The Internet, Spiritual Awakening, and the Need for Discernment

I can remember that our brother, the mentalist and healer Nomer Lasala has posted something about the internet, that this technology which first was meant for military use now serves as the “veins” or “nerves” the connect us all. This notion is not new at all. In 2015, a French lady mystic named Veronique Bianconi has written a book entitled “Being of Humanity: Gravity of the Self,” which forwarded same idea.

The internet, particularly the social media, serves as a device that connects every human being on earth, breaking the barriers of distance and borders. Just like globalization, the internet has transformed the fact regarding “space” or “distance,” as mere illusion. Of course, the latter has something to do with trade and commerce, where the exchange of goods and services was made easier through agreements on tariffs and trade. The former, however, has something to with the exchange of data and information. In just one click of a button, you can access billions and billions of bits of information, in just a matter of less than ten seconds.

Info-exchange and the Awakening Process of Humanity

While I do have some reservations, I do agree, to some extent with the premise that the internet can be a powerful tool which can be used in aiding humanity’s spiritual awakening. There’s no need for us to travel far and wide, all across the globe, just to transmit timely and relevant spiritual information, being downloaded from above and below. However, the information that we need to transmit and of course, to receive should be the right and reliable information.

In his book entitled “The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision,” (Grand Central Publishing, 1998), author James Redfield has to say:

“We’re already living in the information age. Everyone will have to educate themselves the best they can, become an expert in some niche, so that they can be in the right place to advise someone else or perform some other service. The more technical the automation becomes, and the more quickly the world changes, the more we need information from just the right person arriving in our lives at just the right time. You don’t need a formal education to do that; just a niche you’ve created for yourself through self-education.”

Since the information are automatically generated or transmitted, there’s a danger that we are receiving the incorrect one. At least for me, not all things that resonate are real and reliable. The Buddha has made it clear that the teachings or traditions, and even belief systems must — and should always — be challenged:

Now, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare and to happiness’ — then you should enter & remain in them.

Learn to discern amid the contradictions, false notions, and fake narratives

On the internet, there are a lots of contradicting teachings, original teachings bastardized by self-proclaimed gurus and fake initiates, and teachings that are in fact, product of one’s illusion and ego. Some are mere products of conspiracy theories taken as scientific and metaphysical facts. Therefore, there’s a need to screen the things that we read and take from the internet, particularly the social media. With the fabrication of information posted as “hard, cold facts,” there’s also a danger that we are being trapped to believe something inherently false to be something profound and spiritually reliable.

This is why, John the Evangelist cautioned those who have the power to communicate spiritually:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (Cf. 1 John 4: 1, King James Version)

Nevertheless, we can use the internet as a tool and as an extension of our Consciousness. But we need also to be careful of what we share. As I have mentioned, not all stories — especially those which are too colorful — are true. Quoting the late American author John Updike (March 18, 1932 — January 27, 2009):

A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens.

Peace and blessings be with us all!