When you join, you connect with a community.
This community is a both a supportive environment and a controlling one.
See how it works with your neighbor: they will hale you if you need some extra brown sugar but check you out as well when something unusual happens in your house. This is called social control.
The belonging to a community is always double sided.
You get this sense of connection but you can feel limited as well.
I know dozens of “spiritual seekers” who've truly had it with organizations and movements because they feel constricted in them.
They feel limited within mind sets which do not match what they want.
Literally, they feel disempowered.
The funny thing is that it does not need to be that way.
We are in a place of human evolution where everyone can win: individuals, leaders and organizations.
The number one step spiritual organizations have to take though is accept to evolve.
This is called feed back.
It works in business and definitely works in the spiritual field as well.
We moved beyond the level of autocratic structures.
The human potential is vaster than that.
The problem modern spiritual organizations face is lack of power, vision and skills.
It takes skills, experience and lots of vision to run an organization successfully.
In most cases, this is the limiting factor.
Organizations tend to be divided by internal politics and power fights.
Again, this has nothing to do with spiritual development, it is related with organizational dynamics and the way humans function within these structures.
The funny thing is that while the business world invests millions in creating frictionless teams and developing team spirit, the spiritual environment tends to create organizations which are archaic and very inefficient in the way they function.
The renewal stream has not yet impacted on that level and this very unfortunate.
The consequence is that many precious spiritual teachings can’t be accessed because of the way they are packaged.
An organization can hide itself behind layers of overdone protectionism and totally miss its original purpose: a frictionless vehicle aimed at transmitting a message.
Where do you stand?
Keep on moving until you find what you are looking for.
There are systems and approaches which do give you everything you need without + a sense of total freedom and control over what you want.
These systems do exist and they are totally explored spiritual paths which give you exactly what you want.
For instance, there are many yoga classes you can follow in your local town which require no other commitment than paying a fee for your class and showing up (if you want to).
Spiritual development does not require exclusiveness.
You can express your freedom by tapping into what you want and responding to your unique needs.
You are free!
You can recreate your own unique path because there is an invisible network of forces which does sponsor your every move.
Don’t limit yourself. There is no need to.
Sure, some doors will be closed to you because you don’t make yourself small enough. On the other hand, many more will open up because you show total respects and acceptance for who you are and what you want.
Your spiritual development is your agenda! No one else’s!
What matters the most is that your needs are fulfilled and that you do find what you are looking for.
Don’t transfer your inner authority or control to anyone.
You are the one in charge!