UPON SEEING THE NAME OF THIS NEW SERIES I'm writing for PlanetLightworker, a few questions may have popped into your head. "Guerilla" spirituality? What in the world is this person talking about? Doesn't the world "guerilla" have something to do with war? How can a publication for lightworkers have a series that sounds kind of... violent? Have they gone mad?

I'm quite certain the staff of PlanetLightworker has NOT gone mad, even though inviting me to write a series of columns with "an edge" may push some readers' buttons... but that's sort of the point. Getting readers to think is the idea - it's up to you to then decide if this series will be of value to you or not.

An introduction is in order before I discuss what the intentions of this series are. For the past decade, I have been writing and teaching about the subject of spiritual etiquette, which in a nutshell is how our thoughts, choices and behaviors impact all whom we come into contact with and subsequently influences our overall degree of spiritual awareness and growth. My perspective comes from being on a conscious spiritual journey since I was nine years old, which has taken me through lots of territory over the past 41 years. My path has been blessed with amazing experiences of light, wisdom and unity, and has also found me experiencing the dark side of organized religions, handing cash over to New Age charlatans, observing hypocrisy and abuse in well known spiritual communities and by famous spiritual teachers and losing my spiritual naïveté in the bed of a (now deceased) wealthy guru.

What became clear to me over the past four-plus decades is that it is almost verboten to openly discuss the shadow side of self-proclaimed spiritual seekers, teachers and lightworkers on a deeper level than Debbie Ford wrote about in her book, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. If you do so, you're slammed with being "judgmental," so the elephants in the middle of the room and the naked emperors amongst us (and in some cases, including us) just kind of glide along unchecked because, well, everybody is just "on their path." And that is all noble and unconditionally loving - that is, unless what they are doing causes real harm to others - but they are not being held accountable for the damage they are creating because "that just wouldn't be spiritual." I will try and put this as nicely as possible: that's hogwash!

In the past ten years of communicating on the topic of spiritual etiquette, I have experienced that people (usually secretly) actually like seeing someone being called out on their egoic shadows, and many have cheered me for talking openly about what few want to fearlessly acknowledge. That is, until the Light is shone onto one of their egoic shadows... then their claws came out. Funny how that works! The other thing I have witnessed is if you clearly see shadow issues in another and do not wish to indulge them, by giving voice to your observations (without attacking the person, simply commenting on destructive behaviors), Ms. Ford and those with a similar mindset say that what you are seeing in another are your uncleared issues. Although that may be true in some instances, one must be very careful with such blanket statements. Just as some people teach what they need to learn, other people teach what they have learned. Spiritual principles can be used as weapons if we come from a position that we know it all - and such assumptions are harmful to our spiritual growth.

This is one Truth with a capital "T": If our idea about ourselves does not match how we show up in all aspects of our lives (including when we think no one is watching, or just as bad, when we are within our inner circle), then we are mired in Maya, submerged in samsara, infected with ignorance and drowning in delusion.

Yes, I know that might sound harsh, but as Gloria Steinem once added to the famous quote attributed to Jesus, "The Truth shall set you free - but first it will piss you off." This is the deal: you are beautiful and wonderful at the very heart of your being, but like most of us, you probably need some work to remove the bugs and viruses in your operating system. It's just that we're afraid to tell one another that for many reasons - a need for love and approval being at the top of the list of desires that can cause us to not speak up. If we come from a loving, compassionate place, exposing another's behavioral blind spots shouldn't be met with attack or discrediting our observations as simply our own unhealed issues. After all, as spiritual companions, one of the most loving things we can do for one another is shine Light on the shadows of those we care about, and hope that the people in our lives care enough about us to do the same. Fearing to do so because of possible repercussions keeps us all needlessly in the dark.

Here's another Truth: "Love and Light" isn't always warm and fuzzy. Sometimes love tells us what we don't want to hear, and the role of Light is to illuminate the darkness - and not just the darkness we want exposed. When our ego is pampered and indulged, it's very difficult for the deep work of spiritual transformation - which can be rough and messy - to take place. And if we feel we must walk on eggshells all the time in fear of offending another's ego, we can wind up stuffing our true feelings and living superficially. If a majority of us also fear looking into the mirror at our own uncleared dark patterns, the collective spiritual community becomes populated with groundhogs afraid of their own shadows. Surely a choice to defensively dash back into our separate status quo shelters when faced with the Light of Truth cannot facilitate the tipping point in consciousness so needed to change the course of human destiny on this planet.

Quantum physics is proving that everything is energy, including our thoughts, feelings and actions. Accordingly, our personal energy is contagious; it influences all we come into contact with adversely or positively, and ripples out from them across the globe and beyond. The more spiritual knowledge we acquire, the higher the karmic stakes regarding the effects of our personal energy. Just as the President of the U.S and other "big" people in power must be accountable for their energy, the same responsibility applies to spiritual people. Any hint of hypocrisy and lack of spiritual transparency becomes accelerated in karmic terms, and "walking our talk" is very serious business. If we toss out "Love and Light" in our words but do not reflect it in our moment-by-moment actions, then as ambassadors of Light we are saying, "Do as I say, not do as I do." The damage this can cause energetically is illustrated in the recent case of Ted Haggard, the evangelical Christian who denounced homosexuality but was frequenting a gay male escort. This created deep confusion and pain in the thousands who trusted him with their faith and their money. The reality is there are no small matters on the spiritual plane, and we don't ever "get away" with anything in the presence of the all-encompassing energy field of God/Source/Spirit.

