![Psy45.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmR8etiuiMmPqKFi1MVrQxYzxKhbRGTrhx8Y36qofvzy2S/Psy45.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwakeup-world.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2FWhat-is-psychedelic-spirituality.jpg&sp=5b59216bb1e0e59414fd02401718c4cf)

Hierarachy Is A Barrier To Enlightenment

Now this is going to be a post of two halves, one aspect being my observations on religious institutions and the way there seems to be a hierarchical barrier between enlightenment and spiritual understanding. And the other half will be my first attempt at describing a personal spiritual experience. I would also like to state that no aspect of this post is intended to offend the Christian faith, I merely speaking out about the hierarchical power and control structure that has grown up around it. I was raised and confirmed as a Christian and used to attend Church on a regular basis. Although many of the true Christian virtues are to be lauded I’ve come to believe that there is a profound difference between God, the teachings of Christ and the monotheistic church interpretation. In many ways I’ve come to understand that with the creation of a hierarchical structure, religion has become perhaps one of the greatest barriers between us and the Great Spirit/God. Enlightenment is not achieved through climbing up the church hierarchy, it exists as a potential and a possibility within all of us. It is a fire waiting for a spark. https://media.giphy.com/media/kjFyZgX4rSZby/giphy.gif I do not believe Christ or indeed many other religious divinities (The Budda springs to mind) would have understood their exaltation. I also believe they have been aghast at their depiction as deities and idols? How would Christ have viewed a ritual where his followers eternally drank his blood and ate his flesh? Would a man who spent his life amongst the poor and whom had forsaken all worldly goods understand the wealth and politics of the Vatican? That’s not to say that there aren’t many good people within the Church structure, there are and I’ve met them. Equally, I’ve met many people that are hollow vessels going through the motions with no considerations of said virtues. Attending church as a perceived tick on their eventual journey towards heaven. Indeed people hide behind many masks in this world of illusion. ![God6.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTJ26QNT89QVt8cnDT2L1kKMCeL11GVjVXePL4aogwyGW/God6.jpg)

Under A Rising Sun We Are One

It's my belief that the truth of our connection to the Great Spirit and the profoundly resonating pattern of life possess a beauty and grandeur the most lavish Hollywood epics can barely glimpse at. And yet religion has (in many not all cases) relegated this connection to exaltation, repetition and ritual. Again with this worship and objectification has religion placed a barrier between humanity, God and indeed Christ? My perception is the true word of Christ is that we are all equal, there is no hierarchy, there is neither man nor woman holier than me and equally there is nobody holier than you. If we are one then equally one is we, indeed this is a concept that runs through all ancient wisdoms and if you look hard enough it’s also in the very foundation of Christianity. I believe there are many profound truths and wisdoms within the words of Christ but they have been attached to the Church and indeed institutions are far easier to infiltrate and bring down than eternal faith. ![God.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmU1v9DtnpchDKSVbC3pkWB7cvo789SSjoejB17RZZspkv/God.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmayhemandmuse.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F08%2FA-psychedelic-and-surreal-Photoshop-painting-by-digital-artist-Andy-android-Jones-of-the-anatomy-of-the-spirit.jpg&sp=56accfd74b4d83637cc8120c2a89cbce)

Spiritual Divisions

I have spent a lifetime studying religion, the esoteric, the tribal shamanic, the psychedelic and altered states of consciousness and the laws of nature. I have come to believe there is an interconnected truth and a spirit that runs through all of them. That’s not saying I seek some form of idealistic one world religion, that moment has passed and the truth needs to come from within where it’s far more difficult to be manipulated. The foundations of our spiritual truths have been shattered into a thousand pieces and used as tools of control and division. I believe the intent has always been that once they have been shattered to the point of destruction they will be rebuilt into a faux one world religion. Now is the time to release the shackles of perceptual control and take responsibility for our collective actions and indeed spirituality. https://media.giphy.com/media/ab7epGz882P04/giphy.gif Too long have we remained divided, too long have we slept, too long have we forgotten the human spirit that connects us all, connects us to the entire cosmos. From a different perspective even if you don’t believe in the validity of spirit then from a scientific understanding we are connected and entangled at a quantum level. Imbalance unbalances us all, life is a dance of balance and energy and the eternal scales have been weighed in the wrong direction for far too long. ![God11.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcSgw8cfjELo2Mzmbec4JphxDTcaywtHbm8p8h6Ypmhdw/God11.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdreamingwithdolphinsdotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2017%2F01%2Fsigns-you-have-met-your-twin-soul-770x297.jpg%3Fw%3D682&sp=9f267abbf2349d5202df29894a8daec9)

Stages Of Disconnection

It's my belief that the creation of a monotheistic hierarchical structure based upon control and fear has led humanity to embark upon a two stage process, both of which have disconnected us from spirit and the great spirit. Firstly although many people used to attend church service it was often through fear of eternal damnation, but my friends fear and enlightenment are not comfortable bedfellows. Secondly as we have grown as a species fear has been replaced by anger, indignation and ridicule. As such we have been slowly manipulated to hate God, and in many ways it’s easy to see how this has happened. Many of history’s most heinous acts and violent wars have been attributed to religion and thus the great spirit. Unfortunately this is in fact wholly down to human interpretation and historic manipulation. The holy trinity of perception: Father, Son, Holy Spirit / Mind, Body & Soul / Physical, Atomic, Quantum / The three Dantian energy centers. ![god8.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmS1jWh8UHnqFyyrT7UW2NEmkYMp2ET1hohdKWbs5on6bw/god8.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.etsystatic.com%2F059%2F0%2F8627354%2Fil_570xN.743100797_3hai.jpg&sp=b020044f03c933973c2720b9d2596a7e) Indeed although often at war with other tribes Native Americans were not religiously indoctrinated and so remained at least spiritually united by the source. I believe this to be the same Great Spirit that we worship via a multitude of names and religions, and so in effect our perceptions have divided us. Although equally I believe our perceptions have been hijacked in order to spiritually divide us, but more on that in a later post. ![God22.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTXtLC7QBfU3eykJgU9i8cZ8wXhLjzNVgwRq2xNYqZsGZ/God22.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-YBEWLVjWsa0%2FTo4hdPjGP5I%2FAAAAAAAAB-4%2F_tKMDWGdjFM%2Fs1600%2Fayahuasca.JPG&sp=163f33b2f53477f1259670b1e078ef29) I believe God to be a universal consciousness, the source of all life and spiritual energy. From that perspective please understand that to hate the Source is to hate ourselves. In many ways as a society we have been trained to hate ourselves for without self loathing how could we ever allow this world to be the way that it is? Our gift is that of freewill and from that perspective the responsibility for this world resonates within and through each of us, who can save us from ourselves but ourselves? Indeed if the all is in the all then the all is in all. https://media.giphy.com/media/l41lZaRlws60dGyac/giphy.gif The path to true enlightenment is not found through wrath, fear, vitriol and penance. The path to God is not paved through guilt and self-hatred for the times we’ve fallen short, the mistakes we’ve made or the negative thoughts we’ve had. As children of the cosmos we carry within our thoughts the duality of the universe. This duality needs to be both embraced and balanced and indeed the road to the rising sun of enlightenment is often reached through our journey into the long dark night. To steady this balance it must be acknowledged, we can’t ignore it and pretend it isn’t there. Without darkness there can be no light, without the hard times how can we ever truly appreciate the good? Throughout our lives we stumble and fall but it’s how we get back up that defines who we are. Life is a lesson and we are all here to learn, sadly some of us have grown deaf. ![God9.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcRqyWmeTQrxbErYgAnTUutqyXoK2dU8GCxntxLsSoRYU/God9.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftedwallaceart.com%2Fted%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2FCreative-Fire.jpg&sp=24abfc53c905bc7226ebd0908b1d19ef)

