Both Light and Darkness Attract Darkness

A lot of perfectly fine Spiritual People get beat up by other so-called “spiritual people” because they are going through a difficult time. Somewhere in the “New Age” movement (where ancient knowledge is perverted and twisted and given a new coat of cheap paint) there has grown up a belief that life will usually go smoothly for people who just remain strong enough in their thinking. At Mile High Church of Religious Science, when I went there years ago, I often heard the chirpy little B.S. uncompassionate catch-phrase when people were going through hard times of “Change your thoughts, change your life!” Puke. While it is true at some level, it is bereft of heart or compassion for others, and shows extreme ignorance of the prime Spiritual Principle, which is Love.

This belief system is nothing more than an adoption and adaptation of Calvinist thinking. Jean (John) Calvin is the father of such churches as the Dutch Reformed Church and Presbyterians. He is also the father of a theory that, if you’re going to go to heaven, you’re pre-destined to do so and God shows this pre-destination through bestowing material goods, success and happiness, and shows His displeasure (and therefore that one is hell-bound) by poverty and a difficult life. This, of course, ignores 2000 years of the teaching of the Christian Church, as well as the Bible these people claim to love so much, but I don’t think that most so-called Christians bother to read their Bibles anyway. If they did, they’d know that Jesus had specifically condemned this kind of thinking. When we get unpacked and I find my Bible software, or at least a Bible (all of which got packed and sent to the new house today) I’ll be happy to give you chapter and verse.

The reality, as Mary Anne Williamson puts it, is that your darkness will attract darkness, but your light will also attract darkness. Again, Jesus expressed this when he predicted that those who followed him most closely would experience all sorts of nasty things.

At its base, the thinking that, if we are just following the rules and living a “good” life, we will be rewarded is both incredibly childish and incredibly superstitious. The fact is that we can make certain changes in the quantum Universe through altered thinking patterns and altered behavioral patterns and, in doing so, can call many things into existence that are wonderful and beautiful. But we’re setting ourselves up for a fall if we believe that Spirituality means that we have smooth sailing through the rough seas of life. It doesn’t.

First, our Ego Selves won’t let it. They are constantly trying to return our thinking to worldly and materialistic patterns (here I’m speaking of scientific materialism, not the desire for material objects) and away from Spiritually powerful thinking patterns. And humanity is not the only intelligent species inhabiting the Earth (no, the others aren’t the mice for you fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).

There are other species that are non-corporeal who inhabit the earth with us. Some call them “spirits,” and other “angels.” But the reality is that there are some of these entities who, like Darkworkers, see humanity as cattle as opposed to intelligent species. Watching this election season, I do wonder if they’re right, at least from time to time. An intelligent species wouldn’t pick “leaders” this way. But I digress.

These entities are also seeking to derail us from our paths. In fact, the closer we are to following our paths, the more both the Ego Self and the Dark Entities interfere. The Ego Self is terrified of anything it doesn’t know, so it sticks to the past. If our Ego Selves had their way, we’d still be in the womb, or, at least, in diapers and drinking milk instead of good Scotch. But the Dark Entities have a different agenda. They would like to eat. Since they have cut themselves off from the primary food source, which is God/Great Spirit/Universal Mind/Whatever, they have turned to us as their food source. They can only be fed off of Dark Energy, so they must impel us to do things which throw off Dark Energy. This last few years they have been quite successful. And just as the mythical vampires have their human “familiars,” so true Darkworkers (who are, by definition, the real vampires) and their companions, the Dark Entities have their human assistants. One wonders if some of these have not been inhabiting the White House, given the hate and fear that has been stirred up in our country. One may be sure that these “familiars” inhabit many pulpits and homes of those who live their lives in hate, superstition and fear.

Darkness wants us to be afraid all the time. It wants us to always have an “enemy.” It wants us to be suspicious of people, uncompassionate, and so on. You gotta literally give the devil its due. The Dark Side has certainly been feasting recently.

The alternative is simple. Don’t give these entities food. Immediately after 9/11 we could have had two reactions. We chose revenge and war. We could have made a very different choice. As it is, we’ve lost thousands of American military lives, and tens of thousands of innocent civilians’ lives because we chose war. We can always choose peace. But that doesn’t tend to win elections, nor does it make one popular. Hate is always an easier sell than Love. Perhaps because it is easier to Hate. Loving takes some real guts and some real perseverance. Hate is easily stirred up by blow-hards on talk radio who take a bunch of middle class, middle Americans, wrap their Hate speech in the flag, and tell them that everything bad in their lives is someone else’s fault. Love requires a great deal of humility, self examination, and compassion.

When we move on our path, both our Ego Selves and Dark Entities will move to stop our growth and return us to “stinking thinking.” Therefore, many of the most advanced Masters in the history of the world have suffered a great deal. Ghandi spent much of his life in prison. King was betrayed, spied upon and killed, probably by his own government who was pledged to protect his right to free speech. And, of course, we all know what happened to Jesus. Even the Buddha’s life was no picnic. So, if these great Spiritual Masters suffer, what makes you think that you will escape? Can you see how absurd the “New Age” belief in smooth sailing if you get on your path is? As Jesus said, “If they do this to the green wood, what will they do to the dry?”

When you begin to truly walk your path, don’t be surprised if you experience a bit of hassle from Darkness. Don’t be one of these idiots who gives up because “it isn’t fun.” While the Spiritual Path will induce peace of mind and joy in time, it isn’t necessarily fun. Only a child believes that it should be.

If you’re in this for fun, you’re doing the wrong thing. If you’re in this for serving others and growing in understanding, wisdom and power, then you’re in it for the right reasons.

One final thought on this subject. Some people believe that God should protect them or give them special treatment because they’re following their path. This is also a bit childish and immature. If God protected us from attacks from Darkness, we’d never learn and grow. God will truly use everything that comes at us to teach us and help us grow. But protecting us all the time (although God often will step in if we ask in specific situations…I just experienced an instance of that last week), would keep us from our Path, not enhance it. When I taught my daughter to ride a bike, I had to take off the training wheels and let go of the bike. She fell, but also learned to ride.

Peace, love, joy and prosperity.

J.