A Hero Un-Like You!
People out in the world, who consider themselves teachers, coaches, or guides in life or on the path, often share their personal “Hero’s Journey” as a way of building rapport, and to lay the foundation for you joining their program or engaging their services. Their message usually follows this format: “I am just like you, if you follow my guidance, you too can achieve all I have.” And for many people, this works.
It has been suggested many times, that I should share My Story as a platform from which to share my offerings, however, there is one fundamental problem with this idea. My story is utterly unlike anyone’s I have ever met. There are, of course, always some common elements, I am, afterall, dwelling within a human form just like all of us. But, the combination of principles, ideas, values, how young I was when I embraced them, and especially the nature of my vessel, mean that I have always been seen as “Other,” as not like everyone else.
So, where does this leave me, and how does my version of the Hero’s Journey, my quest for self-mastery, really help me serve others? I cannot say “I am just like you,” as almost no one ever sees or believes this. Even if we only focus on the most rudimentary descriptors of my form, being a white, middle-class, man, the reality is, that this group of men almost universally reject me as part of their tribe or people. Add to this, that my body is tuned in the pattern we call gay, carries a permanent disability, and, most importantly, is aligned more to Devic reality rather than Human, therefore, it is rare to find anyone with whom I share many similarities in our paths in life, let alone deep aligned connection.
When seeking a platform to create rapport or to demonstrate that I have value to offer, how can I really talk about my Hero’s Journey, when at the deepest levels I am seen as Other. Almost none can see their story of life within my story, their challenges in the challenges I have faced and overcome. Therefore, what is true for me is frequently seen as irrelevant or without value to everyone else. They cannot simply apply “what I have done” because my vessel and reality is seen as so very different. How could my insights help them, when the truth is, I have never had to overcome most of the things they are confronted with? I certainly have had problems in early and adult life that others have had, and many have had far worse than I, but even so, my lifestyle from a young age, the way of being and living I was drawn to, in the culture of Australia, was so very rare and unrelatable… or so I am repeatedly told.
There is Always Some Value to Offer
Like with all people, the answer to what value I may have to offer lies in embracing my unique authentic self, and actually, in the very nature of our nonalignment – I have the perceptions of an-Other! I sit outside of most spaces or shared realities, and therefore, have the chance of seeing a more objective point of view. In this lies a great benefit, for those who are bold enough to seek observation from outside their reality and zone of familiarity and comfort.
But and this is a big but (LOL), to unpack what this “Other” really means, at least in my personal case, is likely to unsettle some people. If you are willing and able to open up enough, and see yourself through my eyes, what you see may cause self-judgment or despondency. This, of course, is far from intentions. I am interested in your growth and development, but primarily as the Soul that you are, not only this current Personality. I strive to see you from the point of view of centuries, and therefore, with profound extended patience, compassion, and nonjudgment. Though I am as yet imperfect myself, so I claim no moral high ground when it comes to embodiment of perfect compassion and nonjudgment. Just know that it is my intention to come from this space to the best of my abilities.
Now it is clear I am making no claims that “I am just like you,” or promises that you will ever perceive or live in the reality I do, know that the platform I stand upon and value I have to offer lies in a different arena. So, let’s unpack some of the differences between my peculiar little self and most others. It is my hope that even contemplating the following may open you to possibilities you have never even considered.
A Potentially Confronting Exploration
As I said regarding the Hero’s Journey, many people online talk about the problems they have overcome, as a platform for why, what they are offering, has value. Things like overcoming alcohol or drug addiction, they have quit smoking, overcome violent tendencies, stopped treating people like objects, freed themselves from sex addiction, now consider to the environmental costs of their daily choices, or that they have stopped abusing animals and have been vegan for 5 years since they realised that animals do not want to die and we do not need to consume them or their products.
They speak about overcoming materialism or financial desire; they speak about personal liberation, reformation, and transformation within some part of their Personality Vehicle.
They talk about their discovery of the spiritual path and all the practices they have found – not realising most, if not all, are “exoteric” and do not reflect the Greater Reality well, if at all – with no real ability to discern the difference between illusory or glamoured psychic perceptions and true spiritual vision.
But I have never had to do or overcome most of these things. Growing up in an Aussie household, I was fed the traditional “meat and three veg” meals, and this I simply changed soon after being able to make my own choices. Also, like everyone on the spiritual path, my inner perceptions or clairvoyant vision, which I had from a young age, were initially coloured by glamour, and required work to purify, and this took years of striving. But none of the other problems that so many have to rise above have ever been in my life experience – those types of choices simply had no appeal to me.
