Misinformation is information that’s been distorted in the communication process. Think of a child’s game of “Telephone.” If the first child in a chain whispers the message “Green golf shirt” to their neighbor, but the last child is told “Gandalf is hurt,” then misinformation has occurred.

Sometimes misinfo happens because of literal mishearing and sometimes it happens because the message becomes overlaid with outside information like personal beliefs, but the principle is the same. Usually, misinfo doesn’t have a negative intent behind it.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation is either intentional distortion or telling lies. The intent behind disinfo is negative. By negative I don’t mean demonically evil; I mean that the intent is to limit access to accurate information.

**

Both misinfo and disinfo are present in the spiritual community. The truth is out there, too—as well as within—but whether you’re searching for it online or in your inner being, you will likely meet with lies at some point. Lies can be uncovered by common sense and intuition, like by noticing fakeness in a presenter’s voice or body language. Sometimes, however, detecting bad information takes a process of reasoning.

So this short article will focus upon recognizing signs of misinfo, or disinfo, that you’re likely to encounter. It will hopefully help you build your discernment. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

The signs were chosen, in part, according to these assumptions:

(1) logic is a helpful tool for evaluating spiritual information;

(2) information from a high spiritual level is free from: (a) condemnation, (b) favoritism;

(3) genuine messengers of spiritual information are clear and concise, although the ideas they present may be complex or metaphoric;

(4) genuine messengers advocate going within, testing the information, deconstructing it, and re-synthesizing it. Spiritual information isn’t copyrighted, and its genuine messengers aren’t profit-motivated.

Sign #1
Propagandizing

(Look For: Emotionalization, Oversimplification, & Slogans)

When propaganda isn’t spotted for what it is, look out; done well, it will convey certainty and will echo the clarity of a truly wise being. Propaganda is information that is spread for the purpose of promoting a cause. Of course, because information is propagandist doesn’t mean that it’s untrue, but it does mean that there is an agenda—and agendas create a win/lose situation. And if genuine spiritual messengers are not-for-profit, then creating a win/lose situation in which they stand to gain something would be an ethical violation for them. Therefore, information that’s been treated with propagandist techniques is unlikely to be spiritually-sourced.

The three most common signs of propaganda are: emotionalization, oversimplicity in the face of an issue with many variables, and the presence of short, catchy slogans that allow people to begin serving an agenda through the collective use of mantra.

Propaganda can be subtle, but by necessity it’s aimed at your emotions. The emotional approach always gives propaganda away. Presentations that are loaded with symbols, archetypes, and sentimental images are dead giveaways.

The Charismatic Christian movement is a good example of spiritual misinfo that’s being spread through propaganda. At Charismatic churches there is an emphasis on boisterous group singing and dancing that’s often accompanied by video projections of crosses and clouds and captions like “He died for us.” I’m certainly not anti-fun, but the emotionally revved-up singing and dancing together with slogans like “Let Go, Let God” and stressing the crucifixion story again and again and Sunday after Sunday mimics the methods of propaganda. Granted, information can be unconsciously emotionalized, oversimplified, and fit into slogans without serving an agenda. But even without an agenda, those three characteristics are disempowering as they foster reactivity, put forth magical single-step solutions, and create cookie-cutter testimony.

Sign #2
Poor Logic

(Look For: Inconsistency & Logical Fallacy)

There are already many books written about logic and logical fallacies, so I’ll be brief. The litmus test for logic is consistency. If information is inconsistent then it’s illogical. There are spiritual truths that revolve around paradox, of course, and realizing those truths requires transcending the logical mind. But there are also religious and spiritual systems out there, based upon misinfo or disinfo, that are full of contradictions and inconsistencies bearing no relation whatsoever to a higher mystical understanding. Logic may not be able to deliver you to the highest spiritual state, but it helps you part way.

So look for inconsistencies. That’s where you’ll find the distortions and lies. And keep an eye out for fallacious reasoning. Logical fallacies are deliberately employed by disinfo artists because they play upon common weaknesses: believing might makes right, worship of authority, fear of change, and linear thinking. The logical fallacies corresponding to those weaknesses are Appeal to Popularity, Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Tradition, and Post Hoc (thinking that A causes B because A happened before B).

Wherever there are constellations of logical fallacies, many of them grouped together, beware. It takes a lot of mental work to imbed red herrings and set up straw man arguments. Obviously, a person could do that subconsciously in an attempt to justify his or her belief system, but it could also imply that there’s intentional distortion.

Sign #3
Falsehoods

(Look For: Lies, Omissions, & Distortions)

Yes, this sign is self-evident; but I bring it up because it’s all too easy to rationalize away a blatant inconsistency or lie in the face of other information that gets you good results and checks out logically and intuitively. But living according to a belief system with a glaring lie in it is like continuing to eat a sandwich with moldy cheese because the meat and bread are still fresh.

If you discover a falsehood it’s important to keep evaluating because it may reveal a longer ribbon of bad information. Finding a falsehood and following it to its source is what will objectively confirm whether you’re dealing with disinfo or misinfo.

If you’re dealing with disinfo, then the most obvious piece of false information might relate to how the information came into being. This seems to be a pattern specific to disinfo. If you’re dealing with misinfo, then the pieces of false information will reveal themselves through their relationship to the rest of the information.

I list falsehoods third on the list because it’s a much easier task to track down falsehoods after you have at least two standards of judging information. If a source of information shows signs of both propaganda and poor logic, there’s a high probability it will contain falsehoods or distortions.

Sign #4
Consistently Extreme Point-of-View

(Look For: Forcefulness)

By extreme point-of-view I mostly mean views that are judgmental or condemning. In American politics, this sign takes the forms of liberal-bashing or Bush-bashing. In the spiritual circle, an example is the fundamental Scientologist’s take on drugs and psychology, or even the fundamental Buddhist’s take on eating meat. An Always or Never-type of extremism creates categories of good and evil based upon memorized lists instead of being based upon the work of discernment. It may be technically true that eating meat lowers the soul’s vibration, but ask yourself, is it never useful to lower it?

Extreme views very often reflect or lead to bad logic. In the case of the fundamental Scientologist I’ve heard “All psychology’s bad.” Certainly some psychology is bad, but saying “all” is bad logic. It’s hasty generalization. Extreme views are very often anti-intellectual or driven by moral judgment.

You may notice, too, that extreme views are often accompanied by emotional force or zeal. A quick way for determining whether you might be dealing with an extreme or unbalanced view is to determine in what way the view is being presented (With force? With calm?) Also notice if their words match their energy.

Again, extreme views are very often anti-intellectual so the views need to be believed rather than reached through reason or inner guidance. “All aliens are loving and kind” is an extreme, New Age view requiring belief. If you ask a New Ager, “Why?” pay attention to the answer. You’ll probably receive a circular answer or reasoning that’s self-referential.

In the least, extreme views defend a position at the cost of missing the big picture.

Sign #5
Vagueness

(Look For: Verbosity Without Substance)

At best, vagueness is a sign that the material under consideration is linguistic masturbation. You can tell if this is the case by noticing the lack of practical suggestions. This type of material is mostly or all theory. At worst, vagueness is a sign that a carrot is being dangled in front of a donkey. The donkey gives the dangler a free ride, or does his work, all the while stretching for the carrot but never eats. Somewhere between these two cases, the best and worst, is the common bullshit artist or hack that energizes you but is ultimately un-filling.

I think people fall for stuff that’s vague, but clever and pretty-sounding, because it can be a palpable thrill to read it. It feels good. An author I would put into this category is Wayne Dyer. His work, to me, fits the “tastes good, less filling” bill. It’s verbosity with little substance. I don’t think the guy’s a disinfo agent at all, but I think he makes a living by quoting great people, working people up emotionally, and then feeding them vagaries like: Persevere! Have a good attitude! Actually, I wouldn’t even go as far as saying his work is misinformation, but it is watered down. I’m uncomfortable being critical of someone so seemingly really positive, but his wisdom is nickel and dime to me.

Maybe it’s all about what level you’re on. There are people out there who’ve never experienced a good attitude. And those people probably benefit from Wayne Dyer telling them that they must be kind in order to receive kindness. Often the simplest stuff counts most, but there is a way in which simplicity leads you to naivete and to spinning your wheels without understanding why you’re stuck.

Lastly, vagueness can also be a lack of organization. Lack of organization doesn’t mean that material is disinfo, but I think it means that there is an obstruction between a higher self and lower self somewhere. Again, this article is being written on the assumption that genuine messengers of spirit speak clearly. Clear communication doesn’t mean dumbed-down, or artistically pleasing, or imply perfect grammar. Some spiritual ideas are complex, take time to digest, and require learning. But clear communication does mean, I think, being able to be understood without having to read things into things. The higher self doesn’t give all the answers but it does give a general direction. To me, something is vague or disorganized if it offers no direction whatsoever.

Sign #6
Authoritarianism

(Look For: Commanding Verbiage)

This is a biggie. People who’ve spent a few long years exploring alternative ideologies rarely fall for this one, but because it exploits such a common weakness of the ego (being impressed by power) even seasoned seekers fall for it.

Maybe there’s a part of us that likes being told what to do, even if begrudgingly. I think the victim archetype is programmed into the human mind or the collective mind.

