Upon rereading the essay below, I realize that I don’t take a definitive stand, one way or another, as to whether or not I find at least some channeled material useful—that is, does it make me more joyful. The truth is, some of it does: I’m a big fan of Orin, for example, and Abraham. Seth, not so much. But as with any spiritual phenomena, your mileage may vary, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
my search for wisdom greater than my own has led me down strange roads indeed
Since abandoning conventional religion and other weird beliefs, my search for wisdom greater than my own has led me down strange roads indeed, and none stranger than the writings and recorded lectures emitted by humans who claim to ‘channel’ the teachings of incorporeal beings who reside on other planes. Examples include Ramtha and Seth, both of whom are, like me, pompous and needlessly wordy, the marketing-savvy Abraham, and my personal favorite, Orin, whose manual Living With Joy I keep in my harem of bedside books and consult as scripture.
And scripture it is, for though the word ‘channel’ is a modern coining the phenomena it describes is ancient, going back at least to shamanic trances and finding remarkable expression in prophets like Abraham and Mohammed, who served as mediums for one or more discarnate entities claiming to be God. It’s curious that the most virulent critics of the modern channeling phenomenon tend to be fundamentalist Christians and frankly, their screeching about demonic possession strikes me as not only tiresome, but hypocritical, for there is little difference, after all, between a channel who takes dictation from a voice that they alone can hear and, say, the Apostle John who did, well, the same thing.
This is not to say that all those who channel should be taken at face value, or even that any should be. By its very nature, channeling tends to elude proof—and disproof—and of course the field is as rife with fraud as most manifestations of religiosity. Still, channeling in various flavors is so widespread that one assumes something is going on.
Speaking for myself, I tend to assume that the channel is typically sincere, that is, I assume that their experience is much as they describe, and that they really do hear the voice of some other. But is that other sincere, and is it even an ‘other’? Could the voice arise from some aspect of the channel’s own consciousness, and if so, why does it express itself so unusually? And if the entities really are from some other dimension, why are they so concerned about us? And why do they always confine themselves to philosophical matters; if they’re so smart, couldn’t they offer practical advice on occasion, maybe a source of cheap energy, or a cure for cancer?
But ultimately, as with any spiritual afflatus, channeled material must be judged on its own merits. That is, does the entity’s advice make one happier, or healthier, or at least help one to score points with babes? And here’s the funny thing: the only real authority on how helpful channeled material is to me is, well, me. So these wise, or not, teachings from extra-dimensional beings, or not, who speak through select humans, or not, are ultimately selected, or not, by me, solely on the basis of whether they slightly improve, or not, my tiny little life. The whole process seems needlessly complicated… or not.
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“But ultimately, as with any spiritual afflatus, channeled material must be judged on its own merits. That is, does the entity’s advice make one happier, or healthier, or at least help one to score points with babes? And here’s the funny thing: the only real authority on how helpful channeled material is to me is, well, me. So these wise, or not, teachings from extra-dimensional beings, or not, who speak through select humans, or not, are ultimately selected, or not, by me, solely on the basis of whether they slightly improve, or not, my tiny little life. The whole process seems needlessly complicated… or not.”
I would say that you are more of a pragmatist than anything. For you, the key question is, “Does it work for me?”
“It’s curious that the most virulent critics of the modern channeling phenomenon tend to be fundamentalist Christians and frankly, their screeching about demonic possession strikes me as not only tiresome, but hypocritical, for there is little difference, after all, between a channel who takes dictation from a voice that they alone can hear and, say, the Apostle John who did, well, the same thing.”
The difference of course would be the source of the “voice.”