We must continually expand our realm of knowledge and our field of vision through digestion and incorporation of new information. To develop a broader vision we must be willing to kill our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this- to stay where we are, to avoid suffering the death of our cherished information.

The road of spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear.

IMPORTANCE OF AUTHENTICITY

One of our problems is that very few of us have developed any distinctive personal life. Everything about us seems second-hand, even our emotions. In many cases we have to rely on second-hand information in order to function. I accept the word of a physician, a scientist, a farmer, on trust. I do not like to do this. I have to because they possess vital knowledge of living of which I am ignorant. Second hand information concerning the state of my kidneys, the effects of cholesterol and the raising of chickens- I can live with. But when it comes to questions of meaning, purpose and death, second-hand information will not do. I cannot survive on a secondhand faith in a second-hand God. There has to be a personal word, a unique confrontation, if I am to come alive.

from The road less traveled- Scott Peck- M.D.