Self Realization— does it work? (Part I)
Until the Beatles met Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation was mostly unknown to the western world. But millions—bored with cold platters of religion, served up by cooks who were too far from the kitchen— followed the Beatle’s example, and began to look within. So what did they find?
A vast inner world of perception and feeling, and a perspective that whispered: you can make contact with divinity yourself. You don’t need a priest or a rabbi. For many, that alone was refreshing… But what smelled like a gourmet meal, straight off the grill, came with dessert too: you not only don’t need an intermediary between you and the spiritual world… You’re not guilty.
That release from guilt… The escape from everything to do with atonement, sacrifice and the religious institutions claiming absolute authority in those areas… Now that was better than homemade ice cream.
Self Realization offered personal liberty: freedom from doctrine, dogma, hymns and pews, not to mention, as Vance Havner quipped years ago, that most church services started at 11 o’clock sharp and finished at 12 o’clock dull. As the seventies took off, so did the hippies, eager to spread their wings away from institutionalized anything.
Fast forward to the twenty first century. Self Realization is now well established in the western world, and for good reason: its emphasis on personal destiny and meditation validate people who feel lost in big organizations. So too, respect for life and taking time to listen are timeless pursuits that will always yield good fruit. But do these practices answer all the questions we may have?
C.H. Spurgeon, a nineteenth century evangelist, had this to say: “Most people have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to set them free.”
The observance of that misery leads many to conclude that the Gospel is irrelevant today. One of the most prominent writers within the Self Realization movement wrote this in a recent book about the “real” Jesus: “Yet Jesus failed to bring about God’s rule on earth, and his radical vision became compromised…” (Dr. Deepak Chopra)
This particular writer, along with millions who share this view, was raised within a catholic school environment. For all the material wealth collected by the Catholic Church, few would deny that wealth is hardly matched by equivalent spiritual power. Nor is this powerlessness a recent occurrence.
Pope Innocent the II, back in the 11th century, while ogling a huge pile of cash, turned to Thomas Aquinas and said: “See, the church no longer needs to say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” Thomas Aquinas replied: “True, Holy Father, and neither can she say, ‘Rise up and walk.’”
The pope was quoting Peter in Acts. 3:6, when he told a crippled beggar he had no gold for him. But Aquinas followed with the next sentence in that same verse, which reveals, not what Peter said, but what he did. Peter had power to heal a man born lame. The beggar jumped and danced for the first time in his life.
When churches and temples, mosques and shrines are filled with beautiful rituals amid centuries of ardent prayer (but no one is healed), that is true failure. And although many aspects of the Self Realization movement have intrinsic value, radical healings are extremely rare. Thinking and visualizing your way to full emotional and physical health is… hard.
On the other hand, there is no question (that) our thoughts and mental imagery directly affect our health, but until you have seen and experienced raw spiritual power, you may not grasp that mental practice and effort is like connecting to a couple of AA batteries.
The real Gospel— which so few ever experience— is like plugging into 220 volts of mains power. Consequently, as most people have only experienced a miserable, powerless version of the Gospel, the whole hearted pursuit of Self Realization may become something of a “cuckoo.”
As you may know, the cuckoo lays her egg in the nest of another bird. When the egg hatches, the young fledgling feeds alongside the mother’s own babies. The mother is not able to distinguish between her natural offspring and the baby cuckoo. As that young cuckoo grows, he pushes all the other babies out of the nest. They fall to their deaths, while the mother continues to feed this foreigner, until he flies away.
Seemingly good ideas often have unintended consequences. Dr Chopra goes on to write that Jesus never ascended after being crucified. That is a sweeping statement from one man—and an opinion often embraced by those who pursue the self realization movement. But ideas often come with powerful appetites, and this particular perspective could prove to be an egg you might not actually want in your nest.
© 2014, C. S. McMinn