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| Our perceptions are dependent upon our 'level of being' or 'personal and spiritual development' ... perception is clouded by distortion, illusion, traumas, expectations, denial, 'internal buffers' ... and so on. We first have to be willing to see a clear reflection of ourselves as we really are. |
One of my teachers told me this story many years ago: A man was searching for a spiritual path. He had struggled with many challenges over his life and told my teacher that he knew there was more to life than what he had been experiencing on many levels. He was already a person who had an interest in this style of movement art as well as spiritual approaches to enlightenment, healing and personal/soul development. This Art, then, seemed to be exactly what he was looking for - at least according to what he said. His story shows how this can also mean very little when it comes to the truth of how one really is inside.
My teacher's style was a combination of internal and external practices (of course philosophy and other teachings were taught over time) - which externally presents itself as a body-centered approach to spiritual development and evolution. The student expressed his enthusiasm at finding my teacher and a path of this sort and began to attend classes. After some time, my teacher said that he observed this man one day and had a sense that something had changed in his attitude and approach to the classes. Flinging his legs up in the air, he examined his muscles and looked around the room ... obviously not engaged nor inside himself in the least. Later, this person said he was looking for something more 'spiritual'! He also started to put down the Art in the change room and some of the students complained.
My teacher told me how many other people he had taught over the years, with similar stories to his - some even worse, had obtained amazing results while others had not. Why? He stressed that first of all, not everyone is interested in this type of a spiritual path, and there is nothing wrong with that. Also, some students were ready and some were not - though they may have claimed to be. My teacher taught me how to learn to See the deeper aspects of what he was teaching by doing my own Work in reflection, study and going deeper within myself over time... nothing would be 'given to me' ... I had to Work for it and attain it myself ... a path walked for a lifetime ... I 'Knew' it was a true 'spiritual path' due to the personal results I got over time. He gave me nothing but the keys ... I walked up to the doors and worked the keys until I could get in ... and I continue to work and walk along this path today.
There are many examples of misconceptions of walking on a spiritual path. Some people mistake Kung fu to be an ego-promoting art where people come to learn how to be tough fighters with big muscles and that practitioners can develop aggressive personalities. While this can be true, it depends on the style of art and teacher ... but MORE SO on the personality and approach of the student. One can be taught or shown the ''Way'; it is up to one to personally make the required efforts to learn the Way and then 'Walk the Way'.
There are other students who imagine something will simply magically be 'given' to them by the teacher because they are the 'chosen one' or because they show up for a while!! When it comes down to the real Work, teachers of these sort of arts find out what people are really made of inside. I recently came across a saying that fits here: "You can lead a person to the door of Knowledge, but you can't make them think.'' This saying is similar to: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." It's faulty thinking that leads people to illusions when it comes to spiritual development ... enlightenment ... or shamanic/magical paths of study. The water is there ... it always has been.
Ego is a huge word with many meanings attached to it. While it is true that many schools focus on the fighting aspects of the 'martial arts', or the 'physical prowess and external look of the movements and postures', it is also true that traditional spiritual teachings still exist today, where the benefits of training focus more on the spiritual development of the student ... with side benefits which include health, fitness, emotional/mental balance, philosophy and natural approaches to healing etc.
The media does no justice to the Arts of Kung fu or Karate when the story lines are so focussed on the combat applications. This can also be due to the fact that one can train and study on one of these paths without it being taught as a spiritual path. Some teachers' lineages are more 'martial' - meaning military and others are more fitness oriented, health oriented or spiritual. While it is true that combat applications lie within the Art (as I was taught it), taught spiritually, they are like a fringe benefit! We do not talk about a punch in order to punch someone ... we talk about how it is closing a channel of energy ... this is only one example.
Many people have trained in Yoga, Karate, Kung fu etc... never learning about energy through their own experience of it at all (and there are many levels of this). One reason is that these days many people become teachers of these arts prior to their own development reaching a high enough level for them to experience these things ... now they are teaching others ... how deep will that go? People will get some benefits from doing these things; however, if they are looking for something more, they will have to look deeper. If one was not taught in this way, how can one bring others to this place?
My teacher told me that he was not surprised when the man we mention above never returned to class because he could not see the Art for what it was, and that this was OK. One of my teacher's sayings was: "This Art is for everyone, but not everyone is for this Art." Regardless of who comes, who leaves, and who gets 'what' out of it all, it will always be a personal thing.
While these arts are for everyone, not all people are ready to Work in the same way as we are on different levels of Being, and so we will only see what we are ready, willing and able to see. This is one reason teachers of traditional arts would often pick their students personally and would be VERY picky. One must be prepared to do the inner Work along with the aspects of the Art one is more inclined to enjoy; the foundation crumbles if one does not.
In any genuine path, internal Work is necessary in order to move forward - too many times people have developed other aspects of their being too soon only to become imbalanced and then what will they attract and create out in the world and inside themselves? Avoid skipping over this point lightly.
Remember the saying: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear?" Well, ever wonder where this teacher magically appears from? They were, perhaps, there all the time!! Well ... they were always somewhere! You can be sure that many 'teachers' are walking around day to day doing quite 'ordinary' things ... people who can walk you up to the door you are searching for ... question is, do YOU see them?
This is the meaning of the old story in which someone is seeking for a teacher ... seeing and feeling that there must be more to life, this person goes out seeking for a place in which to learn ... to discover what healing potential and enlightenment is all about. While out one day, this person crosses the path of a genuine teacher out in the daily world, doing daily things and not hopping about that they are special and important. Over time, this person walks by this teacher many times ... one who can offer them exactly what they claim to be looking for ... never seeing this teacher for who they really are. It can only be this way, due to the fact that we can only see where we are at ... to be able to see something higher or sense something higher ... requires us to BE higher.
Things are not always as they appear to be to us. We can all be in the same room and yet see things differently. We call this 'point of perception' in some circles ... it is also called 'level of Being' in others. The point being, once again, that we can only see what our current level of Being IS. While this can shift a bit moment to moment or day to day, we have an average level we are at consistently. This only changes with consistent Work over time. In order to be new or to see, hear and feel newly, one must BE NEW.
Be willing to see things as they really are. Then ask yourself, are you really ready and able to do so?
