Iterate.
Speed of iteration is more important than quality of iteration. (John Boyd, probably. I haven’t checked).
This is true for spiritual stuff, too. Reading is necessary, but not sufficient. Doing, testing—these are essential to finding what works. Contact with reality is what helps sort the bullshit from the jellybeans. Only with testing, observation, and correction do you get data points needed to see what works and what doesn’t.
I’m seeing this right now as I read Transurfing. Prior experience and iteration through so much literature and so much life experience has me on the precipice of deleting the book. So many notes of “Yeah but . . . ” or “yeah and . . . ” or “actually . . . “ in paragraph after paragraph.
How much of that is from translation? from poorly thought out or expressed ideas? Perhaps the author has evolved his thinking since writing the book. Let’s hope so—a sincere person must necessarily refine and evolve over time. It’s inescapable.
Giving the charitable take here. I have to confess that my first take was that Transurfing is largely intentional obfuscation along the lines of Gurdjieff but even with Gurdjieff there are diamonds scattered everywhere, waiting to be picked up. Why not here.
Anyway the original point stands. I stayed on course, testing everything with the fire of reality. That’s what I was taught originally by men who wanted nothing from me: take what you want and leave the rest. “Try what we do. Whatever you have going on doesn’t seem to be working.” That was said with a sardonic yet infinitely caring smile.
Pick up, discard. Pick up, discard. Always discard discard discard. What you seek is simple. Easy to remember.