By George A. Boyd ©2022
Q: I have noticed marked personality changes in people who are initiated into different spiritual groups. In some cases, people seem to go completely crazy and delusional. Can you shine some light on what is happening?
A: There are two factors here: integration and inappropriate and premature identification.
Integration means the personality can contain, process, and cope with the new knowledge, directives, or requirements for behavioral and cognitive change that the spiritual teaching impresses on the personality.
Moderate lack of integration can lead to personality disorders, in which normal personality functioning is negatively affected.
Severe lack of integration can lead to psychosis and breakdown of the ability to function.
Inappropriate identification means you identify with a spiritual essence—a vehicular seed atom, a nucleus of identity, spirit, or ensouling entity—that is not at the cutting edge of spirituality.
For example, if your cutting edge of spirituality was in the Abstract Mind Plane on the Temple of Philosophy Subplane, and you use spiritual practices that awaken the cosmic consciousness nucleus of identity, you are effectively identifying with a spiritual essence that is eleven Planes above your cutting edge of spirituality.
Here’s a depiction of the higher levels beyond this cutting edge of spirituality from the vantage point of the Soul that is on the Abstract Mind Plane:
- Psychic Realm [identification at this level is with a vehicular seed atom, or “Star Seed”]
- Wisdom Plane
- First Exoteric Initiation [identification at all three levels of the First Planetary Initiation is with the Moon Soul or Christ Child nucleus of identity]
- First Mesoteric Initiation
- First Esoteric Initiation
- Second Initiation [identification at this level is with the Solar Angel and the Mighty I AM Presence nucleus of identity]
- Third Initiation
- Fourth Initiation
- Fifth Initiation [identification at this level is with the Planetary Soul or Atma]
- Transplanetary Initiation [identification at this level is with the Monad or Paramatma]
- First Cosmic Initiation [identification is with the cosmic consciousness nucleus of identity]
- Second Cosmic Initiation [identification is with cosmic soul awareness nucleus of identity]
- Third Cosmic Initiation
- Fourth Cosmic Initiation
- Fifth Cosmic Initiation [identification is with the God consciousness nucleus of identity]
- Astral Soul [identity at this level is with this ensouling entity]
- Supracosmic seed atom of a Supracosmic Path [identification is with this nucleus of identity]
- Supracosmic Soul [identification with this ensouling entity is achieved when the Supracosmic seed atom unites with the Supracosmic Soul]
- The spirit on a Transcendental Path [identification is with the spirit and its ensouling entity]
- The Soul of the Bridge Path [identification is with this ensouling entity]
- Satchitananda [identification is with this ensouling entity]
Premature identification means you place your attention in union with a spiritual essence that exists on a Plane beyond where your Soul dwells. So, if your Soul dwells on the Abstract Mind Plane, you experience premature identification, for example, when you identify with the Star Seed in the Psychic Realm, the Moon Soul in the First Initiation, the Mighty I AM Presence in the Second Initiation, Cosmic Consciousness in the First Cosmic Initiation, a Supracosmic seed atom, or a spirit on a Transcendental Path.
What happens when you work with these essences beyond your cutting edge of spirituality is that you receive information that is cast in powerful emotions; this acts like a hypnotic suggestion. These suggestions may motivate you to do spiritual practices germane to this higher level. You might be led to adopt the philosophies, doctrines, or belief systems that are anchored in this higher essence. You might be induced to make personality changes or lifestyle modifications based on these belief systems that arise in this higher level; this may disrupt your life, your relationships, or your ability to function normally in the adult role.
What you commonly see is that you misunderstand, misinterpret, or distort the ideas you receive from these levels beyond your cutting edge of spirituality. This can bring about belief in strange conspiracy theories; stimulate paranoid ideation; and cause you to function in a trance-like state while remaining in an altered state of awareness.
If this identification is coupled with transformation of that higher essence along its track, you may see marked perceptual and energetic changes—even beyond those experienced during initial identification with this center. Perceptual changes include the sense that the world and your life are unreal. Energetic changes may give rise to a Kundalini syndrome.
To avoid these excesses that communion with these higher essences beyond your cutting edge of spirituality can generate—that produces lack of integration and inappropriate and/or premature identification—we recommend that you do the following:
- Obtain information from your cutting edge ensouling entity that guides you to carry out your expressed Soul Purpose.
- Debrief any information you receive during an altered state of awareness through reflecting on its meaning. Notice whether this information (a) provides information about a skill you are developing—e.g., you are learning astrology and aim to practice this as your profession: you receive guidance about astrology in your meditation; (b) it has practical guidance for your daily life and actually improves your life situation; (c) it helps you to overcome a longstanding personal problem or character weakness; and (d) it does not put forward illogical or fantasy assumptions that cannot be verified or demonstrated.
- Meditate on the vehicles of consciousness and the spiritual essences that are contained within the sphere of influence of your cutting edge of spirituality. While you may visit these spiritual essences on the higher Planes beyond your cutting edge ensouling entity to explore the Path ahead, you should not identify with these essences nor transform them, as this can produce imbalances. See our articles, “The Cutting Edge of Spirituality” and “Avoiding Imbalance from Spiritual Practice.”
- Build your personal foundation before venturing into the transpersonal zone. You should be able to fully function as an adult to carry out your responsibilities at work, school, and in your romantic, marital, or parental relationships—before venturing into the Great Beyond.
- Be a spiritual scientist. Treat all assertions of belief or spiritual truths as untested hypotheses, until you can verify them and demonstrate them.
- Don’t try to meet your personal emotional needs through spiritual identification. Your need for a loving human partner is not truly satisfied if you become a devotee of Jesus or Krishna. You will experience love at a higher level; but this will not fulfill your personal yearning—and these desires will continue to rankle in your unconscious mind until you satisfy them.
- If you channel information, preach or give satsang, or do healings or attunements—don’t assume that all information you receive from the higher Planes is benign, relevant, and appropriate for those that receive this information and energy from you. You need to know the individual who is receiving this outpouring from you well enough to assess whether they can genuinely integrate it and use it appropriately.
To not become warped and strange from taking initiations that lead to union and identification with a spiritual essence that is inappropriate for your current level of spiritual evolution, and your personality’s ability to integrate the new knowledge and perceptions you gain from this altered state of awareness, we recommend your do your spiritual practice at your cutting edge of spirituality.
If you are not sure how to do this, we teach you how to do spiritual work at your cutting edge of spirituality in our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.
