Perceptions of People
When we have the wrong perception it is really difficult to relate to people. For example when we see a person like all high and mighty it is so hard for us to relate to that person, we will freeze, get all nervous, become stupid, feel awkward, and just appear plain boring or anti-social.
Imagine we bump into the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell in the elevator, if we see such a person as high and mighty we'll be like frozen and come across as unfriendly and weird.
If we see the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell as a human being just like us, who has a big job that has its perks but also has a very difficult side, we will relate and act very differently in the elevator.
All in all, the right perception of people is very useful to have in practical life.
I'm going to give you an example or two of such wrong and very common perceptions of people in Gnosis.
Wrong Perceptions
Often students can see the instructor or missionary as a saint, as a holy person or as an illuminated person, and sometimes something of a hero and also as something really high and far away - like unreachable.
Being honest such a perception is not all that really helpful, but that does not mean at all that one should then go and normalise their respect for such a person and take up a very common "how ya going mate" attitude. No certainly not.
The nature of the above perception even though it has truth to it, especially when the missionary or instructor is on the path, can lead us to do some reevaluation of that perception when certain things happen.
Sometimes when the missionary still has ego they can of course manifest the ego and then how do we accommodate that into the perception I mentioned above? Some people overlook it, thinking that it is not ego, oh no it can't be ego they say, and some see it as ego and get disappointed. The mature person and the esoterically well educated person would know that yes they still have ego but the path is a process where at the right stage it will be eliminated.
So a looser, flexible, more realistic, more esoterically educated perception is quite handy to have. That's what we could call a balanced perception.
Another perception that is wrong is to see Gnostic people as a 'pain'. No person is a pain or a problem. They are a person and a person is an essence.
Balanced Perceptions
Balanced is always best. Balance is a conscious combination. So the balanced perception as an example would be the perception of a human being, a person more essence than ego, or a person with no ego, a person who has worked so much, sacrificed so much, has some parts of the Being incarnated yet is a human being like us. They feel pain, can fall over, get sick, can forget things, not know something, need glasses, have to take medicine, get grey hair, put on weight, etc.
All in all we are like them but behind them in work, behind them in effort and super effort yet to be laid out, behind them in sacrifice, behind them in the path, and so if we respect the path and the work we will naturally deeply respect and admire them, and on the other side we too with our work can do the things they have also done in relation to the work, humanity and the Being. If we bring these two sides together we can get I believe come to a good perception that naturally lends itself to comfortable and correct relations. Or am I lowering things a bit too much? Maybe I am wrong? Can always be wrong? By the way that is a not a bad perception to have of oneself, always leave room to consider the possibility of getting it wrong!
End (3576).
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