And all it takes for the archetype to be activated is a spell of uncertainty. In a moment of confusion an authoritarian voice can feel like the voice of God solely because of its forcefulness.

Luckily though, all it takes to get free from an oppressive authority figure is to realize that forcefulness doesn’t equal truth. Certainty doesn’t even equal truth. You can be dead certain and dead wrong.

Authoritarianism is a sign of misinfo or disinfo because spirit isn’t interested in leading—only ego is. (See assumption #4 at the beginning of this article). Genuine messengers of spiritual truth don’t want to direct you; they want you to direct yourself.

Authoritarianism is identifiable by an abundance of commanding verbiage: ...you should, you ought to, you have to, you must… always… never…” etc. More subtle authoritarianism is revealed by definitive statements that leave no room for outside opinions. Or it’s revealed by its lack of acknowledgment of each person’s ability to get their own answers.

Signs that are related to authoritarianism are: namedropping and overusing special titles or credentials.

A friend of mine once said that a true guru is a person who spreads the message hidden in the spelling of the word of guru: “Gee, you are you” (G-U-R-U).

Sign #7
Specialness

(Look For: Holier-Than-Thou Mentality)

There isn’t much to say on this. Stuart Wilde said that there are essentially two journeys: ego to spirit or spirit to ego. The ego is all about feeling special, chosen, one-of-a-kind. And those feelings can be created through affirmation of the ego or through rejection. Specialness is a trap with two doors: delusions of grandeur and delusions of worthlessness. And maybe a third door is a delusion of aloneness. I think there are websites out there—the ones that regurgitate Gnostic doctrines with a stench of paranoia—that exploit, and even heighten, a seeker’s sense of isolation. Feeling alone can be converted to food for the ego.

When you watch a movie or a play you might be able to tell if an actor is enjoying the attention of the audience. I think 99% of the time that that coincides with atrociously bad acting. The good actors are the ones who are involved in the scene so much that their concern for the audience is close to 0%. It’s the same in life. If you’re doing what you’re doing for an audience, then you probably aren’t fulfilling your purpose as well as you could.

Sources of information that promote specialness promote destructive egoism.

Sign #8
Jargon

(Look For: Complicated Terminology)

Whenever I pick up a spiritually-themed book with a glossary at the back explaining a long list of special terms, I usually put it back down. Of course, special vocabularies are needed in technical fields. For instance, I’m a massage therapist and in learning massage it was useful for me to learn many different terms describing essentially the same thing: massaging. To release a trigger point (a muscular knot), it’s far more effective to use static compression than it is to use effleurage. Static compression is leaning into, or pushing on, an area of muscle with your thumbs, fingertips, or hands without moving. Effleurage is lightly gliding over the skin, usually with full open palms. Both are massaging. If my teacher, when I was learning trigger point therapy, just told me: “Okay, now treat the trigger point,” I wouldn’t have known what to do.

I think spiritualistic jargon is sometimes useful, but most times…not so much. What it does is requires you to read primer material to understand the main material. It requires you to get a teacher to teach you the jargon. You can’t just take what you want. If the jargon is especially thick, you almost have to become a devotee and accept the point of view before really understanding it as a whole.

To me, what makes something jargon is: (1) when it isn’t immediately obvious what is meant by a term, (2) when the term isn’t clarified by looking at a dictionary because it isn’t in common usage, (3) when the term can’t be clarified with asking a simple question and getting a simple answer.

Of course there are complex spiritual ideas that aren’t immediately obvious because of your present spiritual level of development. I would be hard-pressed to define enlightenment in a single sentence with surety. However, the word enlightenment is pretty self-explanatory even if you can’t explain it operationally. En-light-en-ment: getting lighter. “Self-actualization” is closer to jargon. “Focus 23” is definitely jargon. “STS” and “STO” could be called jargon, but they can be clarified by simply asking what the letters stand for. “Service-to-Self” is pretty self-explanatory.

Spiritual jargons create categories of people who are in-the-know and people who just need to read this, take that workshop, and re-train their brains to think like the rest of a group. Jargons can create a common ground for discussing your experiences with others, but they also are capable of narrowing your vision and tricking you into thinking you have all the knowledge you need.

In relation to disinfo, jargons are dangerous. They’re dangerous because they may be reinforcing false beliefs. The belief is rendered reasonable and given the appearance of legitimacy because it has a neat name. Jargons are also used to obscure the truth. Politically, I think the most obvious example of this is “collateral damage.” Spiritually, I think the most obvious example of this is “the shadow self.” The term “Shadow” is often used to explain away the reality of negative entities and it deters the search for meaning. Example: I have a disturbing dream about masochistically cutting on myself and I wake up and say, “Wow, what a shadowy Shadow Self I have” without an attempt to look for or understand any message. I label the experience instead of letting myself feel.

