Inspirational Texts - Miscellanea

Pitfalls on the Road to Enlightenment

The Road to Enlightenment has plenty of pitfalls, and many a spiritual warrior has ended up trapped in one of them.
Below, you'll find two lists, one by Marianne Parady and one by Dr. Joshua David Stone. Use them as a checklist to see if you're still on track!

Pitfalls on the road to Enlightenment

Marianne Parady

1. Placing the teacher on a pedestal

2. Developing an attitude of superiority

3. Becoming a spiritual entertainer

4. Having a fixed image of what it means to be spiritual

5. Beware of seeing only the good

6. Becoming wrapped up in manifesting wishes

7. Thinking that Life will always be perfect.

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Dr. Joshua David Stone

• Giving your personal power away.
• Loving others but not loving yourself.
• Focusing on God, but not properly integrating and parenting your inner child.
• Trying to escape Earth instead of creating Heaven on Earth.
• Seeing appearances instead of seeing the true reality - behind all appearances.
• Not realising that you cause everything.
• Serving others totally before you have become self-actualised within yourself.
• Thinking that there is such a thing as righteous anger. Anger is a big trap.
• Becoming an extremist and not being moderate in all things.
• Stopping your spiritual practices and studies when you get involved in a relationship.
• Being too critical of and too hard on yourself.
• Expecting God and the Ascended Masters to solve all your problems.
• Judging people because of the intiation level they have reached.
• Being hypersensitive or, on the other side of the coin, being too shielded.
• Taking responsibility for other people.
• Being the saviour.
• Serving for selfish reasons and thinking you are being spiritual.
• Thinking you are more advanced spiritually than you really are; on the other side of the coin, thinking you are less advanced than you really are.
• Working too hard and becoming driven, running yourself down physically; or, on the other side of the coin, playing too much and not being about the Father's business.
• Working with teachers on this plane or on the inner plane who are not ascended masters and are limited in their understanding and conception of reality.
• Making the spiritual path an interest rather than an "all-consuming fire".
• Trying to win or be right instead of striving for love.
• Putting too much emphasis on intuition, intellect, feeling, and instinct, instead of realising that they all need to be balanced and integrated in their proper proportions. The trap here is becoming overly identified with one of them.
• Blaming God or being angry at God or the Ascended Masters for your problems.
• Thinking that if your prayers aren't answered, God and the ascended masters aren't answering your prayers.
• Comparing yourself with other people instead of comparing self with self.
• Thinking that being poor is being spiritual.
• Comparing and competing with others over your initiation level and ascension.
• Studying too much and not demonstrating in the real world enough.
• Thinking you don't need to protect yourself spiritually, psychologically and physically.
• Trying to do everything yourself and not calling on God for help, the other side of the coin, calling on God for help and not helping yourself.
• Trying to achieve ascension to escape your problems.
• Thinking that Earth is a prison instead of recognising it as one of God's seven heavens.