Religion

What role, you may be wondering, does religion have in the growth and evolution of the Ego/Personality and Soul?

An interest in religion is indicative of the Soul's first 'break-through' of Light into the human Ego/Personality. Religion offers the Ego an opening introductory exposure into the thinking 'possibility' that there might be something more than the empirical, physical, emotional, four-dimensional world that the Personality has thus far negotiated through. A true interest in religion must come from inside the individual, be intrinsically motivated, for that is where the interest is coming from: the spiritual light of the Soul peaking through, hoping to (re-)gain a foothold in the human/Earth experience so that the Soul's Plan and Spiritual Evolution can become manifest. Religions offer structured, community-supported glimpses into the unprovable, unEarthly dimensions of truth and reality--glimpses that are necessary in order for the "unprovable, unearthly" Soul to have a chance to be heard. Religion that is forced upon a person or that is conditional to one's birth choice will provide the Soul with Personality/Ego constructs which it will later have to recognize for their limitations and then have to break down in order to be able to move onto a Spiritual Path.
     It is unfortunate that religion is often forced upon a young, still-forming Ego because this can cloud or even cripple the child from hearing the inner voices as well as distract it from its innate curiosities and inquisitiveness. The young child Personality is far too inexperienced, its Ego as yet too unformed, to know that the information inundating it from loving, trusted, 'wise' 'experts' could be false, limited, biased or misleading. As in the process of the construction of the Personality and Ego, years of incessant and coercive informational bombardment can so overwhelm and confuse the human mind as to be numbing, force it into passive submissive acceptance of the propaganda barrage as 'truth'--or, at least, as not worth fighting against. This usually results in the proverbial 'rebellious' stage of the adolescent or young adult as even the Ego recognizes the attempts to enslave and subjugate it to life-long conformity.
     As much as we have tried to create conditions of the deepest, darkest isolation from our God-hood in order to better test ourselves, The Voice of the Soul is never extinguished. It is always singing beneath the cacophony of outside mess. It persists because it has no choice:  it is the vivifying force supporting/underlying Life, it is the constant hum, the song of vibration of the Universal Life Force. The cacophony of the descent into four-dimensional devolution cannot persist forever. One day the Ego/Personality will be caught off guard: It will catch a faint signal of the beautiful, calming, peaceful, empowering Voice of the Soul. The more often the Personality is made re-aware of this Inner Voice of Life, Love, Truth, and Beauty, the more attention it will give it, the more it will be won over by it, the more it will listen for it and crave it--for its power and its Truth is so much more "real" and powerful than that of the Illusions we have co-created to test our Selves. Yet it does not need to yell and shout. It is in no hurry. It is infinitely patient as it knows that it has Infinity on its side. it knows that it will eventually be heard, be remembered, that the Soul will eventually re-member the Unity of its Divine Source.
     In the meantime, the forms and constructs of religion will only serve the Soul for a while--until the human host has accomplished discipline--until it has found that his or her thirst is not yet fully quenched. Usually this happens when the Personality has felt the connection with the Love-essence of others through giving and receiving, or, if s/he is more oriented to knowledge and information, the Ego/Personality may stumble upon more frequent examples of 'truth' that lay beyond the structure or systems of his chosen religion or belief system. The barely 'awakened' mind will begin to find more and more questions that his or her religion fails to answer adequately. As the Personality is starting to recognize ever-growing cracks in the forms that are human religious constructs the human host will then often be motivated to try explore other religions, philosophies and belief systems. S/he becomes curious. This is because the beacon of the Soul is strengthening, the Song is growing louder, more difficult to ignore.
     Eventually, the 'awakening' Soul will find inner strength, inner desire, inner power. It will move into the "seeker" mode--at first unwittingly and, later, fully committed. S/he will dabble in all sorts of books, partners, paths, teachers and paths until s/he will discover the one path that is all his own.
     The quest for the 'one' true source of Truth, Love, and Beauty leads the Personality to experiment with many new sources and resources. Travels and growth through a wide variety and large number of variations and versions of said "truth" may be incredibly fast. Sometimes the Ego/Personality will get comfortable or stuck within a new belief system for a while (old habits are hard to break) but, eventually, the Ego/Personality will begin to catch glimpses and hear proofs of the fact that the Truth--the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth--is available within himself--and that this has been the case the whole time. At the same time the Ego/Personality has found that religions are incomplete, flawed, and considerably distorted by and to the aims and desires of the leaders in these hierarchically driven, patriarchically-created systems. And so, the constructs of Ego, of religion, of books and teachers, of struggle and suffering, will fall away, will be discarded and left behind. The Personality finally begins paying more attention to the Soul and less and less to Ego and the 'external' barrage of information. The Personality gradually becomes the student and then the willing and, eventually, joyful servant of the Soul.
