Spiritual Leaders

To be honest, despite my spiritual nature, it's not a topic I'm very... knowledgeable of. I've never been drawn to them, and though a good few people have pointed some out to me who are 'the real deal' I never felt the need to look into it.

A few days ago, I was shopping for groceries with a friend of mine. On the bus ride back, she was telling me about this documentary on Netflix called Kumari. This man's family came from India, but he was born and raised here, in America. Despite them raising him in their beliefs, he was obviously exposed to a much wider range of religions and ways of living being in the USA. That being said, he wasn't a very spiritual person.

Now, growing up in the beliefs of his family, he was teased a lot in school. Until the spiritual movement began in America. Then, miraculously, he became very popular. Not because he was spiritual, but because his heritage was one of many spiritual leaders at the time.

This got him thinking, "Is it what these people have to teach that brings in the followers, or how they look?"

To find an answer to that question, he grew his hair, a beard, dressed the part, and called himself Kumari.

He created a fake, albeit small following of people at first, until others started to join. As to be expected, he was a big hit and then came the eventual reveal.

I haven't watched this documentary yet. (maybe I should have before writing about it) But it got me thinking about these spiritual leaders as well. It got me asking, "What is a spiritual leader exactly?"

Before he became Kumari, this man interviewed a great many of these leaders. While some of them genuinely believed in what they were teaching, a great many more were in it for the fame, and the money.

To be honest I never know where to start when explaining my spirituality.I've been tempted to do many blogs on the subject, but it always goes back to the same thing. I don't know how to explain the way I see things yet, but one thing is for certain. Spiritual leaders, whether they believe in what they teach or want the fame and glory, can only teach one way to the same end.

Religion, spirituality, it's like a vast, full tree. The biggest one you can picture, all twisted and tangled together. There's so many branches and so many colors all mixed together and tangled in webs. But no matter what branch you start at, if you follow it down, it'll always be to the same tree, and that tree will always have the same system of roots under the ground, and those roots will always draw life from the same means.

If you take the basics of every faith, they all hold the same message. So really, what's the point of a spiritual leader? Those people only know one way of finding the roots of this vast tree, and that way might not be best for everyone. We all have to start somewhere. Sometimes we jump from branch to branch, and never reach the ground, and sometimes it suits us best to build a hammock on the highest branched, and nap in the sunshine.

There is no right way to learn something, and there's no right way to be. We're all people, fumbling in the dark together, trying to make sense of things we can only feel.

How do I help people understand what I can only feel? It's a question I keep asking. I used to be sure I'd find the answer, but then what? I become one of these spiritual leaders, trying to convince people that this way is the right way? No. All I can do is sit, and watch, glowing inside when I witness people stumble into a realization I've known for years because it's happening all around me. Some may try to stop it, but people are beginning to notice.

We're all seeds of the same tree.