundreds of booths and celebrity lecturers on everything new age, old age, healing, energy practices, Star beings, planetary shifts, astrology, ascension, evolution, how to save the world, and a whole lot more. It was fascinating but also overwhelming.

There are thousands of religions, healing practices, belief systems, and ways of being to turn to as we seek to grow in our personal Evolution. Tied to this of course are the hundreds of teachers, priests, priestesses, or gurus that are the channel or beacon for that wisdom. Some claim to be better, older/newer, more tapped in, or more enlightened than others.

In my own life I’ve gone from a Presbyterian Christian church upbringing to atheism to Buddhism to yoga / attending ashrams to eastern philosophies to ancient Japanese energy practices to Vedic numerology to goddess temples to tantra to shamanic practices… and even more in between. I was a corporate executive by day, and an eager sponge-of-all-things-esoteric by night.

I am certainly not alone – so many of us seeking a conscious path have gone through many different modalities to get to where we are today. In and of itself, there is definitely nothing wrong with that as we seek to find our true Self and true path. The varied information has suited me perfectly.

But what I”ve been seeing is how we continually give away our power to a specific belief structure, religion, or guru thinking they know the right path better than us.

What I came to see is how damaging this can be for our collective evolution — that is, if you don’t know your OWN personal Truth, how can you know real information from disinformation?

What filter do you have for your own personal path and what’s right for you?
How do you know if what a Guru / Teacher / Author (or for that matter, a news channel or reporter) is saying is right for your path and your Soul’s purpose? Just because everyone”s doing it or believes it doesn”t mean you need to, too.

Most people quite religiously follow teachers such as the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, and so forth. There is nothing wrong with that, but be weary of how you are holding the teacher vs the teaching.

Are you seeing them as all-knowing and can-do-no-wrong? Are you always weighing the teachings against your own internal compass of what feels right or wrong for your path?

To quote the Dalai Lama, “This is my simple religion: There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple.”

It”s important to develop a baseline of measurement against which everything else can be weighed, not just jump in to learning the next practice, belief, or wisdom because you”re enamored with it”s teachers “The Game King Video Poker Championship completed in partnership with casino online Del Sol is an ideal illustration of the way the convergence of mobile and social gaming impacts the casino gaming industry,” stated Robert Melendres, Executive V . and think they have something you don”t.

In Shaman training we went through a powerful and rather shocking ceremony of having to throw all of our identities, roles and teachers in to the fire (energetically speaking). We had to give up everything and everyone with whom we associated or identified so we could stand in our own power.

As we were told: “Keep the Teachings, not the Teacher”.

This was a lot harder than you may think.

The goal was to honor all of our life”s teachers, embrace the wisdom, recognize the growth, then let go of the Teacher who delivered the wisdom so we could deepen the knowledge within ourselves. In doing so, the ultimate reward was coming back in to balance and recognizing our own personal power (albeit after a temporary emptiness and going “oh crap – who the heck am I now?!“).

In a way it was like leaping out of a plane and hoping the parachute was still there.

I had to trust the wisdom would be there when I needed it and that I had truly integrated the teaching.

We tend to hold on to teachers in this way out of fear that we”ll fall, but as a result we don”t truly integrate the teaching and it”s deeper wisdom. Energetically, we”ve left our power – our parachute – with the teacher sitting in the plane (doh!).

That”s not to say it”s wrong to seek out a teacher – just the opposite. It”s just that so many religions and belief structures honor the teacher/guru above the teachings. While it is necessary and highly beneficial to seek out those who have attained levels of wisdom greater than where you are now, its critical you don”t give away your power. Honor the teacher, respect their wisdom, and follow the guidance or insights if it feels right for you. Go deep within your heart center and see if it “feels” right for where you”re going. Then take what works, leave what doesn”t. But integrate the full teaching once you”ve confirmed its in alignment with your true path.

I believe what”s critical as we ascend is to know that YOUR truth and your path is just as important and powerful as theirs. They may be further along on their soul”s path, or perhaps have attained a higher vibration, a more open connection, or a better mastery of practices, but don”t underestimate your own Truth in the equation.

I believe this is a critical step in taking responsibility for the collective evolution we”re all going through. We need to be deeply connected to our own center axis and maintain our personal power, while simultaneously seeking out and learning from those who have already gained tremendous wisdom.

Believe that your path is as great, as important, and as worthy as any Teacher you follow.

In love & light

♥ Eden

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