Jargon allows you an opportunity to discard anomalous experiences as less meaningful than they really are.

A variation of jargon is labeling. In the Mormon Church, in which I was raised, people are frequently referred to as “members” or “non-members.” Of course, the term “non-member” can be invoked with greater or lesser moralistic judgment, but by itself the term is excluding—it says “not-a-part-of-the-whole.” In Scientology you have people who are “clear” and people who are “toxic.” Certainly there are people out there who are sick, but invoking a term for it over and over again stops you from actually trying to understand the sick in their own language. In short, jargons create judgmental Know-It-Alls.

Sign #9
Discouragement of Critical Analysis

(Look For: Insistence Upon Feeling The Truth)

This sign will seldom be obvious. There are belief systems that are openly anti-intellectual, but most hide it or it’s subliminally discouraged through the net effect of the individual beliefs. Other than finding a general air of anti-intellectualism, there are two hints relating to sign #9: an emphasis upon verifying the material through prayer, or verifying it through feeling.

Whether or not a system or teaching is “anti-intellectual” can be determined in a few ways. Do the teachings ask for obedience to rules without explaining the purpose of the rules? Are the teachers hostile to hard questions? What type of learning is encouraged? Learning by rote memorization? Or learning by a discussion of concepts? Does the belief system ignore large bodies of information that contradict its beliefs?

Another test for anti-intellectualism is the test for propaganda (see sign #1). Propaganda is meant to bypass the analytical mind by stimulating a gross emotional response and herding people into desired behaviors.

An emphasis on prayer for verifying truth is a potential trap, too. Now, I’m hardly anti-prayer. I pray all the time. I think prayer is great. Yet I do see dodgy groups using prayer against people. All the facts stand against them, but that doesn’t stop them from twisting prayer to “prove” their belief system is right. “Just pray on it,” they say. “You know it’s true.” “God/The Light/Whoever will tell you it’s all true.” If prayer was a totally secure line between you and your higher self, then this wouldn’t be a problem. If the mere act of praying automatically silenced the ego, cancelled outside interference, and protected you against peer pressures, then… well, there would be no worries. I do believe a person can pull through accurate information using prayer, but I think prayer can be more much effective if you’re aware of the risks of it. If you learn to recognize the sub-verbal intonations of your ego, and learn what foreign energies regularly affect you (your mommy, your friends, whatever), it’s much easier.

On the darker side of things it’s also possible that prayers are influenced by discarnate beings working through the advocates of the disinformation. I have a friend who joined a church based on a mystical experience he had when missionaries prayed over him. I don’t mean to appear arrogant, but after years of contemplation and research, I know the church he joined is false. It has its redeeming qualities, but it’s based on disinformation. It may be that the positive mystical experience he had was genuine and that, for whatever reason, it was right for him to join. Perhaps he’s raising the integrity of the organization by taking part in it. However, knowing him as I do, I know he’s bought into the disinfo. He’s a smart man, and was originally critical of the group he joined, but he threw his criticism aside after being overwhelmed by the power of his visionary experience.

Lastly, a critical frame of mind is discouraged by an overemphasis on feeling. New Age channeled texts, I have found, ask for feeling-verification a lot. It typically appears in gently authoritarian commands like this: “You are ___. You know this to be true. You feel it (...in your core, etc.)” This could be nothing more than suggestion. Books written in this mode may eventually hypnotize you into feeling what you’re being told to feel through simple repetition. As you read on and on into this type of material you may stop critically reflecting and asking yourself, “Is that really true?”

Relying on feeling alone to validate information is chancy because the information may only appeal to the ego. The information may make the ego feel dandy. And so, if you steer by feeling alone, then you’ll probably wind up doing a lot of things that are great at first but turn into a total nightmare.

The intellect seems to be out of vogue in the present age. I think that’s mostly because people crave the specialness of being psychic, of being an “intuitive.” In fact, it’s en vogue to view the intellect as anti-spiritual and as the chief obstruction to being spiritual. There’s definitely something to that view, but carried to its extreme, it invisibly creates an assumption that what we are now is not okay. It invisibly creates invalidation.

If the highest level of spirit is non-judgmental (see assumption #2 at the beginning of this article), then any material spreading invalidation doesn’t come from the highest level of spirit.

**

CONCLUSION

I don’t pretend that this is a complete list. But I would argue that if a piece of information contains all of the above, then you’re dealing with disinfo.