My Journey Into The Mind Of The Source

Now as promised at the beginning of my post I’m going to try and quantify my own deeply profound spiritual experience. Now some may read this and think perceptualflaws has perhaps comtemplated one perception too many! Some may also read the following few paragraphs and believe them to be extracts from an over active imagination. That’s absolutely fine and completely understandable, whether you believe the experience to be valid is your choice to make. I seek no justification or validation, all I ask is read with an open mind and make of it what you will. This is my first attempt at either writing down or verbalising this pivotal moment in my life so lets see how it goes and indeed how far words allow me to take it, you ready? Lets go! https://media.giphy.com/media/a6Z4jLNpJpsoo/giphy.gif

The Downward Cycle

I’ve written extensively about the cyclical nature of time and reality. We are one within these cycles of change and so are held within this resonating pattern of life. This was a time when I was on the downward loop, waiting for the cycle to bottom out before I could rise again. I was grieving the loss of a friend, a family member had been ill, work was generally pretty crap and equally the bravado of youth was slowly releasing it’s grip. Over the subsequent years I’ve come to understand that age has brought me a multitude of gifts that many don’t live to open, but at this moment in time the long farewell to my youth had laid me increasingly bare and there was nowhere left to hide. https://media.giphy.com/media/tgLRkBnzKgPJe/giphy.gif After a long a difficult day I climbed into bed and I prayed, I prayed for guidance and received ... nothing! For one week I prayed but there was no voice, no flash of divine light, no sense of wellbeing or spark of inspiration, silence. Now although I was raised as a Christian I must admit that this was the first time I had prayed with any form of conviction. I guess I was worried about the responsibility this may bring to my life, I didn’t want to be a puritan and that was how you reached God wasn’t it? In some ways I think I felt guilty and unworthy. I was also young and wanted to live my life with no responsibility, a life where I could throw caution to the wind and live wild and free from constraints of any kind. So to be finally ready for some divine intervention and hear nothing was a difficult pill to swallow. I guessed that indeed we are alone, spinning through time with no idea where we’re going or where we’ve been. I was wrong. ![God2.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQme2URdcrpznd1JiY14X9ehjmm3hGHREBZzUFpbSaGromy/God2.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F2QoSIfNnu54%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&sp=6e7a4c32aa6ee098540264b9da9f9bba)

Forest Of Dreams

For the next few weeks I carried on as usual, too busy to reflect upon my thoughts and too proud to shed my tears. Then one day with a day off work and all my calls made I decided to take myself off to the local forest for a day’s walking and contemplation. Now anyone that’s ever read my hiking posts will know that I prefer to take the path less trod. I knew this forest really well and so after a couple of hours I reached one of my favourite spots, a remote moss covered glade. The wind gently tugged at the autumn leaves and the sunlight cascaded through the trees “what a day to be alive”. ![God7.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaCtSQJLzgzaaFry4FtAEthezuY2ZJC6QYXG42VHoHxjN/God7.jpg) With my heart singing I decided to attempt a very deep meditation, as I retreated into myself I once again asked the Source to enter my life. I’ve sat down several times to write down what happened over the next second, minute, hour? But to no avail. Time stood still and equally how do you capture a feeling with mere words? Tonight the words seem to be flowing a little easier so I’m going to grab the opportunity in the hope that they may ignite a spark of interest or lift someone that’s feeling down. But back to the moment. ![God4.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaVpd1qUdnrdd2hD7Hdrj6DYKJLvsHWj7sbK4qHr957jZ/God4.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ayahuasca.com%2Fwp-content%2F10494793_10152112534085810_2285974999652255313_n-731x560.jpg&sp=36924523a68a7baec6a47394f644d321) Suddenly I no longer felt alone for in that instant I was at one with creation. I breathed, the trees breathed, the grass breathed, the world breathed, the universe breathed and we breathed as one. I could feel the beating heart of a deer as it danced through the forest, the wind ruffling and buffeting the buzzard as it soared through the sky. I felt them, I was them and you know in that moment I knew they felt me. This was the truth of an interconnected reality humanity had disconnected itself from. ![God10.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmasqbeoEZzT98JbyeeAP6WXrBzDkH29C3PNgcF7VWQKMZ/God10.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F1c%2F0c%2Fb7%2F1c0cb7828b48f6e6f155ad3496928077--mandala-art-rainbow-colors.jpg&sp=fb0efa1e0c110ab63d1d51783f955050)

