In a discussion on another forum on some channeled material, I was asked what I mean by channelling and why I had issues with it. I thought it useful to share my response here.
OK – the basics of what I’d call “channeling”. Essentially an astral being takes over a person to some degree. The person may be conscious but often is not. They use the person to communicate or write their message to other humans. Hence the human is a “channel” for their message.
Part of spiritual progress is increasing the integration of mind, body and spirit. However, channeling breaks that, in order for the astral entity to take over. Most channels have to stop at some point because it can be very hard on their health. But their identity and livelihood may then be tied into it, causing difficulty.
For various reasons including this, the divine would never channel. The divine also doesn’t come with a personal agenda that is contrary to your growth. Most of the wise tell us to ignore the astral and go past it. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said specifically to avoid channels.
A big issue with channeling is you can’t, by normal means, verify who the entity is and what their agenda is. Or even if it’s a fake, for that matter. Why would a 10,000 year old warrior have spiritual wisdom? And sure, it’s fine to use a familiar name like Abraham or Jesus. But in the case of the Hicks they’re clear Abraham is just a name. In the case of ACIM, most people who follow it tell me it is THE Jesus. Which it clearly is not. [astral source, language used, etc.] That’s called misleading and suggests further agenda.
I would also note it’s not “Consciousness” [the offered explanation] that is sharing the ACIM teachings, it is an astral entity. Basically a dead human or similar. Consciousness itself, in itself, is high divine, quite a bit more subtle than the astral. And if consciousness wishes to impart knowledge, it simply does so. Stuff shows up via intuition, inner experiences or circumstances arise in the world to impart the teaching. There is no need of an intermediary.
This happens all the time. It may or may not be recognized as such but it does.
This is not to say all channeled material is bad, only that it’s second-hand and difficult to vet. It’s also becoming more problematic over time.
Ironically, what has made channeling more of an issue in recent years is growing consciousness. Many people have become more aware of the astral recently, though they may call it different things or confuse it with the divine. The growth of consciousness is basically a top down process. It’s awakening inside out both in apparent individuals and in the whole. This means the last place it shows up is in the world.
But one of the side effects is its creating a descent of the divine. This is dramatically limiting the space that disruptive astral beings have to work with. And that is inclining them to become more involved in human life.
So you have the blend of people becoming more aware and the less-desirable astral becoming more involved. The first place this showed up was with channelers. People with open, undiscriminating astral connections became doorways to more messy stuff. It’s grown from there.
[In feedback on this post, someone also pointed out that mucking about in the astral can make you less able to discern the divine.]
Key as always is self-authority. Surrender is an important part of the awakening process. But this is in letting go of what binds us and surrendering to our larger selves, the divine. It is not in surrendering our self-authority and letting something else make our decisions or take charge in some way.
The most important thing is to go for the source, beyond all the forms and phenomena. Get yourself grounded in consciousness itself. Know who you really are beneath the mind and emotions. Then you will gain the ability to know for yourself. And you have a solid platform on which to grow awareness of the subtle areas of life.
To that you can introduce refined perception. We’ve become aware of the subtle but a little too vaguely. “Feeling energy” no longer cuts it. If we’re going to work with the astral, we need to develop decent skills so we can discriminate the dynamics and avoid the trouble. Then we can evaluate the quality of the source. Otherwise, we can get lead down the garden path into a dead end. Not to mention the energetic baggage we’ll collect in the process. Not evolutionary.
Davidya
Last Updated on December 13, 2019 by Davidya
It’s worth noting that the astral is where we go in dreams and has a similar reality. It’s not the home of truth.
Excellent explanation. Thanks.
Thanks, Suz
What about your experience with Krishna? How do you define that? You indicated on your BatGap interview that he, and others from time to time, would appear and point things out to you. You, apparently, had some communication with an entity you actually saw.
Hi Mary
Thanks for commenting. Yes, I’ve experienced many kinds of entities or beings. Krishna is a divine being, which is quite distinct from an astral being. I mention a few things in the above article about it. A divine being would never try to take me over, for example.
In the interview I mentioned my reticence because the prior experience had been with astral beings so I was dubious about the “new guy”.
I go into the distinctions quite a bit more here:
https://davidya.ca/2014/05/21/on-angels-and-other-subtle-beings-part-1-of-2/
This is very helpful David! I feel a bit of sorrow rising up through my body reading this article because I still have very close friends that are ACIM teachers. I could never align myself with it so I left the community and just took with me helpful “tools” I got through them. But I always questioned the material specially because the person which ACIM came through didn’t seem to me like a “clear vehicle” if you know what I mean. But to find out that the info came from astral realm is even more saddening to me right now!
