If you envy other people’s spiritual experiences, you’re gullible.
Yes, a fool. A dumbass. Anyone could sell you snake oil. I’m not sugarcoating this one.
Pills of wisdom #7
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a sceptic, and no longer an Atheist (and even during my Atheist days, I wasn’t a sceptic. Atheism is just no belief in God. Ain’t nothing stopping an Atheist, if they want, from believing in spirits and fairies and whatnot).
I see the value in having spiritual faith. If I didn’t, this entire blog wouldn’t exist. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Today’s topic is more specific than that.
I’m referring to spiritual experiences. This should be implied when I use the word “envy”, because envy is a sentiment that ALWAYS arises from comparison — and therefore, it involves the specific, the small picture; Never the big picture. But I’m clarifying that just in case.
My short and straight-to-the-point message to you today (therefore a “pill” of wisdom) is: envy requires belief.
Take a moment to reflect on that. I’ll repeat it: envy requires belief.
If your neighbour envies your brand-new car, they definitely “bought into” the idea that the car belongs to you because they saw you driving it several days in a row — but it could be borrowed, or it could be a rental car (those are becoming popular today…), etc. They don’t KNOW. They just BELIEVE. But fair enough, in this specific example, they saw it with their own eyes, didn’t they? So, the belief is plausible.
If you envy a celebrity’s looks, you “bought into” the idea that she looks just like that because she was born luckier than you — but it could be a filter on social media, it could be plastic surgery, it could be makeup tricks, special effects, [insert here alternative explanation]. You don’t KNOW. You just BELIEVE. But again, false or not, the idea of beauty she is selling is visible, so the belief is plausible.
If you’re a farmer and you envy someone else’s harvest, you “bought into” the idea that they have a greener thumb — but their fruit could be full of harsh pesticides, or worse, badly infected in the inside and just looking good before you cut them. You don’t KNOW. You just BELIEVE. But once again, the belief is plausible.
Right?
Envy always comes with a certain degree of gullibility, childishness, and a “starry-eyed” demeanour (or “excessive awe and wonder”, as I’d like to say — I’ll discuss that in another article). Even in the everyday this is true, just re-read the examples above.
With spirituality, however, the degree of gullibility needs to be more severe for envy to happen, because now you’re envying the UNseen and NOT experienced [by you]. You’re “buying into” someone’s words as if they were gospel. And the truth is (come on, let’s face it), the person you envy could be bullshitting to their heart’s content! You can’t tell! Can you?
All these spiritual speakers, bloggers, presenters, preachers, etc you see could be lying from time to time (or always — depending on their level of integrity). In fact, I could be lying to you about my experiences. And you’d have no way to verify that. Why am I unafraid to plant this seed of doubt in your mind? Simple: Because my articles here carry useful messages that anyone could avail of sans the specifics of my personal experiences. So even if you take my examples with a grain of salt, chances are you can take away something helpful anyway.
I don’t care whether or not people believe me. I keep saying this, now and again, and I bet you any money, a lot of readers roll their eyes at that and wish I had “more self-confidence”. Guys, it’s not a lack of self-confidence you’re seeing here. I’m not fishing for validation. I’m telling you a fact: I 100% do not care whether or not you believe my stories. It’s a cold, hard, fact. You’re wishing I had “more confidence” to speak as though I was preaching to you? Well, here’s a plot twist, then: I wish you would take things with a grain of salt more often. For your own good. Even to my detriment. You need to! Life ain’t always a walk in the park.
This is not to be a killjoy, either. You can stay open-minded to the possibility of having spiritual experiences of your own. In fact, please do that if you’re into the topic. Confidence is key. But here’s another thing that is key: non-comparison.
I mean, sure, we’re all connected on some level, bla bla, yadda, yadda — there’s no need to repeat it to me… But DO NOT automatically conclude that we aren’t unique individuals at the same time.
We’re “same”, but also “singular”. It’s a paradox. Life is full of these pesky paradoxes, I’m sorry to inform.
Perhaps the experience that works for you wouldn’t work for person B or person C. Meanwhile, you’re looking at person D over there and envying their experience, having never even walked a mile in their shoes. How come? How do you know you would deal the same way with the same experience? Maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe it wouldn’t be good for you. And maybe, in some cases, nobody would because they’re lying. You can’t know.
The reverse is also true: others can’t know if you’re lying or not — so it’s futile to try and convince outsiders of the validity of your own experiences. Don’t worry, they don’t necessarily think you’re dishonest. They just don’t believe you because… Well… It’s your path to walk. It’s not theirs. They couldn’t possibly understand even if they wanted to.
Spirituality requires staying humble like that. Again, sorry (or happy — it depends on how conscious you are) to inform.
