Being a True Believer / Knowing the One True Way

[Silenciumetaurum]

I like Sadhguru. He's a very low-BS yogi. If you can't bear to sit still for a 10 minute video, I'll give you his main idea in two sentences: we're told to believe in certain things that have no connection to our lived experience. We should start with what we have experienced (even subjectively, in our UPG) and work from there. That's a typical yoga perspective (work with the body first, then use that work to free the mind). But I think it's good.

https://youtu.be/O1B0lDS1Jnw

I find that even magicians, sometimes especially magicians, get rigid in their beliefs: I know the truth and the rest of you are doing it wrong. Sometimes, this comes from a profit motive (like saying, "My magic is the real shit and the rest of you are just playing—so pay me."). Other times, this just comes from the sincere belief that there is One True Way (as I talk about here in "Everything is Worthless Except for my Own Occult System").

We all believe things. We all have a subjective field of personal gnosis. But I think there is one reasonable belief we should all entertain: there is no one true way. Instead, we might benefit from realizing that on some level everyone takes Bruce Lee's approach: absorb what is useful.

So I remind myself not to be rigid, to be open, to be flexible, and that just because I have tools that work doesn't mean it can't be done just as well without them or with different tools.