Spiritual Gatekeeping: Let’s Talk About the Bulls**t

Let’s be real for a minute.

Spiritual wisdom is supposed to liberate us.

It’s supposed to wake us up.

It’s supposed to make us more sovereign, not less.

So why the hell do so many spiritual “teachers” and “brands” turn it into a velvet prison?

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### 🗝️ What is Gatekeeping?

Gatekeeping is when someone decides they get to control who gets access to a teaching, how it’s interpreted, and who’s worthy of sharing it.

✅ “You’re not allowed to teach this unless you buy my certification.”

✅ “Only my interpretation is true.”

✅ “Pay me to give you permission to trust yourself.”

Oh, please.

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### ⚠️ The Marketing Game

Let’s not be coy.

Spiritual business is still business.

And the oldest marketing trick in the book is to make people feel unworthy without your product.

✅ “You’re broken without this system.”

✅ “You can’t figure it out on your own.”

✅ “You’ll never get it without me.”

Sound familiar?

That’s not enlightenment.

That’s basic sales psychology.

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### 🐍 Inferior Teaching: The Subtle Poison

Not all teaching is created equal.

“Inferior teaching” isn’t about someone being dumb or evil. It’s about method.

Inferior teaching undermines your personal authority.

✅ It punishes questioning.

✅ It creates dependency.

✅ It sells you your own freedom with strings attached.

✅ It replaces your discernment with obedience.

And at its worst?

It’s cultish as hell.

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### 💀 Cult Tactics 101

Yeah, let’s name it.

🕸️ Discouraging critical thinking.

🕸️ Demonizing outsiders.

🕸️ Rewriting reality so the leader is always right.

🕸️ Using fear, guilt, and shame to keep you loyal.

🕸️ Making you pay for permission to belong.

Sound extreme?

It’s literally the business model of most modern “transformational” brands.

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### 🌿 Spiritual Materialism Is Real

Even the best teachings can be twisted into a commodity.

✅ Selling certifications to prove you’re “qualified” to speak truth.

✅ Gatekeeping sacred knowledge for profit.

✅ Marketing that triggers your insecurities so you’ll buy.

Chögyam Trungpa nailed it:  “The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.”

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### 🪷 But Wait—It Gets Even Funnier

You know what’s extra ridiculous?

Half of these “no-guru” teachers warned us explicitly not to do this shit.

✅ Alan Watts:  “I am not a guru. I just point at the moon. Please don’t get lost in examining my finger.”

✅ Ram Dass:  “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”

✅ Jiddu Krishnamurti:  “Truth is a pathless land.”

They begged us not to worship them.

What did we do instead?

✨ Turned their teachings into brands.

✨ Made certification courses.

✨ Sold insider access.

✨ Idolized their personalities.

Because humans are hilarious.

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### 🔑 Ra Uru Hu’s Brutal Honesty

Even Ra, founder of Human Design, called it out:  “You’re not here to believe me. You’re here to test this for yourself.”*

He literally warned that marketing always plays on your “not-self” conditioning.

✅ Fear.

✅ Lack.

✅ The need to belong.

He said it would be damn hard to do business as usual if you actually lived in alignment.

Because the standard model is built on dependency.

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### 🌱 The Anti-Gatekeeper Teachers

Let’s honor some of the voices who told the truth about truth:

✅ Thich Nhat Hanh:  “Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology… all systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.”*

✅ Osho:  “My whole effort here is to destroy all kinds of dependency so you can be free, so you can stand on your own feet.”*

✅ Rumi:  “Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”*

They all said the same thing:   Stop outsourcing your authority.

✅ Jesus (for the record):  “Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

You know who else despised spiritual gatekeeping?

Jesus.

✅ He flipped tables on religious hustlers.

✅ He told the Pharisees they were blind guides.

✅ He taught that the kingdom of God is within you, not behind some paywall.

He didn’t charge for miracles. He didn’t sell salvation subscriptions.

He straight up said: “Freely you have received; freely give.”

### 🧭 Real Teaching Doesn’t Make You Dependent

True wisdom:

✨ Points you back to yourself.

✨ Celebrates your unique experience.

✨ Encourages dissent.

✨ Admits its own limits.

If your teacher can’t handle questions or disagreement?

Run.

If they’re selling you salvation like a subscription box?

Run.

If they act like you need their permission to trust yourself?

Run.

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### 🌺 My Invitation

Look. I’m not saying don’t have teachers.

I’m not saying don’t learn.

I’m saying:

STOP WORSHIPPING THEM.

✨ Honor the lineage.

✨ Respect the work.

✨ Challenge the bullshit.

Because no one—and I mean no one—owns your awakening.

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### 🌿 Reflection Questions for the Brave

🪷 Does this teaching make me feel more free or more dependent?

🪷 Am I buying certainty or learning to navigate mystery?

🪷 Do I feel permission to question everything?

🪷 Am I encouraged to verify in my own life?

🪷 How does this teacher respond to dissent?

🪷 Am I paying for permission to belong?

🪷 Where do I want to outsource my authority?

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### ❤️ Closing Thought

You are the final authority on your path.

No teacher, book, system, or brand can replace your direct, raw, honest relationship with truth.

**Stay awake.

Stay curious.

Stay sovereign.**

Let’s keep each other honest.

Let’s keep it real.

Let’s help each other stay free.

With love, fire, and a grin that says “Don’t even try to gatekeep me,”

Jessy