As lightworkers, it is not our job to police the Universe, but it is our job to police ourselves. Unless we are in total denial and Higher Self-disconnect, we know when we are acting without integrity. Living with spiritual transparency and accountability for our thoughts, choices and actions is a service to humankind, as well as the highest form of reverence toward God/Source/Spirit we can display. If we can share our insights and observations of shadow behaviors we witness in others with honesty and compassion (and without a motive to "bust" them), we can help one another to serve humanity in the highest way possible.

By no means do I wish to imply actualizing spiritual transparency is easy! Some time back, I wrote a piece titled The Holy War Within for another metaphysical publication. I was really struggling with the whole concept of jihad. "Holy" and "war" being tossed together made absolutely no sense to me, so I spent time exploring the origins of this Islamic term. What I came to understand is that everyone on a spiritual path is engaged in an internal jihad between following the voice of the ego and following the call of the Divine. The other realization I had was if we are living the path of a fearless Spiritual Warrior, we are not afraid to face our own egoic shadows, and sometimes this takes courageous guerilla tactics.

As long as we serve two masters, we are vulnerable to spiritually self-destructive tendencies as much as we are gifted with moments of dazzling selfless insight. The battle within our soul is rich with experiences both beautiful and terrifying when we have one foot in each world. Eventually, often after many lifetimes on the Wheel of Fortune, the soul figures out that maybe life on the merry-go-round isn't always merry, and choosing to plant both shoes in the celestial-firma is a better idea. The thing is, dropping all the baggage and energetic clutter we acquired in our tango with the ego takes more than a wave of a sage wand or good intentions to eliminate, and the ego doesn't take kindly to being dissed.

The ego is very clever, and as I stated above, can even use what are considered to be universal spiritual principles as weapons of small-self defense. It can trick you into thinking you should manifest all that you desire materially, and not consider if it will place you in spiritual poverty. It can make you believe you are holier than another because you are, after all, a spiritual person, not some blind religious follower. The ego can cause you to be able to justify anything you do in the name of God, including kill others. It can have you ask your followers to run up huge credit card debt to attend your pricey "exclusive" seminar. (Hint: the word "exclusive," actually divides followers into the "haves" and "have nots" - not what authentic spirituality is intended to do. And stating that the people who can't afford to attend are just "blocking abundance" is a very cruel thing to do to a fellow human being.)

If you are really committed to transcending the ego's grip on your consciousness, it takes massive radical self-honesty and humility, which is attained by a co-creative relationship with God/Source/Spirit (recommended over mere "self-help"). It also takes integrity, grace, compassion, empathy, kindness, hope, courage, reverence, authenticity mental/emotional/physical/spiritual ownership - and a very abundant, self-effacing and healthy sense of humor. These are all arrows in your quiver as a fearless guerilla Spiritual Warrior. No energetic poison darts are permitted, including attacks, disrespect, condescension, superiority and entitlement attitudes. The most important thing to note about your quiver is that it is composed entirely of love, and sometimes it's that flavor we call "tough love."

If we truly are the ones who we have been waiting for as stated in the Hopi prophecies, then our good intentions must be backed up with supportive actions. We demand transparency in our government and corporations; demanding it in ourselves is at least as important. Channeling grace means choosing to live with grace. Actualizing integrity means never compromising it. Attracting lasting abundance means plugging up any place that abundance can leak out - and that means all levels, not merely financial - abundance spiritually is the cake and all else is icing.

This series will ask you to look deep within each month and offer lots to think about and hopefully act upon. Guerilla Spirituality for the Fearless is all about courageous Higher Love for the benefit of all - including ourselves. Deep spiritual work doesn't ask you to be perfect, but it does ask you to be as impeccable a Spiritual Warrior you possibly can be. How do you start becoming impeccable? By being fearlessly and radically self-honest, humble, compassionate, present and mindful. Do you want global peace? Then first be an instrument of peace in everything you do. Do you want global unity? Then first choose to live without any divisive thinking or behaviors. Do you want honesty in your fellow human beings? Then first be totally honest yourself. Do you really want love and light to prevail in the world 24/7? Then first let it prevail in yourself 24/7.

Process Journal exercise for February: Make a list of your personal Golden Rules as to how you consistently want to be treated. Then inquire within and ask if that's how you consistently treat others. Any areas that don't match up are shadow matters to work on. Don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake - ask God/Source/Spirit for guidance and support, and simply make amends and begin again with greater insight, humility and dedication. Every personal shadow we transcend and every bit of increased Light we contain and reflect back outward is what will help change the world.

© Suzanne Matthiessen, 2007

EDITOR'S NOTE: Beginning in March, "Guerilla Spirituality for the Fearless" will become a series in PlanetLightworker's paid section. Each month, Suzanne will take us deeper into ourselves and encourage us to live with spiritual integrity. Check it out!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Suzanne Matthiessen is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Classical Feng Shui practitioner, and writes, teaches and consults about personal energy, spiritual growth and transcending behavioral shadow issues. Her new book, Affirmative Actions: Eyes Open Meditations for Women is available through her website spiritualetiquette.com, as well as information on workshops, coaching for individuals and groups and other tools for spiritual transformation.