SOUL BUFFERS

by Phillip and Jane Mountrose, www.gettingthru.org
excerpted from The Soul News, monthly e-newsletter.

We first came across the idea of buffers many years ago when we studied the “ Fourth Way” ideas of George Gurdjieff, the Armenian sage who lived during the last century. In the sense we will use them here, our buffers act as protective reactions to deal with stress.

Buffers soften our discomfort. They may surface in different ways. Mentally, buffers can be quickly expressed by excuses or rationalizations. Instinctively, they may come out as clearing our throat, itching, laughing, and nervous gestures. So you might notice some body discomfort as we describe some of the buffers below.

Buffers are automatic responses to deal with areas where we have unresolved inner conflict, much of which is unconscious. So be compassionate with yourself for we all have buffers, especially in the areas we will describe in this article.

SPIRITUAL BUFFERS

In our Awaken to Your Purpose program, we wrote about buffers as a primary obstacle and opportunity for spiritual growth. Just by learning about what buffers are -- and your particular ones -- you will be able to minimize their occurrence. Self-awareness diminishes buffers while promoting spiritual growth.

Let’s look at how three common buffers, in the form of justifications and limiting beliefs, prevent spiritual growth: money buffers, computer buffers, diet buffers.  It can be easy to confuse these buffers with the soul’s guidance, as they can actually be a part of our spiritual ego.

1. MONEY BUFFERS

Many alternative-minded people have difficulty with money. There are common themes that keep us from attracting money. These include believing that:

·      A certain amount of wealth is beyond our comfort zone. If we earn more than our parents or friends, we may feel guilty.

·      It isn’t spiritual to have money. People are starving; render money to Caesar and the rich will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

·      We are undeserving. Something is wrong with me, so I can’t have it.

It is important to release our fear of not having enough money, because it is so basic to our well-being and so directly related to manifestation. If you cannot write a check without having a negative feeling, something is blocking the free flow of resources. Besides the basic limitations cited above, there can be other limiting beliefs that prevent us from attracting money into our lives.

A wonderful former teacher of ours wondered why he had so few students and clients. Yet he resisted offering classes, meeting people, or extending himself so people would even know about his services. The buffer was “I just don’t feel like doing that.” Although the person had great spiritual knowledge and wisdom, he could share it with very few people due to this self-imposed limiting belief.

2. COMPUTER BUFFERS

Many otherwise competent people avoid the computer and will not have a computer or email. Of course a computer is not a necessity for spiritual growth. In today’s world, however, it opens people to many resources. So why not take advantage of it?

One woman who had long resisted the computer finally tried to open an Internet account, but had problems in setting it up. She conveniently took that as a sign that computers weren’t right for her. Instead of being a message from her soul, the interference was more likely a wounded part of her acting out.

We have an excellent example of using Spiritual Kinesiology to help a person eliminate computer fears on our Getting Thru to Your Soul DVD 2: Inner Child and Relationships .

3. DIET BUFFERS

It seems that diets need to be individualized, and one man’s food is another’s poison, as the saying goes. Many alternative and often open-minded people can become doctrinaire and inflexible about what to eat.

We were vegetarians for many years until we found that our health had deteriorated. We were starting to resemble some of the emaciated-looking people who worked at health food stores.. We realized that our life force was being repressed.

Reading the blood type diet book led us to eating meat again, which greatly improved our health. We no longer fully subscribe to the blood type diet, and think the metabolic typing diet is more helpful.

As a note, we are not saying that the way we eat is necessarily right for others. To find out what works best for you, we would recommend our Holistic Approach to Eating booklet.

What we realized from that decade of vegetarianism is that we were eating from an idea, not from the needs of our body. Diet buffers can include assumptions that certain ways of eating are more spiritual.

CONCLUSION

Start to notice your own buffers -- the times when you feel discomfort and automatically react.

As you learn to observe yourself with compassion, you need the protection that buffers provide less and less. You also understand that the buffered responses are not you. Neither is the underlying pain the buffers cover. It’s important to remember that you need not identify with these automatic reactions. The real you is magnificent and transcends the hurt that the buffer protects.

Feel free to email us ([email protected]) with what you have noticed about buffers.

For more information on buffers, see our Awaken to Your Purpose program or our past e-newsletter “The Spiritual Ego,” http://www.gettingthru.org/sn0804.htm.