Thursday, April 7, 2011

Ascension: Free for All

This post has been percolating for a while now.  I haven't been sure if I should voice these feelings of mine because they're definitely negative in nature, and I'm trying not to choose negativity.  But the frustration at the heart of these feelings seems to be plucked anew on a daily basis like a dissonant guitar chord, and I have to say something about what I see as a gross hypocrisy within the global shift or ascension movement.  I'm going to lay shame and name names.  I must voice it to set it free and move on, I think. 

To be clear, I view the folks I'm about to call out as some of the most beautiful souls with some of the most beautiful messages I've ever been blessed to discover.  If they read this, I hope they understand I truly hold them in high regard, but I feel it's fair to call some of their decisions into question. 

What I'm upset about is that these people who would lead humanity toward a conscious evolution restrict content and event participation to those who are willing and able to pay for it. 

Collectively, they say many of the same things:  Humanity and all of creation are One.  In recognition of our Oneness, humanity needs to evolve toward a way of being that benefits ALL, not a set of individuals over others.  They say the more people who join together in envisioning this future, the closer we get to the critical mass of collective consciousness that will push all of us over the threshold into this bright future.  They say we need to stop competing with each other and start working together to improve the lot of all.

So someone please explain to me why these same folks are only willing to give what they see as the most critical information or collective participation experiences to those who will pay the price they set?  What is THAT?!  This practice is completely at odds with their messages, and I find that incredibly confusing. 

If they truly see these times, this knowledge, and these experiences as belonging to all of us they should freely give them to all of us.  If they truly believe the more who concentrate on, believe in, and give energy to these ideas, the closer to reality they become for all of us, then they should want to remove as many hurdles as possible! 

But they're not removing hurdles, they're setting them up.  Effectively, they're saying, "You can have access to all of this, once you clear this pay wall I've personally placed in your path."  This, my friends, is hypocrisy exemplified.  It just doesn't jive and sets my intuition aflutter, causing me to question the integrity of their motives and thereby the authenticity of their messages.  That's counter intuitive to their proclaimed vision for our future, especially considering most of these folks envision a future with a completely different monetary system, or none at all.  So why are they padding their wallets in the Now?

Some will say these online events cost money to put on.  Of course they do, but not nearly what's being charged in many cases.  I obviously understand hosting content or organizing teleconferences or streaming online events is all going to cost a little bit, but the prices being placed look more to me like they're designed to earn a profit.  Not the most benevolent and charitable image possible.

Others will argue they deserve to be compensated for the work they're doing for humanity.  Fine.  I don't disagree.  But if this is your argument, you need to understand it's still at odds with your message!  If your goal is to compensate yourself, you're doing well.  If your goal is to spread messages of love, oneness, and the need to come together to co-create, then you're working against yourself by not making the information freely available to ALL! 

I'm not going to post this rant about something I perceive as a problem without offering any solution.  These spiritual leaders and content providers may not care for it, though, because it potentially means they'll rake in less money. 

Here's my solution:  Make all content, all services, all events FREE to anyone who wishes to partake or participate.  Pay for it all with FREE WILL donations.  Explain at the top of your website that all this is free to whomever, but it takes money so please donate.  These people claim to believe the Universe will provide what is necessary; they should act as if they truly believe this.  They should behave as though they believe that by lifting All, they lift themselves.  The necessary donations will be there.  Or don't they believe that?

There are people in all walks of life who are waking up to the ideas of Oneness and the evolution of human consciousness, a.k.a. Ascension.  Some of these people will be philanthropists.  I'll bet that if representatives from these groups identified, approached, and explained to these altruistic individuals or foundations that the expansion of these ideas stood to benefit all of mankind like nothing before in human history, they might not have too much trouble keeping the freaking lights on.  Problem solved.  Greatest good achieved.

David Wilcock, probably my most beloved (currently embodied) guru, wants $77 to teach me how to access my Higher Self.  It hurts me to call him out on this, and he has defended this very thing publicly.  To his credit, he has made gobs of information available for free on his site Divine Cosmos.  I promise you I have combed through it all!  I'm afraid I still see a difference between covering costs and turning a profit.

But David's $77 price tag for what he claims would allow you to tap into"a limitless reservoir of creativity, intelligence and flawless guidance" - something that would greatly benefit All of Us - is a mere pittance next to a face-slapping pricetag I encountered more recently.

A week or so ago I was immensely encouraged by a conference call from The Shift Network.  This group, in conjunction with Barbara Marx Hubbard,  is pushing to become a focal point for all of us in the Ascension movement to collectively co-create a planetary shift on December 22, 2012 - the day after the galactic conjuntion and end of the Mayan calendar.  They're calling it Birth 2012.  This is a GREAT idea!!!  Get everyone on the same page to be as effective as possible.  The more the better, right?!

But there's a catch, and a whopping one at that.  The extreme optimism I experience following the conference call where Barbara and Shift Network president Stephen Dinan explained what they were planning crashed rudely down around me upon further research into The Shift Network.  See, they want you to take a course to be best-suited to co-create this Shift with them.  The course is called ACE training and stands for Agents of Conscious Evolution.  The price tag: $497.  Gee, guys - why not just tack on the extra $3 and make it an even half grand?

So let me get this straight...This is something that will benefit all, that will change the course of human evolution and indeed the planet itself, and the more who participate the more effective it will be?  Doesn't it stand to reason that for the best benefit of all it should be offered to all for free, or at least for the cost to put it on.  $500 per person?  In an America where the middle class is increasingly vanishing into poverty, it takes some serious gall to require your brothers and sisters to pony up that kind of money for something purported to be for the good of all mankind!

Everywhere I turn - I mean everywhere - those who would lead us into a bright new day - those who claim to believe service to others is the highest goal - all want money before they do so.  I'm left to question their leadership, and ultimately, their motivation.

Is there no teacher in a position to help us all who believes the knowledge they hold belongs to us all, free of charge?  Does not one of these enlightened individuals or organizations believe a grateful Universe will provide for them?  If anyone out there knows of such an entity, please send them my way.