This is part 2 of a series of posts called Obstacles to Grace. If you haven’t already done so, first check out Obstacles to Grace Part 1 here, or on the video page.
The content in the Obstacles to Grace series of posts builds on the content presented in previous posts. To garner the most benefit from the “Obstacles to Grace” posts, you may want to first view Practical Mysticism posts 5 through 7 about the Understanding, Acceptance, & Application of mystical principles, and Practical Mysticism posts 8-10 which address the topics of Dominion and Grace through the application of these principles. These posts can be found in written format here on my website, in video format on the video page, or on the Practical Mysticism YouTube Channel.
The way I define living from Grace is that it is the effect of living as and from your True Nature or True Spiritual Identity. Living from Grace gives rise to effortless, harmonious, inspiring experience. In a state of Grace the mind is still, and Joy, Gratitude, and Generosity shine forth from within. All bodily needs are met, the crooked places are made straight, and Life is a flowing, ever-present-moment experience. (For a deeper presentation and detailed content about living from Grace, see Practical Mysticism video or blog posts numbers 8-10).
In part 1 of this series, I presented the main obstacle to Grace as the lack of application of metaphysical and mystical principles. I then categorized the lack of application into roughly ten categories which I have listed below:
Obstacles to Grace = Lack of application:
Lack of understanding of metaphysics and principles
Lack of acceptance, doubt
Falling asleep in conditioning of material consciousness/dualistic mind
Lack of awareness
Lack of zeal and/or commitment
Complacency, coasting, suffering/dissatisfaction not intense enough to foster motivation, laziness
Close-mindedness
Lack of inner listening and/or trusting
Fear, especially of the “Unknown”
Pride, “I know,” sense of threat to identity
In part 1 we looked in a bit more detail at numbers 1 through 4. Now let’s proceed with number 5:
5. Lack of zeal and/or commitment
When I think of lack of zeal regarding the application of mystical principles, I immediately think of a quote from the motion picture called The Matrix. When Neo first meets his mentor Morpheus, for whom he’d been relentlessly searching, Morpheus says to Neo:
“What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” (Italics mine).
Is your search for Truth like a splinter in your mind, bordering on a mad obsession to find answers? I’ve heard the metaphor that if one desires enlightenment like a drowning man desires air, then the means will be provided. It doesn’t seem that this level of zeal can be cultivated, though it does seem that often suffering and distress can initiate a deep desire, and subsequent search, for Truth. This level of zeal sometimes arises for those who experience the ways and means of the world as highly bewildering and extremely unreliable, and who know deep in their heart that “this can’t be true.”
Lack of commitment usually follows lack of zeal. It’s difficult to remain committed to something that we feel half-hearted about.
6. Complacency, coasting, suffering/dissatisfaction not intense enough to foster motivation, laziness
Number 6 is somewhat like number 5. Here the lack of drive is caused by the relative “okayness” of one’s situation. If one deems their life situation and the ways of the world as acceptable, then there usually isn’t a desire to search for a Higher Way. It’s usually when what I like to call divine dissatisfaction or divine discontent creeps in that the search for something Transcendent is initiated. If the emotional suffering becomes intense enough, the motivation for Freedom and the subsequent search and application may arise.
Please note that suffering is not required for the search for Truth, nor for the application of mystical principles, though suffering is a common motivator. The search and application can be undertaken for many reasons, but here we are looking at obstacles to application and complacency is one of them.
7. Close-mindedness
My observation has shown me that close-mindedness is one of the most prevalent and insidious obstacles to living from Grace. Close-mindedness is an impediment to taking in new ideas and principles as well as an impediment to dropping outdated ones. Naturally, new principles cannot be applied if they’re not accepted or even considered. I’ve found that close-mindedness shows up in several ways:
The first type of close-mindedness shows up something like this: The ways and means of the world are accepted, a limited false identity as body/dualistic mind is accepted, five-sense evidence is accepted, and the person feels they’ve got life licked. They’ve followed all the rules and taken the steps they’ve been taught to have a successful life even if this life is stressful, or physically or emotionally painful. The person in this position bases their actions on conclusions drawn from the evidence presented to their senses. Their mind is closed to anything beyond the testimony of their senses and the input from the dualistic mind. They feel they are making all the right choices that the “good, smart, responsible” people make in alignment with mass consciousness. This type of close-mindedness sometimes has a tone of arrogance that accompanies it. The mind is closed to alternative views, alternative modus operandi, and certainly to anything beyond the five senses.
