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# 2023-06-02 - Immanent and Transcendent Paths by Jack Kornfield
Before we can understand non-ordinary states, we must realize that
spiritual traditions hold two widely divergent perspectives on their
value for transforming and liberating our consciousness. Certain
spiritual paths insist that we need to attain profoundly altered
states of consciousness in order to discover a "transcendent" vision
of life, to open beyond out body and mind and realize the divine
taste of liberation. These schools speak of the need to go to the
mountaintop, to have a cosmic vision, to transcend the small self, to
experience an enlightenment. Many traditions focus on such visionary
and transcendent experiences. ... The techniques they use include
repetition, intensity, pain, powerful breathing, narrowly focused
concentration, koans, sleep deprivation, and visioning to help
students transcend normal consciousness.
Many other schools, however, do not seek to climb the mountain of
transcendence, but set out instead to bring the spirit of the
mountaintop alive here and now in each moment of life. Their
teachings say that liberation and transcendence must be discovered
here and now, for if not here in the present, where else can it be
found? Instead of seeking to transcend, the perspective of the
"immanent" school teaches reality, enlightenment, or the divine must
shine through every moment or it is not genuine.
The schools that focus on awakening "here and now" teach that the
divine and enlightenment is ever present. Only our desire and
grasping mind, including our desire for transcendence, keep us from
experiencing this reality. ... The teachings of Advaita Vedanta,
Krishnamurti, karma yoga, and the path of service to the divine, all
follow this path.
Immanent and transcendent paths are both an expression of the Great
Way. They are each expressions of practice that can lead to a
profound letting go and true liberation. Most of you who pursue
spiritual practice in a devoted way will at some time experience both
perspectives. Each way has its value, and each has its dangers.
The value of transcendent states is the great inspiration and
compelling vision that they can bring to our lives. They can provide
a powerful vision of reality beyond our day to day consciousness and
guide us to live from this highest truth. The experiences we have of
them can, at times, be profoundly healing and transforming. But
their dangers and misuses are equally great. We can feel ourselves
special for having had them; we can easily get attached to having
them; and the drama, the body sensations, rapture, and visions all
can become addictive and actually increase the craving and suffering
in our life. The most pervasive danger of all is the myth that these
experiences will utterly transform us, that from a moment of
"enlightenment" or transcendence, our life will be wholly changed for
the better. This is rarely true, and attachment to these experiences
can easily lead to complacency, hubris, and self-deception.
The value of the practice of immanence is its powerfully integrated
approach. It brings the spirit alive here and now and infuses our
whole life with a sense of the sacred. The dangers include delusion
and complacency. We can easily believe we are "living in the
present" and still be half asleep, following our old comfortable
habits. Our initial sense of love and light can become an excuse to
say that everything is already divine or perfect, and cause us to
gloss over any conflict or difficulty. Some students practice this
way for a long time without gaining much wisdom. Stuck without
knowing it, they may feel quite peaceful, but their lives have not
been transformed and they may never fulfill the spirit journey, never
find true liberation in the midst of the world.
... it is essential that we have a teacher or guide and proper
support for staying balanced while navigating [the territory of
altered states of mind--mental, emotional, and spiritual territory
unknown to our ordinary consciousness.] This is critical. One
doesn't take a journey into the Himalayas without a guide who knows
the ancient paths.
From: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
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