An easy method for evaluating suspect information is noticing in what context a falsehood exists once you find one. Once you find one, work outwards from it. If the lie is presented in a context of propaganda, or within a constellation of logical fallacies, or with unrelentingly bellicose views, or with a lot doubletalk, or by invoking heroes, by stroking the ego, with a bunch of terminology, or by encouraging you to act before think, then it’s probably disinfo. Of course, it takes time and mental energy to notice these things. The only shortcut is intuition, but if you develop your intuition without developing your intellectual discernment, you remain vulnerable. Our intuition, like everything else, has rhythms, good days and bad days.

I shied away from citing many specific examples of what I actually think is misinfo or disinfo because I feel that if the principles of higher spiritual truth—and of manipulation—-are understood, then mis/disinfo won’t really be a problem.

Take what works for you and leave the rest.

(CC) Creative Commons, 2006. By M.I. Bennett

This has been something I struggled with over and over. Why did he say that? Why did she blow her top? Why can’t they understand me?

Ever felt misunderstood? Sometimes the feeling can be perpetually unending. No matter the direction we turn, that bleak face of incomprehension is staring right back at us. Is it really that difficult for one person to grasp another’s nature, feelings and insights?

Or perhaps there are no answers defined within those particular set of questions.

A reversal of perspective, a little twist and maybe it is possible to slip right out of that ongoing psychosis. I mean that is what it is—isn’t it? We are all a little psychotic in our own little ways. I wonder how people in mental asylums relate to each other. Do they constantly seek understanding from their co-inhabitants? Do they presume that their room-mates share the same world-views? I don’t know – that’s why I am asking. Perhaps they do have unending debates on their social environment, and enjoy spreading their message.

Or perhaps they do not.

After all, they are in the loony-bin so they must know on some level that they are somewhat psychotic. The woman sitting at the lunch table; perhaps she knows that everyone else in the room—including the guard-carers—see things in a very different way to herself.

What does that say about the rest of us? We’re normal because we know what we think is correct—it’s the guy next door that has it wrong.

Obviously.

Or maybe it is the break-down of social barriers that helps the psychotic get better. Locked away from everything else—you know you’re a bit mad, you know everyone else is a bit mad. That’s a less confusing place to start from for sure.

The media-product-consumer worship culture we live in has become God-Like in its all-purveying all-infiltrating stance upon our minds. It is a difficult thing to break out of, and indeed I wonder even if it is any longer possible to completely break free. Anyway maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea even if it was possible. The problem is misunderstanding. The conglomerate techno consumer god has life; it lives through us, it is a conscious self-aware agent. It really is not that difficult to see. Look around your local mall or high street and it is walking around in a mild, frantic manner. It wants to multiply like all other organisms. It seeks to spread itself out, develop and grow—become more than the sum of its parts.

Where is the beginning of its influence within our minds and its end?

Does it want to be understood? Or is it cold, calculating and inanimate? What does it do as its tendrils reach into our consciousness, what impact does it have upon us? How much of our biases, reactions and beliefs are of this god-like entity, and how much are our own?

We are left somewhat displaced in the end. Like a lost soul shivering out in the chill artic storms, battering at the silent doors of comprehension, trying desperately to get back into our own minds.

Did we give our minds away or were they stolen? I watched the movie “Children of Men” just the other day. A real dystopia of a future, I knew immediately after the first scene that it was a film that was going to leave a deep groove. Something I probably didn’t need to watch.

Amazing cinematics, great acting and some of the most deeply memorable scenes of any movie. But it is a lost cause; does it aid compression or enforce division? Fantastic movie – but I didn’t feel enlightened for having watched it. Rather instead downtrodden, down-cast, locked in a cage. But that is the feeling the movie evoked in me – so is that my fault or the fault of the movie? I’m reminded of the movie “Monsters Inc.” the generation of fear for the benefit of others.

The media god is everywhere and all-purveying. The division between it and yourself is a blur. Or maybe there isn’t a division any longer and we are as much a part of it as it is a part of ourselves.

So who does that voice belong to—shouting from out in that chilling frozen waste? Who has been locked out of our mind and who has been locked in? Which one is “me”?

Which of those voices interprets the world around us? Just who does my perspective belong to anyway?

People’s interpretation of their immediate environment and circumstances seems to be almost mystifying at times. But it is getting much less of a struggle to understand just why that is.

There is clarity; it is readily available when you want it. You don’t even have to reach out and take it. It is just there – right in your mind or maybe it is out there within the world somewhere. I guess it doesn’t matter which, it is just there waiting to be found. It’s a bit like the weather really. Here in the UK, it’s nearly always cloudy – in fact I once saw a photo from the 1300’s showing the last time we had sun.