Now to dive in… take a long deep breath
I wonder if these Hero’s Journey people, and those who are drawn to them, ever consider the nature and quality of perceptions within a person who does not consume alcohol, drugs, coffee, or smokes, and never has, who has been striving to embody harmlessness since mid-teenage years, been a wholefood vegan for 30 of their 52 years of life, has been meditating 35 years (since a teenager), studying esoteric science (amongst other traditions) for 30 years – and not just studying, but living the path. A person who has never had sexual addictions, violent tendencies, or objectified people – instead, has focused on cooperation over competition, and the Greatest Good For All.
A person who has been driven by Harmlessness, and reducing the suffering of others, since a teenager. Has never succumbed to the allure of materialism, money, or sensory gratification; has, their whole adult life, seen all life, and even inanimate objects, as sacred and worthy of respect.
A person who strives to never judge, force, or manipulate others – is still imperfect, but has always been striving for non-interference.
And finally, a person who has known they are not their body – that they are a soul or spirit temporarily dwelling in flesh – so, are quite unencumbered by the limits, identification with or as, the lower self creates.
Do people ever truly consider the awareness of others who live in ways so unlike their own?
All that said, I most certainly acknowledge the profound value of people sharing their own breakthroughs and then using their journey, story, and experience to help others who can relate, to also liberate themselves!
An Apparatus Offering Different Perceptions
Have you ever considered or experienced the profound changes that happen if you live disciplines of purity or higher values with commitment for 7 years, then 14 years, then 21 years and longer, so that your entire body has been rebuilt several times over, with cells more and more embodying your new more purified reality? What do you think this does to what the physical senses can pick up, let alone those higher faculties, or the potential access to higher-vibrational reality?
What do you think the perceptions and awareness of such a person would be like? Can you conceive the nature of what such purity might create within their awareness – being so untainted by the usual toxins most pollute and dull down their vessels with?
Question: What is the nature of consciousness that lies within the nexus of Pure Living and Pure Motive, directed through Selfless Benevolence, Dispassionate Compassion, and Lovingkindness? How do you think such a person’s discernment would be different from others?
I realise all of this may trigger self-judgement for some – again, this is not my intention. We, including myself, can only ever do “the best we can with what we’ve got” – both what we’ve gotten from the Soul at incarnation, and through living with those patterns, karma, and lessons in life. It is always best to work at what is the next most important step to take – towards self-mastery and embodiment of Selfless Love in Acton.
A part of this may entail understanding that we are not all equal in terms of development but are all equal in terms of all being incarnate Souls, living, learning, and growing. Perhaps with this recognition will come a deeper valuing and weight towards the perceptions of those who we know are further along the path than us – despite how humbling and uncomfortable this truth may be.
Clearly, there are experts in all fields of life, and their wisdom and insights are invaluable to those of us who have not dedicated our lives to such study. But what of those who study consciousness, the human condition, or perception itself, but have not purified their tool of perception, verses those that have?!
What if you yourself have not lived long-term, within the conditions of Purity – if at all – in fullness?
When disparity of perception appears, which it will, who will you trust? Will you take on the perceptions of a Pure-Living Being, as a working hypothesis, and test them out, or will you grip onto those seen through a sullied form? Will you develop attachment to those ideas that enable you to stagnate in comfort, or open to embracing those that create the discomfort that directly supports your growth?
To conclude…
Questions:
What is the qualitative nature of perception and consciousness, for one who dwells in the nexus of long-term Pure Living and Pure Motive, expressed through Benevolent Lovingkindness, and Dispassionate Compassion?
How does it differ from your own perception and consciousness?
Is your vessel and consciousness even clean and clear enough to perceive the difference?
Due to what informs and underlies my Otherness and perspective, the approach and tools I utilise may not have mass appeal. In fact, most of the methods or ideas I would suggest will only have value for you, once, and if, you dedicate yourself to living a pure clean life. Unfortunately, this means, I am for the few, not the many – and this I am making peace with. Even so, I am still seeking ways in which my Otherness can serve and help the many. I am striving to find a language or way of sharing that may help ever greater numbers to step up to the task of truly cleaning out their vessels and opening to living the higher path.
Celebrating our Differences and their Inherent Value
Azure Seer