Why Psychic And Clairvoyant Powers Can Be A Barrier To Spiritual Development – Part Two

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Author Richard F Holmes

Following on from my previous post, Part One, I’d just like to tie up a few loose ends. (if you missed it click on the link http://wp.me/p1qAeL-rbk). I stated that when we become attached to experiencing clairvoyant, mediumistic and psychic phenomena, it can hinder our spiritual growth; as opposed to enhancing it, which is a widely believed myth. So, what then, is the best way to progress and evolve spiritually? Firstly, allow me to digress slightly.

I mentioned in the previous post a number of examples as to why such phenomena do become a hindrance. But using the example of mediumship to demonstrate my point, I stated that for mediumship to occur there needs to be a messenger, a receiver of the message and the message itself. This is duality, and as such, is nothing more than an illusion. So, thinking along the same lines, something else occurred to me recently with regard to my astral adventures. (please click on this link for an account of my most recent and, what was one of my most spectacular ever, out-of-body experiences http://wp.me/p1qAeL-rb2).

Even though my adventures are nothing short of amazing, in the grander scheme of things, they too are illusory. There is the astral experience and the one having the experience (me), this is also duality and therefore an illusion. In infinite consciousness the experience and the experiencer are One; there is no separateness. So, even though I’m having these experiences on the astral planes, they are still occurring below the plane of Self-realisation and are therefore only happening within my astral mind. I also stated that the astral planes are a vast extension of the physical plane and subject to the same natural laws. This means that as well as creating my physical life with my thoughts, actions and spoken word, I am also creating my astral life; as are you. The only unusual thing is that for some reason I am being given a glimpse of this whilst still having “business” to attend to on the physical plane. It’s possible that I’m evolved enough to have these spectacular experiences, but not yet evolved enough to consciously choose the experience. Anyway, back to spiritual development.

We grow spiritually through our actions and experiences in daily life; that is a simple truth, and probably the most powerful way to kick-start your spiritual development is to practice forgiveness. The practice of forgiveness is a most wonderful springboard from which we can go on to greater things. Forgiveness is the letting go of the past. When we let go of the past we are able to evolve, and when we evolve we grow spiritually. Also, carrying out simple acts of kindness in a selfless manner is another extremely powerful method of spiritual development. These practices bring us far closer to our true nature than you would imagine, and the closer and closer we get to our true nature, the more the veil of ignorance is lifted. As truth reveals itself, illusion dissolves away. This is a continuous process, the culmination of which is the realisation that not only is there nothing in existence except infinite consciousness, but that “I Am” infinite consciousness.

Why Psychic And Clairvoyant Powers Can Be A Barrier To Spiritual Development

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Author Richard F Holmes

Contrary to popular opinion, having psychic or mediumistic abilities is no indicator of spiritual advancement; in fact, it can actually be a hindrance to spiritual development. What many do not realise is that psychic and clairvoyant experiences take place at a level which is well below the plane of Self-realisation; therefore at best they can be nothing more than an illusion; just another game in the play of life. Most people who know me will be aware that I have worked as a platform medium for many years, and so may find that statement very difficult to comprehend; a medium saying that mediumship is nothing more than an illusion! What next? I’ve been aware of this truth for several years now and I realise that all I’m doing is going through the motions for the sake of appeasing the logical minds of those who wrongly believe they have “lost” loved ones. I suppose I’d better explain my thinking…

Firstly, I’m going to use an analogy my good friend, Michael Walters, coined a few years back. Michael says that life is like an onion; consisting of many layers. As we evolve, every now and then, one of those layers peels away and reveals a truth that was always there, it’s just that we couldn’t see it. As truth reveals itself, old, stale mindsets and beliefs simply dissolve away. They dissolve away because they are illusory and not true. They never were true; we simply made them our reality because we believed it to be so. With this in mind it’s fair to say that the onion, which is my life, has been peeling away layers in the last few years at an unbelievable speed.

So, what is clairvoyance? It is a series of temporary experiences that occur in the mind. This tells us that in order to experience clairvoyance we have to engage the mind. The mind is the ego, which falsely identifies with the body therefore what we experience is an illusion; it is transient and not true. If you have a clairvoyant experience there must be an object (your clairvoyant vision). If there is an object, there must also be a subject (the one having the vision). This is separateness (duality), which is an illusion. In infinite consciousness the object and the subject are one and the same; in ultimate truth nothing exists except infinite consciousness, which is One.

We also need to understand that in order to have a clairvoyant experience, the experiencer must be in communication with the astral planes. The astral planes are a vast, kind of extension, to the physical plane and are subject to the same natural laws. This means that the astral planes are subject to relativity, which in turn means that your experience of clairvoyance may be negative as well as positive. Similar conditions apply with regard to mediumship. You have a messenger, the one receiving the message and the message itself; this is another example of duality; in infinite consciousness the messenger, the receiver and the message are one and the same; there is no separateness.

As for psychic powers, they simply relate to the karmic pathway and like clairvoyance and mediumship, they will only exist when the mind falsely identifies with the body. Of course, it is true to say that if you are reading this and you have experienced any kind of psychic phenomenon, it is an indicator that you are starting to wake up to the reality of who you really are. Problems occur however, when people start to have these experiences and wrongly believe that they are the be-all-and-end-all. They develop attachments to the experiences and want them continuously, oblivious to the fact that such experiences are only ever going to be a stepping stone to Self-realisation. When we develop such attachments, and remain in the psychic and clairvoyant planes, it forms a barrier and keeps us in ignorance of our true nature.

