Writer Between Worlds

“The self-help industry has perpetuated the story that the purpose of human life is psychological and/or spiritual growth, and that this growth – despite never being clearly defined – inevitably leads to the actualization of your innate potential and the manifestation of the “best version of you”. This is in fact a very modern idea. The spiritual traditions of South Asia do not hold this view. They were unanimously oriented toward the goal of discovering the true nature of reality – sometimes known as enlightenment. (…) Since the goal of the spiritual life is to see clearly what is already true and always was, the spiritual path requires no growth per se. Clear seeing does not require you to be a better person or any kind of person – other than one genuinely interested in knowing what’s true. (…) the path to truth realization is a destructive process, not a constructive one. (…) It entails and necessitates ridding yourself of (…) emotional attachment to your perceived identity and to your stories, opinions and assumptions. (…) Trying to be a better person in the sense of causing less harm and more benefit to yourself and others is a perfectly laudable and noble goal. It just has no direct relationship with spiritual awakening.”

Christopher D. Wallis – Near Enemies of the Truth: Avoid the Pitfalls of the Spiritual Life and Become Radically Free (audiobook)