Spiritual Dogma and the New Age: Ascension, a Mystical Illusion

“Ascension” is a popular spiritual topic. In Christianity the term is used to describe the bodily rising of Jesus into heaven. In the New Age, it’s descriptive of consciously transcending this dimension (i.e., “self-ascension”) to advance spiritually to a higher plane, one that is void of earthly negativity, without having to die to do so. In other words, those who “ascend” believe they are manifesting utopia, a “new reality,” freeing themselves from bondage.

The typical tale goes something like this: “Are you experiencing relationship changes and endings? Are you finding yourself more stressed? Are you going through a major shift? The Earth’s energy is rising, it’s transforming, reality is accelerating, and you don’t want to get caught up in the chaos. Take charge of your life and ascend to a higher reality!” (details of the expensive seminar follow).

In all due respect to most healers and other spiritual workers who largely only strive for the best for their clients and the world, we offer our opinion of the metaphysical notion of ascension below. Please understand that we simply relay our findings based on long-term, unbiased empirical research. We believe that if you follow our advice, you will save yourself a lot of time, and gain peace of mind.

We do address the topic of ascension regularly, albeit indirectly, through our teachings about reincarnation, fate, and karma. The ultimate goal of incarnating, of life, is to get it right and finish the karmic cycle, which could be viewed as ascension. Not everyone evolves at the same rate, in our view, and the Earth’s energy
has always been changing, so the concept of ascension is nothing new.

While we readily agree that some individuals throughout history, such as ascended masters, teachers, and guides of the light, and select others may have “ascended,” we estimate that at least 95% of the population won’t be ascending this time around, no matter what seminar or course they attend. Sure, you can prepare to ascend, you can do everything possible to avoid incurring negative karma now, but unfortunately your soul, not your ego-self, tallies all your spiritual debts from past incarnations and determines when you will graduate.

Life isn’t a science fiction TV show and there isn’t a time when “true believers” will ascend to a higher plane, leaving behind all negative energy. That’s wishful thinking. It’s important to separate Hollywood fantasy from spiritual reality.

All you have to do is look at their intent, actions, and words to see that most people are, in one way or another, regularly creating negative karma for themselves that will need to be dealt with in future incarnations (karma doesn’t return to you in the same life as often as many mistakenly assume).

Even the common act of rationalizing mostly innocuous misconduct for example, or the act of psychically sending someone negative energy (such as the malicious hate mail we occasionally receive from those who disagree with our views, which always inspires us to write more, thanks!) because you don’t like their opinion can buy a round-trip ticket back to Earth.

You must first balance all your karma before ascending, only your soul knows for sure all the details about your cosmic debts, and you (your personality) can’t convince your soul (your spiritual self) to skip your karmic lessons. To erroneously believe you can side-step karma and cheat personal fate is, in our professional opinion, arrogant and ignorant, yet many New Age teachers promote such ideals.

We conclude that self-ascension, as promoted in the New Age today, is mythical and the spiritual
accomplishment of ascension is only for those who have truly earned it. By the way, in our experience, if someone is telling you that this is their “last lifetime,” based on our past life regression research, you can rest assured that it most likely isn’t.

However, don’t let the spiritual realities we point out discourage you. If you really want to finish the karmic cycle and ascend, you will, in time, by following this simple advice: Always do the “right thing” in all situations. By the “right thing,” we don’t mean doing what is “morally” right (an opinion of what is “correct” behavior, e.g.
marrying “for the sake of the children,” avoiding alcohol, or taking a stand against casual, wanton safe-sex). We simply mean treating others as you want to be treated.

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo