Should a spiritual awakening make you more careful? Or more confident?

[harmala_afficianado]

I know being too careful is bad, but also being too confident is bad, what/how do ya'll think is the best balance between the two?

 

[Nydex]

I know being too careful is bad, but also being too confident is bad, what/how do ya'll think is the best balance between the two?

There are so many variables and subjective aspects to the questions that you pose that any answer would be little more than a wild guess tossed in the dark, illuminating some vague silhouettes for but a moment before the gloom engulfs them once again.

What is "spiritual awakening"? What is "too careful"? What is "bad"? What does balance imply for you specifically, and does that necessarily translate to others?

Despite this ambiguity, allow me to cast my brief flicker of light into the dark so that perhaps you can gain something of value. My path wiggled through some comparatively thorny areas, and throughout that journey the most valuable lesson I learned is this - Omnia mea mecum porto.

Carrying this knowledge forth, I found out that paying attention to the grip vices have on me is a valuable exercise - it's all too easy to fall in line with what everyone around you is doing, even when your very spirit's grain runs opposite of that. More mass = more gravity. In that sense I have become quite vigilant and observant upon my material desires because it has become easier for me to see their true root.

Another important lesson this journey taught me is nuance, which is also something I continually learn and improve upon thanks to people like @Voidmatrix. So that when I see something termed as "bad" or "good" I try to always be cognizant of the fact that, for the most part, things in life are never all black or white. There are gradients, and the vast majority of human experience falls somewhere upon those gradients, with an exceedingly small portion falling directly on the extreme ends of the spectra.

I don't know where the "best" balance for you is. But any brief flickers lighting up the gloom in my particular room always reveal the same thing - a stark reminder that the work is never fully complete, and that there's always more to learn, more space to grow and become better, and more things to discover the unknowability of.

It seems to me that an effective formula is to do one's best to be a good human being. From that point on, one must remember: ignoramus et ignorabimus.

 

[harmala_afficianado]

There are so many variables and subjective aspects to the questions that you pose that any answer would be little more than a wild guess tossed in the dark, illuminating some vague silhouettes for but a moment before the gloom engulfs them once again.

I know, but it's good to hear the opinions of different people with experience.

It seems to me that an effective formula is to do one's best to be a good human being.

Thats 100% true, but then again i ask myself, if 99% of the people around me don't even know what a spiritual awakening is, their way of thinking makes an "awake" person doubt himself, so am i being a good person by letting them make me doubt myself because they are ignorant? Or am i being a better person by being confident and not letting their ignorance cloud my mind?

 

[northape]

Thats 100% true, but then again i ask myself, if 99% of the people around me don't even know what a spiritual awakening is, their way of thinking makes an "awake" person doubt himself, so am i being a good person by letting them make me doubt myself because they are ignorant? Or am i being a better person by being confident and not letting their ignorance cloud my mind?

You don't know what spiritual awakening is either, and neither do I. Give your own definition of what you mean by it if you consider yourself "awake".
When I get up from bed in the morning in good spirits, should I call it a spiritual awakening, maybe?

"Me vs. them" is a good sign that lots of work needs to be done. An awake person serves others first and foremost, because he sees beyond the illusion of self. If you see something in others, it just means that it lives in you. Somehow, all the sages never had a problem with anyone, even with people who tried to kill them. Confidence is not something you develop per se, but a natural end result of practicing courage. Maybe start with "being a good human being" and then see about that "awakening" thingy

 

[Nydex]

but then again i ask myself, if 99% of the people around me don't even know what a spiritual awakening is

Maybe you should ask yourself whether you're in a place to be the arbiter of what a "spiritual awakening" is before you judge others for being ignorant. The process you call "spiritual awakening" looks differently for different people. Just because someone isn't in the same place that you are in doesn't make them ignorant, and it also doesn't make you "better".

I would advise you treat these moments of doubt and that fleeting sense of spiritual/moral superiority as a mirror before you - the aspects that irritate you in others often reveal what you find irritating about yourself, consciously or not.

In that sense, abandoning the idea of superiority altogether and instead focusing on seeing the world through other people's eyes will give you a much more powerful tool for self-exploration. To me, the ultimate signal for spiritual maturity is humility.

Also, just because I say these things doesn't mean I practice them all the time. I too have my moments of weakness where I judge people and allow the parasitic sense of superiority take over, but I've found that this leads nowhere productive and only serves to further widen the chasm between me and others.

 

[Voidmatrix]

I know being too careful is bad, but also being too confident is bad, what/how do ya'll think is the best balance between the two?

Seek balance. It changes in different contexts.

One love

Edit: What's your  shadow up to?

 

[harmala_afficianado]

Im speaking from experience here, we all know that we now live in a generation filled with ignorance, peoples opinions and suggestions have always let me down and pushed me back, only when i started listening to myself did i achieve, has nothing to do with "judging" other people, but yeah, it seems like alot of people here often misunderstand what im trying to say for some reason.

Try reading what i said again @northape

 

[Voidmatrix]

Im speaking from experience here, we all know that we now live in a generation filled with ignorance, peoples opinions and suggestions have always let me down and pushed me back, only when i started listening to myself did i achieve, has nothing to do with "judging" other people, but yeah, it seems like alot of people here often misunderstand what im trying to say for some reason.

Try reading what i said again @northape

I question whether most people who are awake are aware of it themselves.

Conversely, I question if people who claim it know what they're talking about.

Some things are best shown rather than said.

One love

 

[Nydex]

it seems like alot of people here often misunderstand what im trying to say for some reason.

Maybe if you read what you wrote yourself you'll understand why people respond to you the way they do. If you're still unable to, then perhaps the ignorance of which you accuse others is something you should pay a bit more attention in the mirror I mentioned.

 

[northape]

Edit: What's your  shadow up to?

What's that?

Im speaking from experience here

Okaaay...

we all know that we now live in a generation filled with ignorance

Yes, and every generation is like that...

peoples opinions and suggestions have always let me down and pushed me back, only when i started listening to myself did i achieve

That's called maturation. Welcome to adult life

has nothing to do with "judging" other people, but yeah, it seems like alot of people here often misunderstand what im trying to say for some reason.

Yes, lots of work ahead of you. Free advice incoming:
Try to see what triggers you and why. Don't hide behind "no one understands me," and see why others respond as they do.

Try reading what i said again @northape

Nope, I'm good

 

[Voidmatrix]

I know being too careful is bad, but also being too confident is bad, what/how do ya'll think is the best balance between the two?

This dichotomy of careful vs confident may need reframing. No judgment, just noticing.

You're creating a false binary out of two ideas that are generally unrelated. You can choose to be careful because you're confident in your reasoning and rationale about what to be careful about. One can also choose to be careful because they don't have the confidence or in turn the trust to do otherwise.

One can be too confident because they have hubris.

You can be confident and be careful. Degrees of authentic and honest confidence will attenuate how "careful" one may be.

Confidence and humility are not mutually exclusive.

One love

 

[harmala_afficianado]

When i posted the thread, i wasn't looking for a personal answer, i just made it to hear peoples pure subjective opinion, it wasn't meant to be taken that personal/serious.

Maybe if you read what you wrote yourself you'll understand why people respond to you the way they do. If you're still unable to, then perhaps the ignorance of which you accuse others is something you should pay a bit more attention in the mirror I mentioned.

Language barrier ig, and never did i call any of you here ignorant, if you were ignorant i wouldn't be making threads.

If two people speaking have a language barrier, its better to either assume the best or ask to make sure

Try to see what triggers you and why.

Yeah i know why, do you? Take a guess.

This dichotomy of careful vs confident may need reframing. No judgment, just noticing.

You're creating a false binary out of two ideas that are generally unrelated. You can choose to be careful because you're confident in your reasoning and rationale about what to be careful about. One can also choose to be careful because they don't have the confidence or in turn the trust to do otherwise.

One can be too confident because they have hubris.

You can be confident and be careful. Degrees of authentic and honest confidence will attenuate how "careful" one may be.

Confidence and humility are not mutually exclusive.

One love

Great, i was looking for replies like this, as easy as it sounds.

I'm not seeking personal replies, just wanted to start a thread with a question id like to hear different opinions about, but oh well

 

[ommani]

Seek balance. It changes in different contexts.

I recently made a balance board for myself and can attest that it works differently on a hard floor compared to a low carpet.

 

[northape]

Yeah i know why, do you? Take a guess.

While it's fun to play with you, why should I do it on your terms? I know that my answers come from inside and have no desire to figure out how you work. That's your job.

I'm not seeking personal replies, just wanted to start a thread with a question id like to hear different opinions about, but oh well

Sure, otherwise you'd need to look inside and change. We don't want that, do we?

 

[harmala_afficianado]

why should I do it on your terms?

You don't have to

I know that my answers come from inside and have no desire to figure out how you work.

Then why judge?

Sure, otherwise you'd need to look inside and change. We don't want that, do we?

Thanks for reminding me to look inside and change, haven't done it in a few hours.

 

[northape]

You don't have to
Then why judge?
Thanks for reminding me to look inside and change, haven't done it in a few hours.

May you be safe
May you be healthy
May you be happy
May you be at ease
May you be filled with loving-kindness
May you be peaceful

 

[ShadedSelf]

IME doubting is healthy as long as you still follow what you know is right, in that sense doubt becomes a way to not reject whats "wrong" while not neccessarily taking that path. Good old duality, really. You can always retrace the path back if it turned out to be the wrong one.

 

[Jamie01]

If you wish to balance practice standing one footed

 

[Voidmatrix]

If you wish to balance practice standing one footed

On a half bosu, doing pistol and dragon squats!

One love

 

[harmala_afficianado]

You don't know what spiritual awakening is either, and neither do I. Give your own definition of what you mean by it if you consider yourself "awake".

I think it's pretty self explanatory, for me personally spiritual awakening is knowing the essence of one's self, and knowing that suffering is an illusion, being "awake", where do you think the term came from?

Yes, and every generation is like that...

Not quite, there is ignorance at all times/generations, but today it's at its peak, and you know it.

And by "ignorance" i mean humans not willing to seek knowledge, yes other generations had less resources and technology which might make them seem less knowledgeable, but nah, they were in survival mode which forced them to seek knowledge, unlike today.

A caveman looking around and trying to understand everything is alot more intelligent than a doctor who just studies what he's given without questioning anything.

IME doubting is healthy as long as you still follow what you know is right, in that sense doubt becomes a way to not reject whats "wrong" while not neccessarily taking that path. Good old duality, really. You can always retrace the path back if it turned out to be the wrong one.

Stressful roller coaster ride filled with confusion, but it's the only right answer unfortunately, ig the best thing to do is to surround yourself with like minded people.