The Risk of Spiritual Sunburn

Good day to you!

A common occurrence among spiritual seekers is the falling apart of aspects of their lives after they have begun deeper inner work. People make a naïve assumption that just because they are on a spiritual path and are beginning to feel more peace in their lives that everything will be smooth sailing going forward. There are multiple reasons why this isn't the case, but today I want to focus on one of them. Let it serve as a gentle reminder for you going forward.

In the early stages of spiritual growth, the seeker who is looking to "spirituality" to solve all his problems, and believes it will, does indeed experience a greater sense of joy and peace in his world. Akin to the placebo effect, just the belief in the concept that seeking God brings greater joy is enough to bring the appearance of greater joy to the seeker. However, the effect isn’t sustainable as long as the beliefs (cause) that held one’s suffering in place are seen through and transmuted, and it takes time to reach that level of self-inquiry.

This is where the danger of spiritual sunburn presents itself. How many of you have had the experience of going to the beach on vacation and getting sunburned the very first day? If you haven’t, surely you know someone who has. Why does this happen? Obviously, the intensity of the sun’s rays is greater than the capacity of untanned skin to integrate it smoothly. Beach lovers have all learned this lesson and they will take time to tan in increments before taking a trip to the beach and then, even for the first few days at the beach, they will be moderate in the amount of sun they allow on their skin. This process enables them to achieve that beautiful dark tan they desired, without the negative side effects of painful, and later peeling, skin associated with sunburn.

Many spiritual aspirants have succumbed to the sunburn experienced when the call for God is made from a place of either being just naïve or, more dangerously, self-righteous. Unless you are being guided by a physical teacher, you probably don’t have the awareness that it is in your best interest to move through your work in small, step by step, increments, allowing the energetic fields to increase in vibration slowly and the physical form to then integrate these energetic changes. After seeing the positive outcome of initial levels of spiritual work, it’s easy to think that you’re ready to handle more and you may naively ask for more without recognizing that what you ask for, you will receive in ways you don’t expect. This type of spiritual aspirant, after making such a mistake, will learn quickly that all lessons will come in their perfect timing and they will then walk the path as it comes to them, without trying to force it.

The other type of aspirant, who asks for “more” from a self-righteous place, sets himself up for a hard time in the physical world. I cringe every time I hear a student say the words “bring it on!” because I know what that means. Your spiritual path consists of many levels and layers of initiation, all occurring in specific order. You can’t just skip a level and jump up two, but you can be brought the lessons of both of those levels concurrently. I have seen seekers, caught up in the moment of experiencing new levels of awareness, literally tell the masters to send them more, because they’re ready for it. And I have watched those same seekers get pounded by the outside world, where all your lessons present themselves to you. I’ve seen them lose jobs, lose partners, lose homes, and on and on. Why? Because they asked for it. In a moment of feeling indestructible and overly self-confident, they unknowingly asked for harder lessons to come faster. If you hold the attitude of self-confidence in your spiritual work, the masters will bring you the tests to see if you’re actually worthy of that level of confidence. Confidence is exuded from a master in the most humble of ways. One who gets cocky about their level of mastery is still firmly entrenched in the personal I and most certainly requires more lessons in order to go deeper into that aspect. “Bring it on” are not words uttered out of divine humility.

You must demonstrate wisdom on your path, lest you get burned by the initiatory lessons of Self-realization. As I tell my students, if you were to go from the lower energetic resonance of a beginning seeker who is just recognizing the desire for Truth, to the high-level resonance of an enlightened being, you would literally burn up. The body’s nervous system would not be able to handle the abrupt shift and it would kill the body. Just touching the physical body of someone who is currently in the energy of the Unified Field is enough to kill you. Now, imagine that level energy coming into you from the inside. Like Cate Blanchett’s character in “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull,” your mind/body couldn’t handle that much knowledge/energy all at once and it would be the end of your experience in this time/space hologram.

Mark my words well, and may your divine humility be your sunscreen, dear Ones.

Shusara