Once again in the news, we have heard of allegations of sexual abuse by priests. This is a long outstanding issue and many people have felt that the church in the past has not taken a clear and strong enough stand against this. Child sexual abuse is particularly a heinous crime but what makes it even worse is that it is committed by respected religious leaders who lead young children to believe that the painful sexual interaction is blessed by God.

I personally had a friend in Thunder Bay whose parents sent her to a priest for religious instruction during which she was sexually molested. Even though she told her parents about it,

Her extensive healing journey was very difficult because not only did she have to heal the abuse, she had to sort through and overcome the misguided betrayal of her parents and unravel the crazy-making of a godly man doing ungodly things.

The violation of followers by their spiritual teachers has been reported for decades and continues to this day. It takes on many forms from sexual predation, financial abuse, power violations, extortion and even murder and suicide in the cause of advancing the religion and the dispatching of the "infidels" and "sinners". It has existed within many cults and even new-age philosophies. Truth itself has become so distorted and manipulated that it too has become the victim of being defiled as a four-letter word.

As one who has witnessed this in my years of pursuing wisdom and consciousness, running a retreat centre and counseling individuals who have been victims of this pain, I am, to be honest, fed-up and angry about the dysfunctionality that is not only present in the religious world but extends into the spiritual and personal growth scene. I think it is time that the whole institution of the spiritual teacher/student be seriously examined.

I'd like to invite anyone who wishes to add in his or her thoughts and opinions about this issue, at the end of this blog.

Here is my short viewpoint on the issue. I believe that part of the problem is related to the centuries old structure of how wisdom has been delivered. For centuries there has always been a hierarchy from the Godhead, to the priest or guru, to the initiates and then finally to the follower. Truth could only be delivered through this channel. If an individual wanted divine insight it could only be delivered through the conduit from higher to lower. One could only get it through the via of some apparently higher evolved teacher who interpreted his/her divine inspiration and gave it second-hand to the student.

The teacher at the top of this structure is adulated as perfect and fully actualized and the follower in need of the teacher's divine grace and wisdom, to progress.

Such a guru/priest/sage is one who teaches beliefs and a preset philosophy that the follower takes on without examination. The underlying assumption is that you and I, who are at the bottom of this pyramid, have no capacity to gain the truth for ourselves. We can only take on the dogma of the "top dog".

Many of us priding ourselves as not part of an organized religion, unconsciously exist in this pattern, reading the hundreds of self-help books, listening to the CD's, taking the seminars that give a prescribed set of beliefs and taking these on as a plausible description of reality. Each time we ascribe to a new set of beliefs there is a shift, a sense of some newness, some alteration but the change is only in the mind as one second-hand belief system is exchanged for another. The effect is temporary.

So what is the solution?

I am proposing something very radical, very revolutionary and absolutely crucial...something that you can do right now that will make a difference in your life and our culture.

And here it is:

Be a rebel...

Commit to experiencing the truth directly for yourself.

That's it!

Don't settle for a belief, opinion, viewpoint, etc just because its 3000 years old, millions of people believe it and the book was a best seller.

Take every belief you read or hear from the street person to the Dalai Lama as an assumption until you have confirmed it for your self even if it takes the rest of your life.

Avoid any "belief gurus" whose purpose is to indoctrinate you into a follower of their opinion of reality.

Find "technique teachers" who are facilitators or guides...the ones who have experienced self-realization and have proven methods that help you get there.

Let your life be your "ism", your spiritual path. Be open to the shopkeeper, your fellow worker, your sleeping child, the night sky, the singing sparrow, the subway musician, etc being your source of joy and wisdom.

Listen to your inner voice. It's sweet.

Let the old hierarchy fall apart and bury the dogma along with the holy big cheese guy standing at the top.

The world does not need this anymore.

And if some fanatical follower of a hierarchical belief system comes up to you and tries to enroll you in their view of the nature of everything, listen attentively for awhile until they are finished, pause contemplatively and say very sanely, "My hamster says you are wrong?"

The true path of wisdom should allow for some mysterious absurdity, shouldn't it?

What's your opinion on the matter?