Saying that, New Years Eve night was amazingly clear; the night sky was of the deepest black—all the stars shone brightly despite a nearly full moon. It’s not hard to see why really, look where everyone’s attention was.

The clutter in our minds is brought on by the stormy winds of chaotic thought; a rough sea in the middle of the night – with no stars for guidance. It is not what we let in that is the problem. It’s what we let out.

Not in the sense of what we display to the world – but in the sense of what we generate. Awareness of what we allow to act within and through us becomes a great help. It is not a matter of suppressing or fighting it—that is akin to splashing about in the bath. How calm would the water be?

When we let our minds be. When we don’t force upon ourselves the endless stream of external and internal propaganda, there is room for change – swift, strong and total.

Not the (non)change of a hanged-dictator. But the soft gentle change of falling snow.

Awareness allows you to see in and through yourself. Your mind really isn’t that hard to see. Take a look at the world around you, what you notice and feel is the buffeting of your perspective against your mind.

Now which one generates which—and who or what made that happen?

Marcus
www.thethoughts.co.uk

It is this impatient attitude that leads to energy wasted in frustration, haste, and self-sabotage. Be wise and remember that preparation and timing are keys to effective action, and that timing is decided by factors not always under your control. Acting prematurely misses the mark just as much as procrastination.

When energy is not being released, it must be accumulated. When time is not ripe for action, make preparations for more effective action. Reading, learning, sharing, discussing, building, networking, practicing — these are ways of accumulating the necessary energy for later release, of setting in place the tools, skills, and infrastructure needed to make the best of what opportunities come.

Opportunities are like open doors. Forcing your way through a closed and locked door is unnecessary. Notice how the most unrewarding endeavors in life are pursued despite internal and external resistance, despite reluctance, nagging intuition, warning signs, and things simply not working out smoothly. These paths are riddled with obstacles that increase distress and make for wasted effort.

Good opportunities open as you stand before them, requiring only that you walk through the door. Notice how the most fulfilling endeavors come with internal and external assistance, accompanied by genuine enthusiasm and things naturally falling into place. Any challenges found on such paths serve to add excitement and transform effort into success. When the best opportunities manifest, you will have neither doubt nor hesitation in acting on them.

As always, there are two risks to avoid here. The first is letting impatience, wishful thinking, or dishonest motivation override your intuition and better judgment. This leads to picking the wrong door or perhaps prematurely forcing your way through the right door. The second risk is in waiting passively for a good opportunity to spring one out of chronic complacency. Let’s examine this second risk more closely.

It is true that when one is on the right path, everything falls into place naturally. But some take this as an excuse for complacency, thinking that since all manifests at its proper time all they need to do is sit and wait. What they forget is that being on the right path is meaningless if one doesn’t move along it. Like a road with exits, the right exit will come at its proper time, but parking and waiting for that exit to arrive is a contradiction.

It is in taking a previous opportunity to its conclusion that the next one manifests, but people already stuck in a rut are starting with zero momentum and must therefore jump start the process by doing something out of their own volition. It is as simple as shifting focus toward something interesting or exciting and going for it.

To summarize, preparation and action are equally important, each having its proper time as determined by circumstance. The time for action is when your readiness and enthusiasm meets with opportunity. If you encounter obstacles instead of challenges, then double check the sincerity of your motivation, examine the soundness of your methods, and check whether conditions are currently ripe to receive your efforts. Lack of progress stems from using force to surmount obstacles or passively waiting for opportunity to arrive. When fear of inadequacy keeps one from taking action, remember that time spent complaining could be better put toward becoming prepared. And lastly, know that all falls into place most elegantly when one stays busy enough with some positive endeavor to keep from anticipating the next.

We are ultimately concerned with actions that enlighten and empower others by presenting them a more truthful alternative. For help to have any effect, the recipients must first become aware of the choice, make the choice, then have what it takes to follow through. It is easy to see that today’s ignorance and suffering originates with people either not being aware of the choice, being aware but not choosing it, or choosing it but not having the fortitude or discipline to put to work.

This then determines what is our responsibility and what is theirs. Our responsibility is to enlighten and empower; theirs is to choose and implement. To enlighten means to clearly present the choice; to empower means to equip those who have chosen. While we may advise them, we cannot force them; while we may support them, we cannot carry their weight.

Ignoring these distinctions leads to wasted energy or dysfunctional dynamics. Consider preachers or quixotic activists who attempt to impose their views on others who have already chosen otherwise, or gurus who create an unhealthy state of dependence by carrying the weight of their followers. To avoid these errant ways, you must know when to inform, when to assist, and when to back off. All this comes with experience if you learn from the results.

