The Free Radical

What does authentic spiritual practice look like? Is it our prerogative to surround any of the dark minions or our personal enemies with a shroud of love and light? Is it wise to pray for any old thing we might desire?

Or are we better off routing out our own hypocrisies and contradictions instead?

One hallmark of spirituality is the recognition of the energetic universe… which is to say that real world results can be realized through predominantly energetic means. And here we are entering a realm that can be loosely termed magic. The magical arts are typically divided between Black Magic and White Magic. What exactly demarcates the difference between them?

Another hallmark of spirituality is much ballyhoo about free will and the exercise of it, with or without infringing upon the free will of others. In general, the limiting of the will– through energetic means– of another is considered to be a practice of dark sorcery. Free will, we are told, is important, and I agree. In fact, when we speak of spiritual development, personal growth or just plain evolution, it is the development of will with which we are primarily concerned. In simplest terms, the spiritual path is mainly about the freedom and maturation of personal will.

The energetic practice of ‘sending love and light’ is in most cases an expression of dark magic in its finest subtlety.

How many New Agers have participated in group meditations aimed at improving the world through covert means? I have… though I must admit that it never felt right. How many of us have heard about the studies done where a group of a thousand practiced meditators were able to consistently lower the crime rate in targeted areas merely through the energetic intent of their meditations? This is usually offered as proof positive that group meditations are one way of ‘spiritually’ improving the world. But how is such a practice not an infringement upon the free will of others?

Clearly, such practices are covert means of manipulating the behavior of others– others whom we have deemed to be in need of spiritual guidance and correction. We justify such practices on the basis that it is for the greater good– the very same argument offered by Black Magicians in defense of their art. We assume that it is right and proper to curtail the will of others who attempt to curtail the will of others. That we fail to see such hypocrisy is a direct reflection of our own spiritual inertia.

Let’s look at it on a more personal basis. We identify an individual– whether a public figure like a politician or even a close family member– who we regard as troublesome. Their ‘unevolved state’ as we judge it is consistently interfering with our own ability to fully exercise our will… so we seek to change the ‘deplorable’ state of their lack of development. In a quiet moment we focus and send these individuals our love and light– unasked. We impose an agenda of what we consider appropriate development for their spiritual nature… in essence, saying “Here, I offer you my love and light so that you may quickly become more loving yourself– like me.” But when we examine this situation with an unbiased eye, we can easily see that the very reason why we have selected such individuals as troublesome is because they have consistently tried to influence us through covert means (whether through crafty legislation or black magic ritual or even common family mind-game dynamics) so that we will create a world that is more to their liking than our own. So we turn the tables on them… and do the exact same thing to them! Is this truly a demonstration of superior– more evolved– will?

Clearly, it’s not. It’s very much like holding an energetic gun to the other person’s head with the clear instruction to “Be more loving… or I’ll blow your fucking brains out– lovingly, of course!” Any attempt to override the free will of another is a practice in Black Magic. We have no intrinsic right to dictate the pace of evolution for others, or in any way to define how that evolution should look. It is this exact agenda of forcing others to conform to an external will which has gotten us all pissed off in the first place. We cannot transcend– or evolve beyond– a situation by engaging the very same tactics which created the original offending situation.

Admittedly, we are in a subtle realm here. We feel that we are doing good by helping others to evolve… but we are doing so without their permission or invitation– and that is a violation; it is a violent act. And what is the likely outcome anyway?

Covertly, we send our love to the evil doers. We tell ourselves that we are sending the energy of unconditional love. If the energy we are intending to send is truly without condition, then the recipient is perfectly free to do what they wish with that energy. If it is their will to continue in their ‘evil’ ways, then that is their prerogative, to use our energy in perpetuating their nefarious agenda. And that seems obviously counterproductive to our own intentions for a loving resolution.

Similarly, if we send our love to the evil doers with specific conditions attached– like, “I offer my loving energy to be used only for loving purposes”– then we are firmly in the realm of conditional love… and how is it determined what exactly constitutes “loving purposes” anyway? Even many of the darkest sorcerers are firmly convinced that their practices are perfectly in alignment with the greater good; their superior wills are used to cut through the ignorance and spiritual inertia of the masses. And if the energy being sent to them is unsuitable to furthering a dark sorcerer’s own intent, it will simply be rejected… and your whole strategy comes to naught anyway.

An essential part of learning is discovering where and when we are being ineffectual or even counterproductive to our own stated aims. It’s time we wised up.

“So is there nothing we can do energetically to speed this collective evolution along?”

There is something– something subtle and profound– we can do. We all– each of us– have an intrinsic right to the truth. Energetically, spiritually, we each have an obligation to develop our personal relationship with truth.

So when it comes to public officials who tend to piss us off, we have every right to demand the exposure of any deception or violation of the public trust. Similarly, in dealing with more personal relationships in our lives, we also have every right to expose deliberate deceptions when they occur. Our friends and family members have no intrinsic right to deceive us, and we are perfectly just in demanding the truth, both overtly and through energetic means. If we wish to remain impeccably moral on this spiritual path, we should only ever pray for the truth.

The truth is what is. When we know the truth clearly, we know how to deal with any situation effectively. It is only in deception where our will is negated or squandered.

So go ahead and send your light out into the world… with its built-in intent for bringing the truth to light in all situations. But even here, be cautious as to how fast you want this evolution to proceed. Demanding that truth be brought to light will necessarily include the revelation of all our own cherished self-deceptions too.

Be prepared to stand naked, Spiritual Warrior.