Grace Hui for Incentre
In the digital age, a lot of things can be done online. In many ways, this brings about efficiency – shortening travel times, increasing productivity and enabling people from multiple regions and countries to connect over great geographical distances. We no longer have to drive for hours, take public transportation or hop onto a plane just to have that meeting. Technology is such that we can all speak via video conferences at the click of a button. All we need is WiFi.
However, as humans, is this truly all we need?
Since time immemorial, humans have figured out that our chances of survival were higher when we unified. The benefits of alliance is what has led to the creation of villages, towns, cities and countries. While, the power of technology harnesses efficiencies by cutting down unnecessary meetings and travel times, it is still not a replacement for in person collaboration and support which still has its place.
For example, the nuances of feeling the energy of those around you and reading the room are much harder to pick up online. The boons of technology are an integral part of our toolkit in modern day life but they do not replace the need for face to face community.
Why is this so?
If we brought it back to basics – we are not robots. Like it or not, most of us enjoy the physical reassurance of the presence of another being around us. A virtual hug or an emoji is a poor substitute for an actual bear hug from a trusted friend when times are hard. An engaging conversation over a cuppa sure beats one online which comes replete with time lags and the occasional voice distortion. It also reduces the miscommunication or misunderstanding that can occur over WhatsApp.
When we meet in-person, we are encouraged to focus on the person we are meeting more and are able to interpret non-verbal cues more effectively. When reading a text, an email or a WhatsApp message, sometimes, we can unconsciously interpret these words along the lines of how we are feeling as opposed to how the other party meant it.
Meeting in person also gives us the motivation and impetus to actually resolve conflict rather than to push it aside – something much more easily done over email or text. In person, we have far greater incentive to understand where the other party is coming from and to recognise that the counterparty is a human being who too desires peace and joy like us. It is less easy to reduce the other side as something that is less than human when we meet in the flesh.
I am of course not dismissing the importance of being online nor am I dismissing the far ranging benefits that the digital age has brought us. All I am saying is that all things have its place and one doesn’t replace the other.
Digital advancements are tools to enhancing human unity and collaboration. It should not become something that divides and separates us.
The key is discernment.
Why are the majority of our classes and healing sessions in-person?
In the Mystery School traditions, the vast majority of our classes and healing sessions are done face to face. With the advancement of technology, we have been frequently asked why we couldn’t do these classes or sessions online?
As humans, we are far more than just our physical bodies. Our physical bodies are just one aspect of us. Our energy body surrounds our physical body and is in fact much larger than our physical bodies. If we tune into it, we can all feel it too. Our physical bodies are what we need to live on earth. However, when we die, it is our energy that continues to live on. Our energetic structure therefore has a profound effect on our physical bodies. By and large, energy is felt and sensed and this is much easier felt and sensed in person. Energy communicates in person and not online. This is why when working with energy, this has to be done in-person even if logically, it might seem more efficient to work online.
Many of our classes also have handing downs – this is the tradition when a teacher (who has been initiated in our Hermetic lineage and who has the authority to teach and hand down those rituals and practices) hands down those rituals and teachings to us in person. This is not just a mental communication of information. It is also an energetic handing down. Being in the presence of a person who has the proper initiation and authority of the lineage to deliver such handing downs will also be energetically handing these tools down to us. This is to ensure that we are able to anchor it in our physical lives. Otherwise, it would just be information floating around in our heads unable to physically manifest. Until and unless we are able to embody that which we are handed down, it will remain only in the mental and not in the physical. A vital aspect of being able to embody a teaching is to be able to retain it in our energy structure and the only way to do that is to be in the presence of someone who has the authority to hand these teachings down.
The same rings through for our healing and activation sessions. We need an energetic healing and activation. Not a mental one. For example, the Life Activation – a powerful and ancient modality that reconnects us to our true self and purpose requires the use of a crystal wand to literally activate the dormant parts of our DNA that allows us to be realigned with our true and higher selves. There is no way that this can be done in any other way other than in person.
On a practical note, being in someone’s physical presence also helps us to gauge the scene – check someone out, see if you trust them or not. So this is also a good way to allow our clients the opportunity to see if they trust us – something much easier done in-person.
The Benefits of communing with like-minded individuals
Loneliness and isolation has been a common problem in modern society. This is despite the proliferation of the Internet and Social Media which “connects” millions of people.
This is a clear indication that as humans, being connected online isn’t enough to sustain the human desire to truly engage in person. Chatting online can only take us so far and so, while it is helpful in the dissemination of information or of facts, its utility in fostering a deeper understanding is limited.
It is also far too easy to “cancel” someone online and hope never to see them again. In a way, this divides humanity when genuine connection requires unity. In person, you get to be reminded that this other is a fellow human being sharing an earthly experience with you. Like it or not, we live in a shared world and it is far better to co create a world of peace together. Humans need one another and being in person truly reminds us of this.
When we meet in person and partake in a deep discussion or a shared meditation, we are doing more than just chatting, we are Communing – Engaging not just the mind but also engaging energetically. Done in a space where the energy is regularly maintained so that it has high vibrations and less distraction, this fosters genuine connection and alignment. It reminds us about the inherent goodness of humanity and builds trust for our shared desire to create a world of peace and joy and to share that -letting it vibrate out into the wider world.
When we meet as one, we also help each other to build the energy and remind ourselves that we are stronger together and that there is more than unifies us than separates us.