Stated simply, the greater your internal enthusiasm and readiness is met by external necessity and opportunity, the more likely you are acting with the flow instead of ego. Signature of such a moment: “This must be done, I have no doubt this is the right thing to do, and I happen to be in a position to do it. My motivation comes from the heart and I am willing to answer its call.”

How many times have you forced yourself to do something, scraping and clawing to pass each milestone, only to realize that the resulting success was something you ultimately didn’t want or need? The hard-won promotion takes your career in an unfulfilling direction; the relationship you struggled to secure soon feels confining. Sure, you proved you could do it, but did you really want to in the first place?

When the self-help and popular psychology movement began promoting the idea of unlimited potential around the 60’s and 70’s, it was a breath of fresh air. Having lived with severe cultural and personal limitations for centuries, we needed permission to pursue our dreams. Unfortunately, this life-affirming message itself became a limitation, a mantra used as a club whenever we came across something we couldn’t achieve.

Sometimes it’s true that the only thing holding us back is fear. Sometimes the challenges placed before us simply serve to harden our resolve, or to make us look for a better way. Other times, however, limitations are an opportunity to ask the hard questions that help us clarify our true goals and values. Limitations also serve as boundaries, keeping us focused on what is really important.

If you’ve ever played a game of any sort, you know that games are defined as much by the rules as the goals. Players mutually agree to abide by certain limitations, and this gives meaning to both victory and loss. If these agreed-upon limitations didn’t exist, a chess player could move his or her knight diagonally to checkmate the opponent’s king, or a pawn could have free reign on the board. Eventually, there would be no reason to play at all. So how does this apply to our own limitations?

In life, our boundaries often serve to define our own personal playing field. As human beings, we are each born with a unique combination of talents, skills, and yes, shortcomings. Just as a machine is built to perform certain tasks and not others, we are made in much the same way. For example, you wouldn’t expect a washing machine to cook a casserole, nor would you use a stove to mow the lawn. Instead, you would use each machine to do the tasks it was designed for, not wasting one minute lamenting the fact that your hair dryer can’t process vegetables.

While we are much more complex than machines and play many roles during our lifetimes, we still must take our own psychological and physical make-up into account. What comes easily to one person may be exceedingly difficult for another. The physics major who revels in decoding the secrets of the universe through mathematics may find the language of poetry inscrutable. The talented composer might make a disastrous accountant or secretary. These types of limitations should be considered carefully whenever we encounter them.

The question is, how do we tell the difference between an honest limitation and a simple challenge? One caveat to remember is that labor without joy frequently bears bitter fruit. In other words, if the journey you must take in order to reach a goal is fraught with hardship, the end result may not be as sweet. That doesn’t mean you won’t run into obstacles following your true path, or even that you’ll enjoy every aspect of the journey. It simply means that you need to take a good look at what truly fulfills you, and what you’re willing to do in order achieve it.

Another important question to ask is, “Is this my goal, or someone else’s”? Society begins programming us the moment we are born, and oftentimes we have to make a concerted effort to separate our true desires from ones that have been thrust upon us. Do you really want to be a fireman, or is that what your father wanted for you? Is becoming a doctor really the shining achievement your mother said it was? Is getting a college degree truly necessary in today’s economy, or have we been sold a bill of goods?

These questions are ones that only we can answer for ourselves, and only we can accurately discern the rules and limitations we play best by. This is the gift that our limitations have to offer—to show us the boundaries that define our game board so that we may focus on playing our own game as best we can.

The Russian astronomer, Professor Nikolai Kardashev suggested a classification for the various stages that an advanced technological civilisation anywhere in the universe must go through. Human civilisation is currently believed to be somewhere in the range Kardashev-0.3 to Kardashev-0.7.

Kardashev-1 civilisation
Controls the resources of an entire planet

Kardashev-2 civilisation
Controls the resources of an entire solar system

Kardashev-3 civilisation
Controls the resources of an entire galaxy

THE STORY: The Crying Game

Let’s say you have a civilisation of level KC-3. Just like the Empire in Star Wars Universe or Asimov’s Foundation epic, you represent darkside of the force. That means you are aggressive, invasive and demanding as a civilisation.

Then in one insignificant corner of the galaxy, you find a little planet. This planet is really beautiful and has a combination of supportive factors like a sun, atmosphere, water etc… There is also a natural evolution on the planet, a very slow and patient process—just like every natural thing. You invade the planet and find nothing too important. Then you notice a species which seems a little more clever, showing promise for fast progress. You manipulate the evolution and make a genetic intervention upon that species. You make genesis (gene of isis) for them.

After some time, the species proves to be worthy. They are a very good resource for you—whether it be a physical slavery or an etheric energy source. You rule them with absolute power; the more they suffer, the more they are useful for you. This becomes a crying game for them.