Is it not a no-brainer? Why would you want to settle for a lettuce leaf when you can have a whole salad?

More Insight Into Spiritual Stuff

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

I remember when I first started to develop spiritually. I was still in quite a dark place and didn’t have the understanding that I have now. It was whilst I was off work with an acute stress related illness that I started doing my own version of meditation; and looking back, I suppose it was right for me at the time. I had been going to a local spiritualist church in Swindon, where I was living at the time, on and off for a number of years, but unfortunately, I only ever felt despair and frustration with this church and the religion it represented. My period of illness actually turned out to be a time of great reflection and “seed planting”; the fruits of which I am now benefiting from. Now before I go any further I should just explain that this article DOES have a meaning and purpose, and I’m sharing my experiences so that others may also learn from them.

As humans we always want the spectacular; if it ain’t got knobs on we don’t want it. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the spiritual pathway in the early stages of development. I remember that I used to go to the “open circle” up at the church. We would do meditation guided by the circle leader, and I could never do it. Whilst others seemed to have weird and wonderful experiences seeing all kinds of amazing things, I just drew a blank. I think I may even have invented the odd “experience” or two just so as not to feel left out. But, as I have said, I didn’t have the understanding that I have now so I remained frustrated in my ignorance; because I wasn’t seeing crystal caves and Native American Indians I believed I couldn’t do it. What I didn’t realise was that these establishments are always rife with “barrack room mediums” people who have never quite made it as mediums and like to be a big fish in a small sea. So I would listen to these people relating all their “incredible” experiences and think that they were something special. However, I persevered with my own version and also started to read a bit and this proved to be an adequate stepping stone.

When I first started communicating with spirit I would occasionally have a friend round and they would let me experiment. I remember back in those early days (around the year 2000) I would see the transfiguration of the spirit face onto my friends’ faces and I would also on occasion hear crystal clear telepathic voice communication. When I eventually met my mentors my awareness just exploded out of nowhere and I developed very quickly. Indeed, within nine months I stood up for the first time in public to demonstrate mediumship, and within 17 months I was out on my own. When you experience this kind of thing for the first time, it’s very easy to get carried away with it all. When you see and hear clearly and vividly you think that you have hit the heights. But now it’s time to explode the myths and share with you why a lot of people come unstuck.

The reason that things seem so clear and vivid in the early stages is because the energies we are communicating with are on a level of the astral plains where the rate of vibration is not that much higher than it is within the Earth dimension. Because we ourselves are not that highly developed at this stage it doesn’t take much to forge a link with this particular realm. Unfortunately, what many learn the hard way is that this level of the astral planes houses many mischievous discarnate souls who like to play tricks on us incarnate souls. They also attach themselves to the auras of unsuspecting incarnate humans and cause all sorts of problems. It is very easy to fall into this trap because you are very obviously communicating with spirit, there is no doubt about this whatsoever. But there are many misguided would-be mediums and psychics out there who believe that, just because you get a communication from the astral planes, it is gospel and set in stone; the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. This is why it is so important to have good, experienced and disciplined teachers who will impart their wisdom and sense of discipline to you. I’ve even known mediums to work whilst drinking alcohol; that is an absolute no-no, in fact it’s suicidal; rather like trying to put a fire out with a can of petrol. All alcohol does is dull your senses, make you lose your discipline and allows mischievous souls to home in on you. Whilst it’s true to say that at that level you can see fantastic images and hear crystal clear voices, it’s not a place where those who are pure of intention would wish to dwell; which brings me to the crux of this post.

It’s very common for budding mediums to think that they are losing it because their clairvoyant images suddenly don’t seem vivid, if at all they have any. Also, they may suddenly find that their clairaudience seems to have stopped working. What this quite often means, in fact, is that the person has grown in spiritual awareness; and I shall use a simple analogy to explain. Cast your mind back to when you were in the final year of the infants school; you were one of the big kids in the playground. Then you find yourself in the first year of the juniors; you’ve been promoted, but all of a sudden you are no longer the big kid. You are scared because you have gone from being big kid to little kid, and it takes a bit of time for you to feel your way around and find your feet. Well, it’s the same principle with spiritual growth. As we move to higher levels we leave lower levels behind. As we are making the transition from one level to another the clairvoyance may well disappear or at least seem unclear.

Some people become firmly fixed at the first stage, unable to let go and move on. These are the people you encounter who are always trying to force a message onto you, who are always saying they’re seeing incredible things and are in constant communication with their “guides” who also have weird and wonderful names.

In truth mediumship and all things psychic are simply one of many, many facets of the Self. There is no one on the planet who is not a medium, because we are all, in essence, eternal beings of light, Divine manifestations of God with no limitations except those we impose on ourselves. From a personal perspective, I am neither a new ager or a spiritualist; I am simply a soul on a mission, a messenger, witness to the Divine play we call life. I view mediumship in the same way I view making a cup of tea, or tying my shoelaces; it’s just something I do from time to time because it’s a part of who I am. So in the same way that on occasion I have to make a cup of tea or tie my shoelaces, so do I also have occasion to work as a medium.

Remember, hands that serve are holier than lips that pray. It matters not what you do, as long as what you do benefits the human race in some way; all work is sacred. God bless.