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# Re: Re: Doubts about the path

#### Message 02036 of 3835

- To: <BardonPraxis@yahoogroups.com>
- Subject: Re: [BardonPraxis] Re: Doubts about the path
- From: "Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>
- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 10:45:51 -0800
- References: <bt2p7a+nf7v@eGroups.com>

    Dear David,

    I'm very pleased that my remarks spurred you on to think in these new
    ways. :)

    >> But herein lies the question: If I lack the wisdom to make a
    decision, and all of my previous decisions were based on personal
    desires rather than deep understanding, than how can I make a
    decision? It seems that I am always making choices that are ego-
    driven and lacking all of the information. <<

    Having recognized an error, the solution to acting differently is to
    consciously take the course opposite to the one in error. In other
    words, separate out your ego and become well informed.

    At your age, you have plenty of time to make mistakes. :) It is far
    better to make and follow a decision and have it later proven incorrect
    than it is to sit forever in a quandary over which decision is The Right
    One and never make any decisions. There is great power in *doing*. If
    you're wrong in the end, then you've learned valuable lessons that you'd
    never have learned had you done nothing but worry about which decision
    is right.

    The *only* way one learns the self-trust and self-confidence that lead
    to self-reliance is through taking risks. Trial and error is a reliable
    teacher.

    >> Acknowledging that all paths are equivalent in their essence but
    different in their flavors, does that mean choosing a path that seems
    right initially and then committing to it for at least a certain period
    of time, until I have learned enough to know? I've heard it said that
    one should achieve black belt rank in a single martial art before
    considering integrating any other fighting styles into their repertoire,
    in order to have a firm foundation and basis for good judgment. Might
    the same apply to the spiritual paths? <<

    Yes.

    >> I guess I would also like to reiterate and elaborate on my resistance
    to the Bardonian path based on the overwhelming amount of information.
    It has certainly not been easy to grasp many of the concepts and I
    suppose I have been under the misapprehension that learning should be
    easy. <<

    :) A clear sign that you've been a victim of the American school
    system! Unlike school, this endeavor requires that you think for
    yourself. It's more like independent study in which you must establish
    your own curricula, set your own standards of achievement, etc.

    >> It is just that I don't quite have a sense of what and how much I am
    supposed to know, in terms of theory, at any particular stage. Amongst
    the beginning pages of IIH, there is the picture of the Magician tarot
    card, for instance, and several pages later a listing of the different
    parts of the body and their magnetic and electrical aspects. As a
    beginner in the Bardon system, with no prior background in tarot or any
    other aspect of Western esoteric traditions, what am I supposed to do
    with that? Is it information I should memorize? Is it something I
    should set aside because understanding will naturally come as I explore
    later steps? Is the text something I should pore over and meditate on
    to get a deeper understanding? If so, is it implied that this is
    something that I will do on my own as I progress, though not laid out
    explicitly in the steps? <<

    Bardon stated in several places at the beginning of IIH that the student
    should read the theory section and *meditate* extensively upon its
    contents. In Step One, he gave the basic meditation techniques that the
    student should apply to their investigation of the theory. Naturally,
    one's understanding deepens with time and experience.

    >> I think this is what I meant when I said that IIH seemed bare-bones.
    I notice that Rawn disagreed with this; if he would, I'd like to hear
    his response to this. <<

    It all comes down to *doing*, not to how many words have been applied in
    explanation. Bardon gave enough words of explanation for the student to
    begin *doing* the exercises and once the student begins *doing* them,
    the rest reveals itself in the practice. Having more of a detailed
    instruction would not have made the *doing* any easier nor would it have
    negated the need for discovering what is revealed through *doing*. One
    can read till the cows come home and develop a crystal clear
    *intellectual* comprehension, but until one *does* the exercise, one
    will never really *know*. It's the *doing* that's important and which
    teaches, not words.

    >> To my beginner's eyes it doesn't seem that Bardon did much in the way
    of emphasizing any particular thing, the way some Buddhists meditate
    many hours a day or qigong masters work on their qi. And that lack of
    emphasis is perhaps what overwhelms me. No one is telling me what *I*
    need to work on most. To look at dealing with all of it at once is a
    lot to handle. <<

    Well, Bardon was very specific that the student should work at one
    exercise from each of the three sections of a Step and not move on until
    the exercise has been mastered.

    >> I believe that my ego considered three options: (1) collapse under
    the pressure, (2) bail out for a seemingly "better" (easier) path, or
    (3) deal with it. My doubts came up because I was afraid of #1 and felt
    like doing #2. <<

    Well, since options 1 & 2 seems to be unsatisfactory to you, that leaves
    option #3, doesn't it? In the end, it's what you'll have to do, so it's
    now or later.

    My best to you,
    :) Rawn Clark
    02 Jan 2004
    rawnclark@...
    rawn@...
    http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis
    http://E.webring.com/hub?ring=arionthebardonwe

- References:
  - Re: Doubts about the path
    - From: "David Yeh" <ldreamr@...>

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