Dreamtime Consulting

One of the most abused concepts in the realm of Spiritual growth, not surprisingly ties into a central concept of all spiritual traditions. That is the presence of deity and what to call them/her/him or it.

The first time I came across this phrase was when conversing with clients who were involved in recovery from addictions. One of the basic foundations of the twelve step process is to turn ones life over to God because their life has become unmanageable due to the addictions. The dominate spiritual tradition of Western Society defines this Higher Power as the God of Christianity. However one has to realize from reading the twelve step book, which is commonly called "The Big Book", this is not what the author intended. The term God was left open to interpretation, allowing for anyone to focus on the higher power aspect regardless of who or what that higher power was, as long as it was not the addiction itself.

As I became more open to other spiritual traditions, and participated in them, the term higher power took on a much wider focus. I also learned first hand what happens when one community attempts to define its own definitions at the cost of others rights and freedoms.

I had been invited to an earth healing ceremony not far from my home. It took place on a weekday at night, not because we were doing anything wrong but because people were off work and night was the best time for everyone to meet. The surrounding houses spoke of a well to do community and looked like any other street where houses were built on a mass production scale. I was standing/sitting with others around me and briefly I noticed a two story house behind me with a window that looked down upon our gathering. About halfway into the ceremony I looked up and saw two uniformed officers appear through a door. One of the members left the gathering and talked to them, shortly after which the officers left. Our earth healing ceremony had been reported as animal sacrifice by a neighbor whose Higher Power did not match with ours. I was very hurt by this action, but the leaders and my friends present had been through this all before at one time or other in their spiritual lives. Ignorance breeds ignorance. Had the neighbor asked to watch the ceremony they would have been more than welcome, they would have been welcome to participate. Many Christians would be surprised to learn the same accusations they make against pagan traditions, were the same accusations made against the church at various times.

For some the earth itself is the higher power. Not surprising since we have terms still used today as "Mother Earth, Mother Nature". Earth can be viewed as a living organism, breathing and thinking with an intelligence and awareness. What a difference that view makes in the way we go about our lives.

How do we know what/who our higher power is? Our higher power is that which transcends our everyday lives, adding a quality and depth to our life of such a nature and to such a degree the words of the poets fall short when referencing it. It can be the Green Man, The Lord of the Hunt, The Lady of the Hearth. It can be a carpenters son or a tent maker. It can be something as simple as not giving the higher power a name, but suspending judgment as to an existence. Even an Atheist can have a higher power, for they will defend their belief as strongly as any religious zealot.

Spirituality is a relationship of such profound quality it impacts our life even when we don't realize it. It is a relationship with something greater then ourself, something which we depend upon for our very existence. Whatever name we give our Higher Power it is important to not make the name definitive, for the name is only an aspect of our experience. Problems come with the higher power when I call the police on someone because they do not adhere to my spiritual tradition. Like anything else, our higher power can be abused. We act on our own designs and not the spiritual relationships.

There is a term Tibetan monks use when greeting another person. "Namaste" translates into, "The God in me greets/honors the God in you." There is nothing to indicate there is a specific God/Goddess being referred to in this greeting. Another way to say it would be replace the words "God/Goddess" with the term "Higher Power" and the translation looses nothing in this change. In the cultures of India, when people are welcomed into the home they are treated as visiting deity. Terms "Pagan and Christian" become obsolete when looked at in these terms. If I dance in a forest glade, or take communion at a cathedral, what matters if my experience of the Higher Power is not the same of someone else? If a person's world is shaken so badly when someone else uses a different name for their Higher Power, than perhaps one needs to examine that fear and note the insecurity in it.