     With the Personality serving the Soul, the human vehicle becomes an instrument for the flow of the Universal Life Force, an instrument of the dispersal and effect of the Cosmic Rays, that is, an instrument of Divinely Sourced Active Intelligence, Love and Wisdom, Will and Sacrifice. The tools of the human vehicle become meditation and prayer, study and teaching, and giving service to one's fellow man. The more one pursues these endeavors, the further one opens the Personality as a vessel and conduit for the flow of the Universal Life Force, the more compliant the Personality becomes to receiving and passing on the information coming through with the Three Cosmic Rays.
     Once the Ego has been deconstructed and the Personality has become fully the joyful servant of the Soul, once usage of the Tools and Rays are mastered, the being is ready to graduate from the Earth School experience. The graduating Monad begins to look to other less devolved, less dense vibrational forms and structures for its growth and progress. We move on to other educational experiences in other dimensions, other realms, free from the confining limitations of the emotional tar pits of the human experience. Yea!
     So, Fellow Seeker, use religion as the tool it is meant to be. Religion is a version of tradition and wisdom--of 'truth'--that has been proved valuable enough by your fellow man that it has earned the honor of being preserved and passed on. But also try to keep in mind that each religion, each tradition of beliefs, morals and values, is but a system, is but a gathering of constructs, and is, therefore, full of limitations and stagnant forms. Each religion or belief system offers but one version of the truth. There are many versions of truth. Spiritual growth occurs through the recognition of the limitations of all versions of truth. Spiritual growth occurs through a continued openness to the flow of ever-expansive versions of truth--and, ultimately, to the discovery of one's own Truth. This is accomplished through the constant revisitation and revisioning of one's personal truth, through the skepticism of all systems, all structures, and all beliefs, through remaining open to any and all information. Remember:  Life is flow; it is constant change. It is not structure and stagnant form. If you learn to remain open to flow and change, you will find Life open and flowing--and ever-filled with ever-expanding versions of Joy, Beauty, Love and Truth. Just as the versions of Joy, Beauty, Love, and Truth that you recognize and appreciate today may be far different than the versions that resonate with you next year or even tomorrow, so, too, may be the version of your latest and greatest definition of your Self be different next year or even tomorrow. If you remain open. If you are able to "go with the flow."
     Unfortunately, most religions have stopped flowing or evolving. Most religions have become stagnant and restrictive. Most religions want you to stagnate and limit your flow as they have. This is not healthy for the Soul and it is not healthy for the Personality. It is not the nature of the Soul, of Spirit, of Life. Healthy Life is in constant flow, is undergoing the Joy of constant change. Fear is a Joy-killer just as it is a flow-stopper. Most human-created religions try to control other humans through fear-based ideas and systems. They attract followers through a few offerings of truth more glorious and exciting than the ones people have encountered before, but then they try to keep you, to control you, to ensure their perpetuity for the sake of stroking and supporting the Egos of its leaders. Religion offers you fresh, greater versions of Truth, Joy, Beauty, and Love than you, the seeker, has ever before encountered but it should not try to ensnare or entrap you. The seeker should be fueled by new, fresh ideas to process, discuss, share, enjoy the excitement, but then feel free and supported--even encouraged--to move on in order to continue the process, to continue the travels and adventures, to continue to explore and study other forms and systems of information. In each encounter there is the opportunity to define oneself against the new information coming in: The seeker will ask "Is this information that I have feelings about? Is this information that feels as if it is revealing more of my own Inner Truth?" Or, "Is this information that is helping me to refine what I currently feel and understand to be me or part of me?" With this in mind, I will remind you that there is no good or bad information, no better or worse experiences, no right or wrong religion or philosophy. There is only different. There is only that which resonates and that which does not. And all of it is trying to help reveal a more current, more expanded, more glorious definition or version of one's Self to your Self. Is your religion doing that for you? I hope so.