At One With The Great Spirit

Then came the voice, I use the word voice in the loosest sense of the word. This voice came from within and it both resonated with and spoke to my soul. As my mind was filled with profound images and wisdoms it stated something along the lines of “there is but one true voice, one life, one breath, one truth, one wisdom and one love”. Now obviously from a visual and physical perspective that does not appear to be true but the message seemed to relay that the entire multi-dimensional nature of reality and spirituality all arose from a moment of divine and intelligent singularity. Indeed a singularity that will one day once again envelop the entire cosmos of creation. Although I believe in one God/Source I also believe that birthed from this source there is some form of energetic evolutionary process occuring throughout the universe. The compression of energy creating a multitude of spiritual intelligences and as with all universal processes there is again a duality at play within these various energetic manifestations. But I've digressed! https://media.giphy.com/media/ODYBMwhNyvaeI/giphy.gif I then started to observe a huge circle and it was impressed upon me that this signified the unity of humanity, our oneness. I was shown that over the course of human history we have been divided and weakened and had lost our way. I felt an immense sadness emanating from the source, like a mother mourning the loss of her children, there was certainly no anger. The circle then began to be cut like slices of a cake, the process accelerated until the slices became wafer thin (unable to sustain anyone) and then began to fall away. I was shown, no correction I felt the sadness and weeping of a million lost souls. I was on my hands and knees with tears streaming down my face. Somehow I knew that the root cause of human misery, madness and psychosis stemmed from our disconnection to the natural order, the source. https://media.giphy.com/media/ZAv5lN73V8R44/giphy.gif I also felt that we are connected to this earth far more profoundly than many understand. It was as though our thoughts and actions have a direct effect upon the energetic resonance of the planet. Not simply from a sense of our actions, industries and extractions damaging the earth (although that obviously feeds into it) but also that our very thoughts and actions towards each other and the eco-system feed into this energetic resonance. As if the earth has some kind of will to survive and if we lower the energetic resonance with hatred and evil then somehow it unbalances said earth and in turn sets off some form of self preserving chain reaction. https://media.giphy.com/media/xUA7aPhCAs5QRvMMJa/giphy.gif As an aside over the next few years I went away and researched this feeling and actually incorporated it into one of my first posts [here](https://steemit.com/philosophy/@perceptualflaws/time-cycles-precession-and-the-schuman-resonance) where I included the below words: ![God19.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWNNqaHJQAkBVv1xpoWKTuaRBgVN1pEYMTZXNKhUKQuEq/God19.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fbe%2F3a%2F03%2Fbe3a03dcb83df28300c539f20246998f--stoner-art-stoner-rock.jpg&sp=dfc99e3b7978e252b57adf7453bb89f7)

The ones that become left behind

So within a mess of a society that works for some at the detriment of others, the people that profoundly feel this disconnection are often the kindest and gentlest souls. In turn they become the most dysfunctional, often turning to heavy drink, drug use and promiscuity (refer to my indigenous communities statement) as a way to try and fill the void they instinctively feel. Within this process (there are always exceptions to these rules) those with a harder edge and perhaps less compassion often rise to the top of a dog eat dog society. They define themselves with money and status but use their drive and intellect to fuel a system that (if it continues in this current trajectory) will one day kill us all, clever eh? ![God17.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYLeJLzkCDKi48HUBnWMt5wsEZvM2ujjr7WRH9TWR6o68/God17.jpg)

But Back To The Moment & The True Singularity

At this point I was lifted up (in a metaphorical sense) in a whirlwind of love and wrapped in a comfort blanket of compassion. Indeed that’s kind of what God felt like to me, not a man in the clouds but a resonating intelligent love. I was told that I needed to follow my path and that my soul carried with it a burden of truth and that it had become akin to a lead weight upon my shoulders. Indeed many reading this post will feel the burden of truth for the day grows short. Do we always gets it 100% right? no we don't, but it's the intent that's the important thing and if I sense your good intent whether I agree or not I'm with you 100%. And then ... the moment had gone, like sand seeping through my fingers the more I tried to hold onto the feeling the quicker it disappeared. ![God17.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdWtnRNCcXnPVCMr4VuV71MDuapoL9LBeXR1mhvpgscob/God17.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fc8%2Fef%2F26%2Fc8ef263df189d9e59fbe58a71a0bfbf4--arte-hippie-hippie-art.jpg&sp=d73bf17232a7c86143b5d903b08ffe42)

