Avoid The Common Pitfalls Found Along Spiritual Paths

Watch Out For The Usual Hazards

Spiritual path pitfalls include demanding instant results and following the wrong teachers (authoritarian “masters” who may be practicing “spiritual fascism,” or cult leaders bent on satisfying their own ends rather than on promoting the interests of their flocks). Unlike a philosopher who confuses you sufficiently to make you think he knows what he is talking about, a good guru (spiritual teacher) acts like a guide who prevents his or her students from self-delusion; getting too “blissed out;” thinking that all is controlled by fate, destiny, and karma; believing too much in miracles and not enough in everyday life; and not following the Middle Way (a spiritual path that leads to neither too much indulgence nor too much asceticism in one’s behaviors and neither too much externalism nor too much nihilism—skepticism in one’s views). We trust that you will feel secure that the Heartwood Path is charted around such pitfalls.

The following activity is inspired and adapted from the book The Seeker’s Guide, by Elizabeth Lesser (2009).

To A Safe And Appropriate Spiritual Path…