I googled something about the natural release of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) during birth, procreation and death and got redirected to a website of a channeling medium who was answering questions about the landing of a spirit in a human body. The answer itself was not quite as interesting to me as the level of absolute certainty expressed in the answers coming through this channel. For those who are not familiar with channeling, it is basically stepping aside to allow an external being to control the communicative functions, usually with a third person asking the questions and recording the answers. This activity seems to me as a very interesting example of spirituality, as there is a certain requirement for psychic ability and energetic sensitivity in the medium.

Obviously there are many charlatans out there and it might be very difficult to determine whether a self-proclaimed medium is a fraud or the real deal. This post concerns the real medium - someone who allows an external entity to control at least their communicative capacity on a regular basis.

So the medium is able to enter into a meditative state and open themselves to communication and the channeling of the third-party “visitor”. The practitioner has clearly taken some serious steps into the spiritual realm and engaged themselves in deepening their awareness. However, after they have reached this psychic ability, I wonder whether they might have fallen into an ego trap. It is quite possible that the fact of having an external visitor makes the medium feel special -- like they have some kind of higher purpose. The practitioner might enjoy the experience because it strokes the ego and therefore start to associate with the identity of being a medium. They may thus become stuck in the story “I am a medium” and then start a career in channeling with several sessions per week and a channeling blog (much like I started this blog.. 😳 ). Uh oh - we might have found a spiritual ego trap..

Now there is nothing wrong with this kind of scenario, and it could be very helpful to many people. However, it might be the time to ask yourself some questions :

• Asides from the perceived benefits, is this channeling activity not also just a distraction, keeping you from deepening your awareness beyond its current level ?
• If you wanted to, could you just drop the entire channeling thing and start intensifying your meditation ?
• Do you identify as a medium or is there another reason to continue this activity ?
• What is the basis for trusting this visitor to take over part of your body functions, and why do you think this visitor is truthful? How could you possibly be able to guess what their real intentions are? How is what this visitor is saying even relevant, however special it might make you feel?

The ego will always be attracted to engage in activities that make the practitioner feel special. As the spiritual path opens the door to psychic powers, these distractions become more and more powerful. Assuming that you did not shortcut to this spiritual 'level' by means of drugs, then one can assume to be ready for this level of intensity. So then it might be time to realize that playtime is over.

Let’s get back to business - clear the sky, still the waters, clean the dark mirror - deepen the practice….

The sage cleans the dark mirror of his mind,
so that it reflects without intent.