Question: You’ve touched on how we can’t live fully just by knowledge, or more specifically books, alone. I agree. However, I’m very much a bookworm and have a tendency to spend most of my time with my nose in a book. What I’d like to know is…with so much information out there, and I’m referring to personal and spiritual development but everything else applies, how do we filter that information? What is “true”? What is “false”? Do we go with the information that we resonate with?
Answer: When I was young I used to camp out in the new age section of the bookstore for as many hours as my mom would let me. One after another I would grab books off the shelf that interested me and pour through them. The bookworm was practically my totem animal. 😉 I loved grabbing astrology books and checking my horoscope for the day. I always picked up books on dreaming wherever I could find them. I glanced at Wicca books but didn’t really understand them and the rituals seemed complicated. I ignored books on UFOs and aliens and conspiracy theories since I didn’t really believe in them. I was really into crystals thinking they worked like magic. Looking back I can see that I was a vibrational match for certain knowledge and not for others. As time went on, that all changed.
So how do you know what to believe? You’ve got to test it for yourself and keep an open mind. I lost interest in astrology books because my horoscope was never right and the information seemed like it could apply to anyone. I dabbled in Wicca and paganism because I thought it was really cool. But that fell by the wayside as well. I had a lot of crystals but they weren’t the magic rocks I thought they were. I still think they are very pretty and I do keep them around, but I’ve stopped wearing them in my bra like a talisman against evil. Today I read different books than I read when I was younger.
This does not mean that astrology is bogus or that crystals are just pretty rocks. It just means that I don’t resonate with them at this time in my life. You might, though. Let yourself be drawn in by what interests you. Read all you like, but I still think you need to practice what you read. Reading is great for knowledge, but to gain wisdom, you have to test and practice what you’re reading.
One thing I like to do is get a lot of books on a subject that I’m interested in so that I can see everyone’s perspective. In the last year I’ve started reading books by other mediums like John Edward, John Holland, and James Van Praagh. I’ve also started reading books that are more theoretical like Ask and It Is Given and The Power of Now. With books like that I need to test their theories to know if I resonate with them.
So I wouldn’t use terms like “true” and “false.” Rather I would gauge whether they are helpful or unhelpful, whether they enrich your life or disempower you. Some of what I’ve read over the years has totally stayed with me, fully incorporated into my beliefs (like lucid dreaming and astral projection because I’ve fully experienced them), and other subjects just didn’t resonate with me.
But yeah, go with the information you resonate with and see what happens. Occasionally ask yourself if you still resonate with that information. Sometimes your experience will lead you back to something you previously dismissed as poppycock and rubbish, like little green men in spaceships. 😉