Hi Gayanee
Well – keep in mind people are at different points in their journeys that may be served by different things. As I noted, I’m not saying channeled material is bad, only that you want to learn to discriminate. Just because something is subtle, doesn’t mean it’s “truth”. And just as you’re taught not to talk to strangers, so too those same rules hold true for the non-physical.
Our guides are also astral and are very helpful. But they do have our interests in mind. Astral is the world of our emotions and dreams. It’s a rich place but it’s also the home of a lot of baggage.
Yes I agree. I always felt that everything is or can be looked at as a stepping stone. I too have gotten benefits from that material. But my sadness or the concern came from personally knowing and interacting regularly with people who, from what I can see from here, are going around the same circle trying to break away. But too attached to the material and haven’t come across the ‘right knowledge’ yet. I know we are all walking home and our karma come into play when it comes to this too. I am very grateful to have come across people like you, Igor and Sat Shree. So much more clarity in my life since last year 🙂
Yes, I’ve found it common on the journey to have a teaching support you for a time, then have to move on. Some struggle, especially with leaving or stepping back from a first or influential teaching.
But if you look at many teachers stories, such as on BATGAP, they often name several teachers and/or teachings.
And of course, if they’re looking outside themselves for solutions or ‘right knowledge’, they’ll indeed go in circles.
But don’t we all start from learning from seeming outside sources before the actual self realization? And even after? Learning to find the right ‘outside’ source using my discernment has been a great help. Listening to the sofia panel and it’s very interesting to see how the group hold quite different views on some topics related to this subject. I am resonating the most with Kristin and Susanne. That it’s all fabricated and it all can be of help in someways. I don’t resonated with people like Francis who seem to hold strong opinions. Wish you had spoken a bit more than you did 🙂
Hi Gaynee
Right – but that discernment? That’s within. If you use outside opinion instead of inner discernment, you can be lead astray.
Thanks. It was a large panel.
I quite enjoyed the diversity of perspectives on the panel. The group all had very distinct backgrounds and come to different ways of talking about it. Given the size of the panel, I was struck by the found commonality. In off-line discussions we understand each other well.
It’s also worth noting that perceptions evolve as the person does, so the way they describe something like a fabricated world evolves. The language I used when I started this blog is quite different from what I use now.
Francis is simply very clear where he stands. And he’s very grounded.
Also interesting to me is some distinctions on how we’re being asked to serve. Until recently, it didn’t feel like it was time to talk about my personal experiences. Still adjusting to that. Francis only talks from his personal experience.
Or on angels – I got called to talk about that extensively. Francis has been asked not to talk about his experiences though its very clear they’re there. In fact, an angel helped them avoid a bad car accident on the way to the event. Kristin talks extensively about them because of her work.
Some of the people on the panel are very established. Several are still processing a major recent transition or stage change.
Yes I can see there was much respect and understanding among you guys even when you held different perspectives. Overall I appreciated everyone’s input very much. And may be as I get more grounded I will resonate with Francis more.
I don’t understand what you meant by this. “It’s also worth noting that perceptions evolve as the person does, so the way they describe something like a fabricated world evolves.”
I think it’s very helpful you speak of your perspective, experience and share your research. It was when I read of the 6 houses and understanding the refinement of Sattva and Atman that I could make sense out of some of what’s happening here.
On Francis – maybe, but maybe not. Each of us resonates with some voices and less so with others. I’m very happy to hear a Christian voice of clarity.
What I meant by the phrase is that as who we recognize ourselves as being changes, our perception of ourselves and the world changes. As the panel discussed, there is not one awakening but rather a progression, each of which reveals a new truth. You may have noticed Clare spoke of this quite differently, for example.
Sometimes the difference was in language, sometimes in stage. Perhaps most obvious was those who perceive the divine and those who don’t yet.
This is not to reduce anyone. Each brings their own gifts to the table. And such things can change in a moment.
I’ve spoken for some years on this blog From the experience but much less so Of the experience. Some of that detail can really confuse people, especially if they have concepts of how its supposed to show up.
There is also a big difference between talking about what you believe in and talking about what you perceive. Far more people talk about things like God and angels as beliefs. It can be startling for people when they realize some ordinary guy doesn’t mean belief.