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What seems true to me at the moment is that enlightenment/self-realization or even great spiritual advancement means nothing if our "house isn't in order", where we continue to have hang-ups about relationships, intimacy, love, poverty/not having enough money, co-workers, cancer, parents, brother, sister, healthcare, government, policy, gluten, whatever. It is so easy to try to separate the two - a "spiritual" side with mystical powers or knowledge and a "non spiritual" side with a whole closet of "stuff", and bypass or glaze over all those parts of ourselves, make elaborate and very "spiritual" excuses for them or to not acknowledge them at all. There is simply no aspect that can be ignored or disowned simply because it doesn't neatly fit into our idea of spiritual attainment. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. And the pudding is whether we live our lives in complete integrity, baring it all.

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Originally posted by Parallax

Hey Chas!

How are you my brother?

I don't think roles are a problem; i was more alluding to the attitude/intention that I sometimes bring to these spiritual discussions...am I really open to learning and willing to let go of my preconceived notions or did I come with the intention of demonstrating my level of experience and defending "my" PoV. I would find myself mentally dissecting other people's viewpoints looking for points where I thought they were wrong...which didnt leave space for openness

I recently reread Zen Mind, Beginners Mind and liked the line that was someing like "in the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts mind there are few" . I wanted to be an expert, someone who knew...sometimes I still do

And to be clear I am just speaking to the noticing of my own tendencies with some of these things

I've already said too much

Love ya bro

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