But something happens. There are some laws of the universe that even you have to obey. One of them is the law of balance — polarity — and this applies to you too. There are some other KC-3 civilisations that do not agree with you. In fact you have been in conflict with them for a long time. They have interrupted your plans elsewhere many times. So when you manipulate a new species or lower civilisation like in our example, naturally you show the manipulated ones their enemies; “these and those are your enemies, don’t ever obey them”.

But despite all your efforts, the same thing happens again: others ruin your plans — others who believe all beings must be left on their natural path of progress to make their own decisions during critical times. There is a natural progress of consciousness anyway. You or others didn’t build that system, it was here the entire time.

You are sure that you are the leading force in the galaxy, but even some of your “rebel scientists” suspect that there may have been some very very big, unfathomable energies in the universe once—so ancient that even your high level of intelligence cannot grasp it. But that is not your concern, whoever/whatever built that consciousness energy and evergoing evolution is not important, you want to use it for your own interests, that’s it.

War!

...and war happens. This is “war in heaven” for the local species. For them this is very violent and full of unknown weapons. After many more thousands of years this war left its mark on their beliefs, myths, sacred texts; “fallen angels, wrath of lords, divine punishments” etc…

Anyway, the war forced you to give up the management of the planet/species. Or did you have to really? You put some very key elements into the species’ unconscious thinking patterns. The most important thing is, you make them believe they are all alone in a vast universe. You have to do these because there is a boring universal law which always interrupts your plans—the Law of Freewill. The members of this species must give away their power and energy to you willingly. Well, who says you aren’t allowed to fool them? You have your own freewill.

So you install the control patterns level by level. Should they ever reach a level where they start asking predicted questions, their programming will provide the answers: “you are created by a infinite power, this is your Lord”... “fear your Lord”... “obey your Lord”... That programming goes well for a long time. Of course the “chosen ones” that you placed as guards and enforcers of the programming should not be forgotten. From time to time some dangerous ones say “uhm, we were told that earth is the center of the universe, but my observations and calculations show we are on an eclipse around the sun which seems to be in the center”. But no problem. Your mechanism and guarding system works well. They are burnt or oppressed. Also sometimes there arrive some who are influenced by other KC-3’s, namely your enemies. Your guards call them pagans or witches. They get tracked down, hunted and burnt too. But the species’ progress continues and a new level develops.

We Are Unique

As you already carefully planned and predicted, the species reaches a point where your old guard system becomes ineffective. Enter a new level. You already nested this level like a Matrioshka doll into their minds. At this new level, the species takes new orders from their pre-programmed minds: “You are here by an unexpected coincidence. You are unique. You are the center of the universe. You are very clever. You rule the planet. You can use all the sources of the planet without any caution. All the plants, animals, earth, water etc… are yours”.

What follows is a harsh competition the species call business life and a very fast pollution of the planet. You trust the species’ apparent inability to connect the dots, and you’re not mistaken. Most members—no, nearly all members — of the species do not even suspect that the planet they are on is another living organism. They have preconceived notions of what is “alive” and what is not—thanks to your programming. The ones who try to expose these things and warn people are considered crazy.

Your guards are still on duty. They only change their dress. They are the leading figures of that new level. They keep the place clean, working, and still opress the ones who seriously try to say “wait, there’s something really wrong here”. In this level burning or crucifying is not the answer, your guards just ridicule “the rebels” that’s enough. The troublemakers cannot reach anyone afterwards.

By the way, your guards look and behave more and more like you as the time passes. Believing they are the chosen ones without any doubt, they violate, invade and attack other cultures one by one. Sometimes these attacks escalate into world war. That’s definitely fine for you, the farm still works and produces.

THE RESULT: End Times

Then comes the time you long awaited — well, maybe not so long from your perspective of time. This new level cannot go on forever, obviously. You know that there will be conflicts in different cultures of the species — no need to mention that these differences are thanks to you — or between the planet itself and the species. Maybe you’ve been there and already seen them, as time is not an immutable physical law for you. In fact, time is not linear for you and you can manipulate the timeline without much effort.

In summary, you already planted the last seed in their minds. Since the beginning they have believed this last seed of yours. They name it differently in different cultures but they all—without any exception—subconsciously await the same thing: the apocalypse.

You made a very clever move in saying you will return at the time of apocalypse. There are billions already waiting for you—in fact there were always hundreds of millions waiting for you in every generation of the species.

Now you prepare for the voyage. Time to make a visit to that far farm again. You take your trusted officers with you—who already became divine characters in that species’ cultures. Now it’s time to have a little fun at the farm…