Through darkness one may come to the light.

You say you try to wake him up, though why are you looking down to him?

If he doesn't want to see the light, that is his choice...

I personally think, lead by example, live what you think is right, and if it is powerful enough your friend will see this, and if they then decide to change because of this, it is a personal decision.

For all you know your friend could be right and you could be wrong, there is much in the darkness that those that are in it discover, while those in the "light" are blinded to it also...

Hello Elliot,

There are many of us who have been through this issue and it is actually quite common when we start too look deeper into life.

I have many close friends, who I have tried to convince because I thought I would be able to help them all, even my family. There are even people I know who have had many out of body experiences and still want nothing to do with the spiritual and they rather live in ignorance.

The reality of the fact is that some people are just not interested. The important thing is to work on ourselves and look into our own faults first. After we take the blind fold off ourselves we will 'see' clearly what we need to say or do to help someone else. When we are changing within we start to affect the world around us in ways that we can't even imagine.

There are many ways to help people, the key is to meet them with what they are able to handle, we will know what to say and do when we are in the consciousness; in the present moment free from cluster of thoughts, emotions and feelings that block us from seeing the reality of things and our ability to help others.

Ruben

I think it's important to understand that not everyone needs or wants 'help' and that people find things and knowledge at their own pace when they are ready for it.

If we insist on teaching and helping people when they don't want it, how are we any different to Jehovahs witnesses or scientologists, knocking on peoples doors and forcing our version of the truth down their throats?

Hi Elliot,

It's nice that you want to help your friend!
I know, it can be very hard, like you say, just to sit and watch.
Why not to grab him in a fireman carry and bring him on the shoulders towards the enlighenment?
Just kidding.

From my limited understanding, this whole work is so individual: we all have to walk our own path and learn by ourselves from our own mistakes.

Helping others is needed, and is very important, but many have no interest in spiritual work and "pushing" it can bring only resistance. So, in those situations it can be the best thing just to help others according to their interests and when it feels right, makes sense for us.
Among friends, spiritual help can be hard also because friends tend to know each other weaknesses well and it can be very difficult to take spiritual assistance seriously from own buddy, "doctor is not recognized in his own village" type of thing.
And who is really a doctor?

Everyone has their own way to walk.

If we'll awaken by ourselves, then we'll see how is is to to help others to awaken.
On the way there, there are so many people asking for help, here and there, interested for it. When we are conscious, we are all friends, we are all brothers and sisters.
In this world, there are so many opportunities to help those who are needed and to learn how to do it well!

Yeah, I don't know about anywhere else really, but here in the south USA, in the "Bible belt", people are always selling anything and everything, mostly their religions. It's difficult to have a conversation with someone without them trying to sell you their church. So I usually try to remember that I don't want to be like that, and remember something Rabolu said that it's a great error to talk about the Work rather than allowing the Work to speak for itself.

One time when I was struggling with a similar situation, someone described to me a tree, saying I need to learn to stand like a tree. We can see a tree stands with strength, shoots out its branches, and then fruits. It doesn't throw its fruit at you as you walk by it. For those with eyes to see, then they will see the fruit and come eat of it.

Of course it's all easier said than done. It's something we all struggle with occasionally. You'll figure it out :)

Best wishes,
Jim B.

Jim, great analogy with the tree.

Thanks Vadim, you said what I was thinking, only in a politer way! Apologies for being brusque Elliot!

Actually, I wanted to say that "prophet" is not recognized in his own village. Doctor in own village could be fine...
I am sorry for confusion.

I like what you said Ahona, it's very much to the point.

Best wishes!

Hi Elliot,

I know it is really hard to watch someone go through that. It can feel like things are so unfair and sometimes it just seems like there must be something more we can do or say to prevent them from suffering. All we can do is try our best and see what happens. If we start to push too much, it can bring out some egos in us, even. I don't know if you've experienced this, but it has happened to me when dealing with similar situations. Then those egos made me suffer as much as the other person even though I had Gnosis and they didn't.

Have you taken the Self-discovery and Gnostic Wisdom courses? If so, it should help to look into the feelings that come up when you start thinking about the situation or interacting with this person. If you have the technique, then try to eliminate all of those egos that are coming up.

This should help you to see the situation more objectively and open you up to the intuitive and intelligent guidance you can receive from your consciousness. So, if there is more you can do, you'll be able to see it more clearly, otherwise it can help you to accept when it is time to take a step back and let the person be.

All the strength,

Gabrielle

It is not hard to help someone, but it's almost impossible to get someone to 'become a gnostic', in the way I believe you mean it.
All you need to do to help someone is be honest, respect them, trust them, and show that you can be trusted. The best thing you can do to lead someone to gnosis is to be their friend. If you're someone's friend and they're not interested in going to any significant depth in the relationship, you'll find that they'll lose some interest or get frightened away.
I love my friends, I can talk with them about anything, even gnosis, and they know it's important to me, whether they think it's crock-pottery or not, and that's fine. Some I don't think will awaken, some may awaken, and maybe one or two are waking. If you're available to people for when karma comes around and bites their behind, are ready to listen, and can have some sort of insight, you can get people really interested.
Remember that the most important things in Gnosis have little to do with subscribing to theories, talking about astral travel, energy, etc... or convincing someone that VM Belzebuub is indeed a master, but instead that it has to do with learning from you mistakes, understanding what's real, understanding yourself, and dying to yourself psychologically.
-J

Thanks for all the replies.

I am actually not talking about gnosticism here, as I would not describe myself as a gnostic. This is because I do not want to subscribe myself to any religion. But I am talking about some of the theories this site is talking about. Just being aware basically. Maybe some of the phrases I used seemed like I was trying to convert this person, but that's not what I meant by it. And perhaps on second thoughts I was probably being pretentious when I started this thread. It's very likely that I have just been seeing things I don't like about myself in this person, which has caused me to feel upset.

And Julian, I agree that the most important thing is learning. I often go through periods of depression, thinking that my life and everything is meaningless. But when I come out of it I can see it just as something I can learn from.