This next type of close-mindedness goes hand in hand with the use of judgment. If one identifies oneself as a finite, limited body of matter and dualistic mind, one necessarily feels deficient, unworthy, and inadequate. In order to have a temporary false feeling of adequacy or superiority, they will judge others as “less than” or inferior. Metaphorically, they are cutting off someone else’s head in order to feel taller. This is called projection (see Practical Mysticism post number 9 Dominion Over the World of Images Through Releasing Projections). Because someone in this position needs to attempt to feel adequate or superior by diminishing others, their mind is closed to new messages from those who might offer a more expansive or transcendental way of Being. One way this shows up is that the projector judges the other as flaky, as gullible, as silly, as “woo-woo,” etc. The strategy of projection and judgment is used in an attempt to solidify a shaky and false self concept. This automatically closes the mind to any new information that does not bolster the false identity.
I’ll illustrate this next type of close mindedness with an example. Nicolas Copernicus devised a theory that the planets may be revolving around the sun and not the earth as was commonly believed at the time. Sometime later, Galileo Galilei was tried for heresy by the Catholic Church for advocating the Copernican Theory of heliocentricity because it challenged the prevailing belief, which likely made the church fear it’s loss of perceived power, control, and identity. Galileo was forced to recant his position and was put under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Similarly, the science of quantum physics is now proposing theories of the universe which align with teachings of great mystics of all ages, yet the world—which quite commonly relies on science as its informant—has not allowed the radical message of quantum physics into its mind. I have a friend who has been a nurse all of her life and who is very reliant on information from the scientific and medical communities. Though she has heard whisperings about the ideas of quantum physics, and she is scientifically minded, she literally puts her hands up in attempt to block the information, saying “I don’t want to know.” She has shared that she doesn’t want her tightly controlled modus operandi rocked even if the information would free her in many ways. I actually do respect her position. She owns her close-mindedness; it’s a conscious choice. Nevertheless, it is a form of close-mindedness to the Truth of our Being, our Creator, and our Universe; a Truth that could set us free.
The next form of close-mindedness occurs when new information is interpreted as a sense of threat to one’s identity. I’ll go into more detail on this when I discuss number 10 from the above list of obstacles to application. For now, I’ll just say that most human beings identify with their beliefs. Said another way, their beliefs are “who they are.” These beliefs or belief systems also include their rituals, their modes of operating in the world, and their judgments about anything and everything. If someone with a differing belief or modus operandi shows up in their world, their sense of identity feels threatened and their mind is closed to a new way of thinking or behaving even if this new way might set them free. The trade off of losing their false identity is just not worth taking in a new idea. It’s actually experienced as very frightening to have one’s identity “challenged,” even if that identity is formed of very limited, and even, painful beliefs. In order to preserve that sense of identity, no matter how limited, the mind is defended against any ideas that it perceives as threatening to that identity.
The next form of close-mindedness is also related to a sense of false identity but it occurs in a more specific population than the general public. Sometimes those on a spiritual path will form what I will call a “spiritual persona.” Rather than living as and from the True Self, they are living from the false self and trying to appear to be spiritual. They try to speak and behave the way they think a “spiritual person” would or should behave. Often they talk a good talk; they can discourse on the concepts and principles of spirituality. Sometimes they are quite confident, even arrogant, that they have the Truth. They need to feel they have the Truth, the highest point of view, so they can attempt to elevate themselves and aggrandize their false sense of identity. Often this spiritual persona likes to correct others’ “inferior” spirituality, or offer unsolicited “teaching” or advice. This is really no different than any other being puffing up or defending their false identity, but it can be a particularly tricky trap for those on a spiritual path. Naturally, if one feels they have the ultimate Truth, and they are constantly spouting and defending their position, their mind is not open to any other possibilities.
Close-mindedness is a very common, universal condition. It keeps the mind bound in falsehood, littleness and limitation. We may conclude that open-mindedness can be a real expediter to Truth realization. I highly recommend it!
Obstacles to Grace = Lack of application:
Lack of understanding of metaphysics and principles
Lack of acceptance, doubt
Falling asleep in conditioning of material consciousness/dualistic mind
Lack of awareness
Lack of zeal and/or commitment
Complacency, coasting, suffering/dissatisfaction not intense enough to foster motivation, laziness
Close-mindedness
Lack of inner listening and/or trusting
Fear, especially of the “Unknown”
Pride, “I know,” sense of threat to identity
Have you been able to identify any of the 10 obstacles as relevant in your own journey? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. We’ll continue with the list of ten obstacles to application of metaphysics and principles—which are obstacles to living from Grace—in the next post.
If you’d like one-to-one assistance with this material, please reach out to me using the contact form on the left sidebar. May the peace, joy, freedom, and inspiration of Grace be your ever-present experience. Thank you.
