The overriding need to be in control.

For such a person, with overwhelming fear, wanting to be safe, seeking security and control, it is common for the ego to co-opt the Path and to see no further than attempting to use the teachings as a more sophisticated set of techniques to get what they want. Like ‘The Secret’ on steroids. This person therefore never develops the inner purity of motivation and heartfelt sincerity that make the Path the magical journey that it really is. They remain stuck in a world of spiritual materialism, always trying to control life, now with better tools. They succumb to the view of these precious teachings as no more than a ‘toolkit to solve difficult life problems’. Or a more sophisticated means to get what the ego wants in any given situation. The Path is relegated to the realm of ‘technique’.

In this distorted and dumbed down paradigm, all the mystery and all the joy is missing. The person never gets out of the ego prison of “trying to get what I want”. So the highest Grace never descends on them. All the magic of the Path, the miracle of transformation, goes unnoticed for this person. Without inner purity of intention, the intuitive faculties and higher intelligence never awakens for this person.

The door to Grace never swings open. So they never know what all the fuss is about. “Why do people become so absorbed in this path, why so committed?”, it asks, ignorantly. The wonder of discovering how life really works never comes alive for them, because they are stuck in trying to control and feel good, rather than trying to learn and grow and serve others as the primary motivation in life. This person will tend to think the Path is mundane and cannot understand why others may be so committed to it. Nevertheless, it may be hard not to notice people around you who are sincerely walking the Path, because their growth and transformation is unmistakable. But the ego can be in denial about anything !

Again, the cure for such a person is simply to connect to their own courage, and to explore these teachings with the primary intention to grow and learn and become the energy of Love. One must be willing to learn how to give up fear, rather than be run by it. And you must be ready to observe yourself closely, with no judgment, regularly and consistently. Then growth happens very quickly, no matter what the past has contained. With great sincerity, the lowest of natures can be refashioned very rapidly. This is the miracle of Grace.

As one great Master once said, “God’s Love is unconditional, but His Help is not.” When you take one sincere step towards Truth, God / Grace takes a thousand steps towards you. It is a thrilling adventure, in which you must discover and prove everything to yourself. The sun shines equally on all. All you must do is seek the sun, and meticulously remove the clouds. For one who is sincere about the goal, the promise of the Path is permanent Freedom and joy, absence of all difficulties, complete understanding of life, overwhelming joy, LOVE and bliss like you cannot imagine, and the end of all fear. Forever. To the discerning, it is worth any sacrifice. It is the permanent transformation of your whole life and being. The end of being reborn into the endless cycle of birth and death.