How Bad Religion Paved the Way for My Divine Epiphany — and My New Direction in Life
Resolve to embrace the experience of life – that’s why we are here. Know that you are already divine — and it’s your birthright to love every aspect of this material divine world.
I’m seven years out of my ex-cult, yet still from time to time find myself wondering: Why did I have to go through that hell?
I’ve had a few theories, but 2014 ended with me getting clear on the answer.
Simply stated, it was an experience my soul needed to take.
You see, I’ve recently experienced an epiphany about why we are here. We are here for the experience of it all.
I know that sounds trite; but it’s not. It’s actually very very deep.
I’ve spent 26 years of my life on a “spiritual journey.” The worst step on this journey — joining what turned out to be a cult — consumed 14 of those years (more than half!).
And what did I learn in those 14 years. Not a damn thing.
In fact, my spiritual understanding didn’t just stagnate: It devolved.
Why? Because the two men leading the organization and calling themselves gurus were straight up hardcore conmen.
What they “taught” had nothing to do with the spiritual growth of their naïve followers. But it did have everything to do with taking advantage of the innocent.
It sounds hellish. And it was.
And, yet, as hard as it is for me to say this, it was exactly the experience I needed.
Here’s why.
A Spiritual Journey Straight to the Rock Bottom of the Gutter
I was a spiritual addict with a skewed understanding of reality when I joined the cult.
Instead of realizing that I was already divine, and didn’t need to become divine — let alone need some joker to divinize me — I believed that I had to do something special, live a certain way, renounce bad behaviors, etc., to earn my place in the land where God resides.
And that led me on a road so grossly wrong that it’s an insult to the greatness of the higher powers that created our existence.
And, yet, like a alcoholic or drug addict, I had to hit rock bottom, where the filth runs in the gutters, before I could finally realize my horrible mistake.
My spiritual addiction to the wrong belief had to be taken to the maximum negative extreme, to the nth degree, in order for it to be killed once and for all.
That was the experience I had to endure to come out on the other side — to the truth of everything.
The Thanksgiving Day Epiphany that Set Me on a New Course
I had an epiphany in late 2014 — it fact it was on Thanksgiving Day. What could be more apropos?
And it happened with no fanfare, no hours of chanting, no being celibate, no repeating a mantra. Hell, I even ate meat that day (turkey!).
A friend from my cult years, a distinguished Indian gentleman named Mohan, simple said a few words to me — and it changed everything.
“Our reality of this world begins when our awareness comes into maya.”
I had to let these words settle into my mind for a bit. The deeper meaning is hidden in their simplicity.
I restated it to make sure I understood. “So our reality here is our divine self simply becoming aware of our experience in maya?”
“Yes.”
This hit me hard. Because for so long I’d believed the twisted spiritual message that I first needed to perfect myself before I was worthy of becoming divine.
That is a message that has allowed religious con games to play out for centuries — trapping true believers.
Our Life is a Wonderful Journey — Resolve to Enjoy the Experience to the Max!
After I left my ex-cult, I shut off all spiritual searching. I didn’t want to hear another person talk about God. I’d heard more than enough, thank you very much.
I effectively let the fields of my mind and soul go fallow. In the process, the garbage I’d been listening to for years was cleaned out of my mind.
This made room for the truth to enter and grow — like a fresh green field in the spring.
Then, like magic, I was ready to hear the truth of our life on this planet and journey through time and space.
Two weeks after having my spiritual epiphany on Thanksgiving, I was reading a spiritual discussion online about our already-divine soul’s experience throughout the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.
Why are we here? It’s all an experience. One we signed up for.
Where did we come from? The divine world. We are a speck of the divine.
Where will we go? We’ll continue our journey in multiple lives — from new souls to old souls. Then we’ll return to that from wense we came.
What’s it about? It’s about the experience of this amazing world and universe — which is a material expression of the divine.
I got it now. We are here in maya for the journey of it all — every up and every down.
This was the most beautiful, freeing, and empowering moment of my life.
I only wish that I known this all along. But it took going through hell before I could understand it.
I know it now. And now I can live the rest of this life on earth enjoying the experience of my divine self having a material experience.
I hope I retain this realization in my next lives.
So here’s my new years wish for you: I hope you experience it all, appreciate it all, and have the time of your life all of the time.
Embrace your awareness of maya, soak in the beauty, appreciate everything — and hang on, no matter how high or how low your journey takes you.
You are already divine.
Photo credit: © Sondem
