Deceptions that the western mind has about magic & spirituality:
That the individual is the center of reality.
That the physical and spiritual planes are in opposition to one another.
That intellectual knowing or understanding is the path to magical awareness.
That life should be comfortable and safe, that all risk-taking is bad and dangerous.
That the attainment of perfection is the goal of human life or magical training.
That you are weaker if you have a teacher of living; that you “should be” able to do it on your own.
If the student thinks he understands the apprenticeship, he is taking control of it, turning it into a personal therapy or a soap opera of relationships.
In the modern world, “pure” science or art is valued only as it relates to applied activities: this severely limits the magic change of reality shaping.
I saw teachers who tricked themselves into thinking they were the ones doing the magic rather than that they were channels of the magic.
The western concept of allocating specific amounts of time to do things is an obstacle to the magical apprenticeship.
People say they are not now ready to do what is right. They are not strong enough, skilled enough, brave enough. The right thing is too uncomfortable, costs too much right now. They will do the right thing sometime in the future when conditions change, are more favorable. This is the trap which can be called “waiting for Godot”. This trap is what gets most people, traps them in shallowness. The future does not come because it is happening now, just as the past does not go away because it is happening now. If they do not stop waiting, they will wait for eternity. They can only stop waiting now, because now is the point of action.
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