Spiritual seekers are some of the most superstitious people on the planet.
Most people come to spiritual teachers and teachings with a host of hidden
beliefs, ideas, and assumptions that they unconsciously seek to be
confirmed. And if they are willing to question these beliefs they almost
always replace the old concepts with new more spiritual ones thinking that
these new concepts are far more real than the old ones. Even those who have
had deep spiritual experiences and awakenings beyond the mind will in most
cases continue to cling to superstitious ideas and beliefs in an
unconscious effort to grasp for the security of the known, the accepted, or
the expected. It is this grasping for security in all its inward and
outward forms which limit the perspective of enlightenment and maintain an
inwardly divided condition which is the cause of all suffering and
confusion. You must want to know the truth more than you want to feel
secure in order to fully awaken to the fact that you are nothing but
Awakeness itself.
Shortly after I began teaching I noticed that almost everyone coming to see
me held a tremendous number of superstitious ideas and beliefs that were
distorting their perceptions and limiting their scope of spiritual inquiry.
What was most surprising was that in almost all cases, even those who had
deep and profound experiences of spiritual awakening continued to hold onto
superstitious ideas and beliefs which severally limited the depth of
experience and _expression_ of true awakening. Over time I began to see how
delicate and challenging it was for most seekers to find the courage to
question any and all ideas and beliefs about the true nature of themselves,
the world, others, and even enlightenment itself. In almost every person,
every religion, every group, every teaching and every teacher; there are
ideas, beliefs, and assumptions, that are overtly or covertly not open to
question. Often these unquestioned beliefs hide superstitions which are
protecting something which is untrue, contradictory, or being used as
justification for behavior which is a less than enlightened. The challenge
of enlightenment is not simply to glimpse the awakened conditioned, nor
even to continually experience it, but to be and express it as your self
in the way you move in this world. In order to do this you must come out of
hiding behind any superstitious beliefs and find the courage to question
everything, otherwise you will continue to hold onto superstitions which
distort your perception and _expression_ of that which is only ever AWAKE.
© Adyashanti 1999. All rights reserved.
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