Fanaticism can be extremely devastating, as the extreme examples point throughout history. But there is also very subtle fanaticism, as you point out. It helps a lot to be aware, and i also think it would help to try and understand other people's beliefs, to try and see where they're coming from.

So, for example, if you are speaking to a devout Catholic who is firmly entrenched in their beliefs, instead of being irritated, you could try to put yourself in their position and better understand their beliefs and why they believe what they do.

Awareness is of course always very useful, being on alert for subtle egos of fanaticism and irritation. Since Gnosis is about experience, it would be most beneficial to talk from experience, as you mentioned, and try to give others the tools required to gain their own experience, with free will of course, trying to force something on others is an example of fanaticism.

I have observed my own ego(s) of fanaticism, it usually surfaces as minor irritation when others speak of religion or religious beliefs, what irritated me most was what i perceived to be their ignorance, but when i am alert i can see that this irritation is caused by subtle egos of fanaticism, and i will not tire of repeating the importance of awareness.

As master Samael said, we need to be honest with ourselves. It is very easy to become a fanatic when it comes to esoteric matters, believing that we somehow have sole possession of the truth, and that everyone else is ignorant. While the tools given here certainly may help the sincere aspirant to discover the truth, it is easy to fall into the trap of mystical pride, which i think is also tied to fanaticism. We just have to keep working and improving upon our level of being, which will ultimately enable us to share these tools wth others in the best possible manner, without fanaticism.

Excellent points in bringing to light these (subtle) egos, i hope we can all benefit from this discussion.

Thanks Sead,

I agree with you that it is a lot about mystical pride.

Recently, there was a detailed discussion about pride here:
http://www.gnosticweb.com/node/7649

What is kind of funny, is that mystical pride is a feeling of superiority because you feel like you are more spiritual than others. But mystical pride by itself demonstrates your lack of spirituality, at least at that moment.

Perhaps it can be a good skill, learning to observe yourself right away, with a lot of intensity when you see egos in other people, when you did a good practice, spiritual work, etc., because those are some of the moments, when mystical pride gets fed.

Another interesting detail is when you have a lot of mystical pride, there is a lot of fear around it too: you are scared not to look spiritual.

Yes, I agree with you that this discussion can be very helpful (for me it is already).
Thanks again lot for all your points.

All the best for everyone!

Yeah, fanaticism is a tough one because it can manifest in thoughts, feelings, and actions that appear so just, noble, and positive.

Often, I find myself wanting to protect others from making the mistakes I did or just in general and try to steer them towards the path and teachings. Interestingly, if it's someone that I am close to, I see egos coming up that drive me to want to help them, in part so that I can avoid the pain of having to watch the person suffer. This helping behavior is where I see a lot of fanatical egos arise in myself.

Here are a few things that I try to keep in mind to avoid helping the person in the wrong way:

First, in anyone's situation, I can never really know the full story and regardless of whether i think I know what's right for the person, there are likely other factors of which I am unaware. Thus, I shouldn't be so sure that I have all of answers to help the person and shouldn't keep pushing them in a direction that they don't want to go.

Another thing I try to keep in mind, particularly when I am trying to help others, is that I wouldn't have been able to make the progress that I have made without making mistakes and going through my own experiences in the past. Sometimes people have to go through painful events so that they can learn in life and it's not my place to take those opportunities to learn away from them. While it is important to do what we can to help others, it is also important to respect that everyone has their own journey to make and that each person has a free will.

Hi Gabrielle,

Thanks a lot for sharing.

I can definitely relate to your points because I can see fanatical egos in the approach I help others.
They are not obvious at all and mask themselves by the high ideals of generosity, nobleness, etc. like you said.

This is something to watch for, diligently and thoroughly.

Its funny I was just thinking about it today. Because I have seen this pride take a happy jolt when my good friend thank me for steering him towards meditation. my pride smiled inside, but no warm feeling on my heart, so it was pride gleaming.

So I was thinking about this and how I can counter it. I came up with a disclosure that I have practiced today when I was thanked again that goes like this:

"I am not the awaken one, I am only aware that I am asleep"

It helped me to retain awareness and focus, and not allow the pride to feed.

Wishing you all a great spiritual morning.

Thanks for sharing!
For me the best way to counter pride is to keep relaxing into awareness, detached observation, instead of being fascinated by pride, and apply the 1st key untill it is gone, over and over.

Retrospections of the situations, when pride is present, help me to see better how does it manifest.
Meditations on aspects of pride help me to understand its work in a more details, and those practices motivate me to confront it more actively.

"I am not the awaken one, I am only aware that I am asleep"

That's a good one to remember!

I try to find what causes fanatasicism in that moment and come back to awareness.

Its tricky.

I find if I don't know what to do sometimes, all I can offer is support.

Cheers from Texas!!

Ralph

Great thread,

Fanaticism, that sneaky resistance, that feeling of being right, of being righteous (even if we're acting terribly)... I see it most in myself when people ask me about gnosis, and then certainly that mystical pride linked to fanaticism comes out.

I really like these two quotes:

Samael Aun Weor
We need to know ourselves before we are able to know others. It is urgent to learn to see other people’s points of view.

Rabolu
It’s a serious mistake to speak about our work and not allow the work to speak for itself.

I try my best to be impartial with people when talking about gnosis, and that works naturally if I really keep trying to be in awareness. I think for me it's a matter of remembering the work, remembering what I'm here for in each situation. Whatever the situation, watching egos' and dieing to them. And this is something I dreadfully need to improve on. My diligence. One mistake I find myself making is falling into this false casualness really trying not to force things because of fear of fanaticism, and then that could put people off gnosis!

Much strength All

Hey Ralph, cheers from Montreal!

Hi Dean,
thanks for the quotes, thanks a lot.

You mentioned a very interesting thing, fear of fanaticism. I find that egos can immitate the work against egos and also if too much emphasise is put on the specific obstacle, then other obstacles are often neglected.

Also scepticism is something to watch for, the another extreme of fanaticism.

Like you and Ralph said, I find that ultimately it all comes to the simple work from moment to moment.

Watching for whatever comes right now, trying to make no compromises, and trying hard.