Getting to the Soul of Actor C. Thomas Howell; Part 4

Spiritual Warriors the Time Is Now!
Part 4 of a 5 Installment Interview
By Debra Campbell

The process of getting to know C. Thomas Howell has been enjoyable. Like many, I looked at him as a celebrity and larger-than-life persona. As I have gotten to know him, I have found him to be very down to earth and aware.

This week's installment is about his spiritual point of view. That is an intense position to examine. Tom took to the task just as he has taken on any other situation in his life. He went to his core and looked at his truth. I salute his bravery in doing so.

It is important to consider what we believe down deep inside. I found Tom to have an innate curiosity and a steady hand with his life; just as from his rodeo days.

Here Is Tom’s story in his words.

Discussing one's spirituality publicly is extremely taboo in this society. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to share my views without being ridiculed or judged by the public, but to be honest, there is no safety net when it comes to one's belief system. There are no protective devices to wrap oneself in.

There's only truth as one knows it and if one decides to share his or her truth we'd like there to be a sense of trust displayed by the voice that's expressing themselves and the listener choosing to hear it. But lets face it - that's rarely the case when discussing politics or religion, especially in an open forum such as this.

I certainly don't mean to offend any readers by my points of view regarding structured religion or any other belief systems that may feel challenged when reading this. For the most part our society needs structure and the intent is generally a good one, but for me personally it just wasn't enough.

I felt that there had to be more to it than preaching the ‘good word’ and going to church once a week. The tools that I yearned for even as a child weren't provided for me through church. The questions that I asked would seemingly challenge those that had spent their lives basically doing the same thing week in and week out. I felt as if there was a ceiling to the system and once you reached it there was nowhere else to go.

Just ‘accept Christ’ and you'll go to Heaven and if you don't, well you know the answer to that, brother: H. E. double hockey sticks... or HELL! So, this entire system is fear-based and as a child it scared the heck outta' me. I would often think of the small children born in the jungles of any third world country, pure as the driven snow, who would grow up living dutiful lives of goodness and according to the structure that I was being taught, unless they accepted Christ, they would go to hell the same as any horrifying criminal.

How is that possibly fair if they've never heard of Jesus Christ? What if they worshiped Buddha, Krishna, or any other saint would they end up in hell? I struggled with those thoughts at a young age.

My stepmother, who to this day reads her Bible every morning and every night would say to me, “That's why it's up to us to spread the word of Christ and save those souls.”

God bless that woman. She's one of the kindest people I know, but somehow, that just never made sense to me. I can remember thinking certainly Jesus Christ had to be the most fair and understanding entity that ever walked the path. How could it be that he wouldn't allow good people into Heaven strictly based on a belief system of choice? “Accept me or go to hell.”

Really?

That just didn't compute and I'm sure if Christ materialized in front of us he would agree. Jesus is not about ego, and the bottom line for him is certainly not, “Accept me or be banished to hell forever.”

He is the embodiment of compassion. He is forgiveness. He is love. For me today, it all comes down to a pretty simple concept: good is good and bad is bad, period. Within that context you can believe whatever your heart desires. Just do the right thing and make the right choices. You know the difference between good and bad which basically leads us to intent... and only you and God know of your intentions.

You can't disguise bad intentions with a good choice. You might be able to get away with it to some degree, but eventually it will come down to you and God, and you will at some point have to answer for your intentions.

Here's an example: Let's say I'm on a boat with some other people - some I like, and maybe some I don't, perhaps there's even one person that I really don't like at all for whatever reason.

Now, suppose our three hour tour turns into a stormy nightmare. The waves start tossing the boat back and forth and suddenly the person I don't like is thrown into the air and is clinging to the railing of the boat with one hand about to be lost at sea.

The others have made it safely into the cabin and I see him dangling overboard, holding on for dear life. I rush to this person and try to help him to safety. I reach for him and yell at him to grab my hand. We struggle for a moment then suddenly he slips and is swallowed by the violent waves below.

Everyone saw me run to this man, risking my own life to save him. Clearly I reached out and tried my hardest... or did I? Certainly I made the right choice trying to rescue him... but what was my intention? Did I really want to save him or did I want to secure his death secretly disguising it with what seemed like the right choice?

To others I'm a hero that risked my life to save another... but only I know for sure what my true intent was, myself and God that is. So clearly there's more to life than making right choices. It's all about the intention behind the choice.

That's what spirituality is for me. That’s what sent me down this wonderful path I'm currently on; searching for the answers to my spiritual quest. I will never stop asking questions regarding this life or any other for that matter. I will never accept any terms of compliance as long as I live. I will constantly strive to do the right thing with the right intention behind it.

Now, we all make mistakes and no one is perfect, but given the right tools we can strive to be. For me, meditation is the key, particularly Kriya Yoga. Kriya is taught through the many lessons provided by Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of The SRF or Self Realization Fellowship.

This is a Christian-based fellowship with lessons broken down and taught through the belief systems of the ancient Yogis. They have perfected the scientific approach to experiencing the oneness with God through meditation. It's the closest thing to ‘proof that God exists’ that I have experienced.

It has created a way of life that has personally changed my life for the better. It's helped me re-focus my intentions regarding my own personal happiness and goals. It's allowed me to become ‘a part of this world, but not of it.’ I no longer base my happiness on my worldly successes.

This path has helped me become less judgmental and has given me the tools to view everyone as one of God's children in the truest sense of the word. Through the SRF I have learned the highest principle of spiritual living which is meditation combined with activity.

Students at SRF are taught how to dedicate inwardly to God all the day's activities; and when work is done, to commune with Him in the temple of silence. This allows them to perform their duties or workloads without any resentment whatsoever.

Whenever we can ‘do it for God’ things instantly become easier. This has given me a personal relationship with God while striving for the Christ Consciousness within. Instead of spewing rhetoric and living in fear for having done ‘the wrong thing,’ I'm now LIVING, period, guilt-free, happy and filled with love and compassion.

I wake up every day and meditate. I think about God during all of my activities throughout the day and before I go to bed I meditate again. It's not something that I even think about doing. It's habit. It may sound like I've gone a bit too far, especially re-reading this myself, but honestly, nobody outside of my immediate family knows what I do or what I think.

I'm not out recruiting souls I assure you. It's my own little secret to living life to its fullest and I have zero intention of wearing it upon my sleeve. I give all the credit of my personal success to God... secretly. It's awesome! I love my life tremendously, and take full responsibility for co-creating my existence... and anyone can too.

Anyone can change their bad habits to good ones. Anyone can change their bad choices to good ones. Believe me, it doesn't take any more effort to do so. It's easy going through life always doing what you want, but doing the ‘right thing’ is what makes a person a ‘spiritual warrior’!

That's what being spiritual means to me: doing the right thing. I think that it is time for people to wake up and become the spiritual warriors that we all have the potential of being! Now is the time my brothers and sisters. Right now!

I want to thank people for reading this and I hope you gained some insight from it. I know I did. The challenge of exposing my belief system for the first time publicly was a big one and I'm glad to have shared it with you. Please feel free to share your feelings as well as I'll be reading the feedback myself.

Here is a brief prayer I would like to share.

“Heavenly father, Divine Mother, Jesus Christ, Bhagavan Krishna, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswarji, Guru-Preceptor Paramahansa Yogonanda, saints of all religions, I bow to you all. May Thy love shine forever on the sanctuary of my devotion, and may I be able to awaken Thy love in all hearts.”

Love, Light and Peace...

Tommy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Tom for sharing your spiritual process. Join us next time with our fifth installment when C. Thomas Howell tells us about the next leg of his journey.