TOPICS: Focus is good when having a personal teacher – select technique on individual basis – do not become rigid – dream of automatic salvation – establish contact with your Christ self –
Question: Some teachers say that in order to get the most out of the practice, it is best not to mix it with any other spiritual practices or religions. In other words, they are suggesting that the practitioners are totally devoted to only one teaching to the exclusion of the study or practice of anything else, if they want to achieve their highest spiritual potential. What is your comment on this?
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels:
There are situations in which it can be beneficial for students to focus all attention on one teaching or one spiritual technique. However, this is mostly true in situations where students are working directly with a spiritual teacher or are participating in an intensive course in a spiritual retreat setting.
For the general public, I would not recommend that people focus on one particular technique or practice. The selection of a spiritual technique is a highly individual matter. Unless a person has direct interaction with a spiritual teacher, a person should decide such matters through direct contact with his or her Christ self.
Furthermore, it is extremely important not to become rigid in one’s application of a technique or the study of a spiritual teaching. Everyone will go through certain phases on their personal path. What works at one stage of the path might not work at the next stage. One of the greatest hindrances on the spiritual path is that students become attached to a particular practice or teaching. They fall into the trap of accepting the dream of an automatic salvation. They think that if only they keep practicing this particular technique or believing this particular doctrine for the rest of their lives, they will automatically be saved.
I highly recommend that any sincere student makes an all-out effort to establish communion with his or her Christ self. Never allow any outside factor to make you ignore or set aside what comes to you from your higher self. Remain open to any instructions you get from within and follow those instructions.
It is important to recognize that at a certain stage of the path you might not get a clear and direct communication from your Christ self. Instead, you will get the intuitive sense that something you read or hear is true and applies to you. In other words, your inner communion takes the form of a confirmation that what comes to you from without is correct.
Consequently, if you confine your studies to one particular teaching, you prevent your Christ self from telling you if and when it is time to move on.
For this reason, I highly recommend that people keep an open mind and study a variety of spiritual teachings. I am not saying that people cannot study a particular teaching or practice a particular technique for a lifetime. I am simply saying that exclusivity has the potential of limiting the communication from your Christ self, and this will then limit your spiritual progress.
Copyright © 2003 by Kim Michaels