The Dawn Of A New Day

I danced through the next few weeks as if I was ten feet high, something had changed, my outlook had changed and my heart had opened. Who I was, is different to who I am. That doesn’t mean I suddenly became an instant monk and I can't profess I ever will. There is a part of me that will always be a rebellious and wild free spirit, but it’s how you find the balance within that’s the important thing. Am I perfect? Definitely not! I’m a work in progress and as such some days I fall and let both myself and others down. But each new day I pick myself up with the knowledge that we are reborn in the first light of dawn and as such are granted the opportunity to rise above and grow beyond the mistakes of our past. But equally each day is a gift and time is a rare commodity so my advice is to spend it wisely. https://media.giphy.com/media/U85Z0lxOwDoys/giphy.gif I also want to state that I have zero delusions of self-grandeur, I’m in no way special (well no more special than anyone reading this) and I have no direct line to the source, I receive no hidden messages or information. I’ve tried many times to reach this moment of divine singularity again but to no avail and that’s fine. I feel incredibly lucky to have had this experience for it has ignited an eternal flame within me, a flame that burns on even the darkest of days. But it’s a flame that burns within all of us, we just need to find a way to ignite it. ![God21.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmT7hrjqi42kvcqeMiPZ8CnvuJH2LpprgV6WXtv6bvKcw2/God21.jpg)[Source](https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2Fin5d.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F01%2Frbethtrebtsa.jpg&sp=be8437d8e85fc24be63811aeb6027fde)

The Message & Conclusion

I have written about and incorporated our disconnection from the natural order into many posts. I have also written extensively about the technological singularity we find ourselves hurtling towards. I feel as time moves on the vast majority of us will begin to forget our connection to the natural world, to the source. From that perspective this experience and the feeling I hold within me will give me the strength to never forget. I will never forget that the technological singularity is simply a synthetic and controlled manifestation of what we already have. And I will never forget that we are all part of something far greater and more profound than I or anyone else can hope to fully comprehend. https://media.giphy.com/media/e0yZylP0EpCXC/giphy.gif Although I’ve actively written about these subjects this is the first time Ive shared this personal perception. In many ways societal pressure and fear both controls us and hold us back from speaking our truth and our mind. My advice is simply follow your path and speak your truth and thus liberate yourself from these societal perceptual chains. ![psy38.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUFp3hTz3EDsacUqAARPd5sYCaNmf6YTAGTV5vj94gkPC/psy38.jpg)[Source]( https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjhuKP5mvrWAhVMaVAKHXchBp0QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zazzle.com%2Ftree%2Bof%2Blife%2Bgifts&psig=AOvVaw3xFL1_FaVFwkaCbDve4_0s&ust=1508417421085243 ) It’s one thing to write these words and share this experience but something else entirely to feel it. Mere words will never fully convey that feeling and it’s the feeling that will stay with me until my dying day. My only hope is that in the future as society changes and the lure to connect ourselves to this synthetic sub-reality becomes even stronger these words may help someone to ponder whether there is another direction and another way. Thank You for taking the time to read and remember your views and perceptions are as valid as any I may have. Indeed there is nobody better placed to decide who has the perceptualflaws. Over and out. https://media.giphy.com/media/K0YMQdN1LxpW8/giphy.gif ![Minnow5.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQbGqMqhL71K8VuYEX6Yfd6CfEAek2GS2NUkV4zUyBy1j/Minnow5.gif) Written by perceptualflaws Gifs courtesy of giphy.com I'm proud to be both a member and supporter of the Minnow Support Project - brought to you by the hard work of: @aggroed, @teamsteem, @canadian-coconut and @ausbitbank, discord channel: https://discord.gg/HYj4yvw ![Minnow3.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUg4FYAeFzhNuU22gmq1MFRvpkwCFDoLJrWuZy7DH9Z17/Minnow3.gif)