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       # 2023-06-02 - Immanent and Transcendent Paths by Jack Kornfield
       
       Before we can understand non-ordinary states, we must realize that
       spiritual traditions hold two widely divergent perspectives on their
       value for transforming and liberating our consciousness.  Certain
       spiritual paths insist that we need to attain profoundly altered
       states of consciousness in order to discover a "transcendent" vision
       of life, to open beyond out body and mind and realize the divine
       taste of liberation.  These schools speak of the need to go to the
       mountaintop, to have a cosmic vision, to transcend the small self, to
       experience an enlightenment.  Many traditions focus on such visionary
       and transcendent experiences. ... The techniques they use include
       repetition, intensity, pain, powerful breathing, narrowly focused
       concentration, koans, sleep deprivation, and visioning to help
       students transcend normal consciousness.
       
       Many other schools, however, do not seek to climb the mountain of
       transcendence, but set out instead to bring the spirit of the
       mountaintop alive here and now in each moment of life.  Their
       teachings say that liberation and transcendence must be discovered
       here and now, for if not here in the present, where else can it be
       found?  Instead of seeking to transcend, the perspective of the
       "immanent" school teaches reality, enlightenment, or the divine must
       shine through every moment or it is not genuine.
       
       The schools that focus on awakening "here and now" teach that the
       divine and enlightenment is ever present.  Only our desire and
       grasping mind, including our desire for transcendence, keep us from
       experiencing this reality. ... The teachings of Advaita Vedanta,
       Krishnamurti, karma yoga, and the path of service to the divine, all
       follow this path.
       
       Immanent and transcendent paths are both an expression of the Great
       Way.  They are each expressions of practice that can lead to a
       profound letting go and true liberation.  Most of you who pursue
       spiritual practice in a devoted way will at some time experience both
       perspectives.  Each way has its value, and each has its dangers.
       
       The value of transcendent states is the great inspiration and
       compelling vision that they can bring to our lives.  They can provide
       a powerful vision of reality beyond our day to day consciousness and
       guide us to live from this highest truth.  The experiences we have of
       them can, at times, be profoundly healing and transforming.  But
       their dangers and misuses are equally great.  We can feel ourselves
       special for having had them; we can easily get attached to having
       them; and the drama, the body sensations, rapture, and visions all
       can become addictive and  actually increase the craving and suffering
       in our life.  The most pervasive danger of all is the myth that these
       experiences will utterly transform us, that from a moment of
       "enlightenment" or transcendence, our life will be wholly changed for
       the better.  This is rarely true, and attachment to these experiences
       can easily lead to complacency, hubris, and self-deception.
       
       The value of the practice of immanence is its powerfully integrated
       approach.  It brings the spirit alive here and now and infuses our
       whole life with a sense of the sacred.  The dangers include delusion
       and complacency.  We can easily believe we are "living in the
       present" and still be half asleep, following our old comfortable
       habits.  Our initial sense of love and light can become an excuse to
       say that everything is already divine or perfect, and cause us to
       gloss over any conflict or difficulty.  Some students practice this
       way for a long time without gaining much wisdom.  Stuck without
       knowing it, they may feel quite peaceful, but their lives have not
       been transformed and they may never fulfill the spirit journey, never
       find true liberation in the midst of the world.
       
       ... it is essential that we have a teacher or guide and proper
       support for staying balanced while navigating [the territory of
       altered states of mind--mental, emotional, and spiritual territory
       unknown to our ordinary consciousness.]  This is critical.  One
       doesn't take a journey into the Himalayas without a guide who knows
       the ancient paths.
       
       From: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
       
       tags: book,spirit
       
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 (DIR) book
 (DIR) spirit