"It seems that many people are obsessed with issues of survival in the West. That is the funny thing about America; it is promoted as the world's best country where you can achieve all your dreams. When I arrived in the United States I realized people were obsessed with survival and overwhelmed with the pressures of getting by. The way you perceive the world determines the way you treat yourself and others.
I have come to realize that the western worldview has given rise to a mentality of survival that has affected the way Ifá is practiced in the Diaspora. I realized this when it occurred to me I was using Ifá as a survival tool and not as a tool for spiritual growth. I believe this is the same mentality you see increasingly around the world as other countries accept the western worldview."
Me: I can relate perfectly with/to this. In the search for spiritual fulfillment, one has to know where to draw the line between his human wants and real spiritual need.
Our journey in life is one of attaining the highest spiritual height possible (Òrìṣà/Olódùmarè/Godhood) and not to live a life of paying bills or the drive to accumulate wealth.
Those who approach spirituality of any kind, either Christianity, Islam or Ifá with the motive of having all the fine things of life have missed the essence of spirituality right from the very beginning. They are either going to be disappointed and frustrated as spiritual elevation has nothing to do with achieving material prosperity or they will begin to cut corners and try to milk people of their money in the name of providing spiritual services. You too will lose your money (time and peace) in the process of trying to use spiritual services to accumulate material things because you will jump at every ritual that tells you about someone who sowed his car to reap a beach house with a garage full of sport cars.
The supposed spiritual gatherings that focus on building empires can't appeal to some people because their soul is intuitively tuned to other important matters, the thought of fine Cars and house doesn't appeal to them. They want one thing and one thing alone - to be one with Olódùmarè - which is every creature's authentic destiny, every other things is by the way. The reason for the inherent dissatisfaction in man's soul is a reflection of the disalignment between him and his creator, which is what every spirituality attempts to restore, not material acquisition. This is why once you have acquired the material that you thought would give you satisfaction, you still won't get satisfaction; this is because what you needed originally isn't material, you are actually on the search for your authentic self.
Presently the world is being controlled majorly by the western world's philosophy of life and so the people's disposition is simply a reflection of what has been sown into them through the western world.
Salvation is at the door of your heart, it is your connection with your source, it is righteousness, peace and joy in the holy spirit.
By Allan Gicheru.
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