How can I avoid arrogance after developing spiritual perceptions?

Perceptions and communication with deities do not make you superior. When praised, remember that outside the state of channeling a deity for service, you remain yourself. I have received different deities, but in ordinary life I am still Shengyuan, responsible for conduct and character. Arrogance growing unnoticed deserves particular attention.

Recognition may make us feel different. Hearing of a lofty spiritual past or great heavenly mission can then suggest no more effort is needed. Past identity and divine backing are not a protagonist's protective halo. Even powerful animated characters stray through fear and attachment. Stories should return us to whether we have established foundations and done our part now.

I have discussed different sources of arrogance. Some believe a past role as a deity's attendant or a lofty spiritual origin proves present attainment. In my understanding, arriving in the human world still means learning and adjustment, including for me. Talking about former greatness cannot replace this life's lessons. Calling yourself a deity's child does not make you specially superior; in my understanding, others are too.

This follows a Taoist logic: the Golden Mother is mother of all spirits, so everyone is a deity's child. Following that logic, in the heavenly world we may consider ordinary humans unwise or foolish. Later incarnating, whether through punishment or lessons to learn, some inner spiritual pride may remain: being a divine child supposedly unlike ordinary people. Yet after incarnation, memory is unclear or lost, leaving an underlying arrogance.

I have also asked: if we were so powerful, why arrive here today? Very few truly come solely to liberate beings. Most souls, including mine, come because of mistakes and need to readjust and relearn. We undertake these tasks because earlier lessons were unfinished and must be revisited, rather than because of former greatness. Thinking spiritual superiority is why we are here somewhat reverses the point.

I have cautioned that marked arrogance at the start of spontaneous spiritual movement warrants checking for external influence. I used 'perhaps roughly nine out of ten' to describe situations I had seen, but in the same discussion said some people simply had unrefined inherent pride, like jade needing polishing. In my faith understanding, the innate spirit is originally bright and kind; practice gradually adjusts acquired deviations. These are observations in practice, not permission to diagnose anyone proud as spiritually attached.

Why consider external spirits first? In many real cases I have seen, an external spirit tends to feel impressive, proud, boastful, and superior. Some encountering spiritual awakening may have an external attachment and feel extraordinarily capable. I have seen many such cases. In others, their own innate spirit has not yet learned sufficiently. Thus, when beginning cultivation and noticing inner arrogance, first be careful about possible external attachment. This directs attention inward, rather than judging others.

Dao Xuan described practitioners eager to practice but too attached to their views to hear teachers' or deities' reminders. Trusting trustworthy teachers and accepting correction matters. Yet trust is not thoughtlessness. Listening, reflecting, and practicing means first hearing, then thinking, then correcting: accept sound advice and explore and judge what is unclear. A softer heart leaves room to learn, rather than always considering yourself strongest.

Dao Shun frankly shared his arrogance. Believing his past cultivation was impressive made others' opinions difficult to hear. After a low period, he sincerely acknowledged mistakes before the Bodhisattva, truly feeling a need to change rather than merely saying so. Later he felt work, meditation, and spiritual movement gradually became smoother. This is his understanding of his experience, not a claim that everyone suffering shares the same fault or will improve on the same timetable by copying him.

I went through this too. I once felt highly capable in practice, then gradually adjusted through setbacks. However lofty a spirit's past, we are human now and must learn and maintain character. Comparing identities does not automatically improve current competence; admitting limitations creates a chance to move forward.

Someone once came to a temple unwilling even to hold incense or bow. Asked why, he claimed his spiritual rank was so high that bowing would drive the deity away. I was astonished. That was his claim, not my agreement that he outranked the deity. As a human now, learn respect first; a claimed former identity cannot cancel present humility.

A general's daughter offers a comparison. Her father's military experience and strategy do not automatically give her those skills or entitlement to command everyone. Practice likewise depends on what you have learned and can do now. Developing ability and showing it in action is more substantial than boasting about the past.

Tests may not begin frighteningly. A friend described one demonic test as raising someone up before letting them fall. Watching The 8th Night, where a professor goes from attention to rejection and becomes intent on proving himself, reminded me of that idea. This uses fiction to reflect on practice, rather than declaring every career or reputational rise and fall demon-arranged. Watch inflation under praise and avoid letting rejection leave only anger and attachment, magnifying greed and emotion.

If you feel a great mission, honestly ask how much time you have devoted and how much genuine help you have given. Are inner vows connected with daily action? Examining current effort reminds us more effectively than repeatedly claiming a lofty bestowed status. I hope practice makes people humbler and gentler, rather than increasingly overbearing.

This reminder includes me. Being pushed aside while working in a temple made me uncomfortable, and I have experienced my spirit speaking challengingly, wanting to say not to look down on us because we have backing too. I cannot claim never to have pride. But practice must move beyond defending that pride to whether we have learned divine wisdom and improved our own. Comparing whose deity ranks higher cannot replace learning.

Being called master or guru also calls for examining changes in your heart. Respect does not remove the need to watch greed, anger, and ignorance. Feeling exceptional while refusing limitations can lead to excuses for improper conduct. In discussing inner clarity, I also value repentance: noticing deviation and correcting it. Constant praise cannot turn every needed correction into proof that nothing is wrong.

In my faith understanding, greater deities should show greater humility, compassion, and wisdom, beyond constant rank and strength comparisons. More understanding of the world and people's situations should bring that generosity. My important reminder to beginners is to transform arrogance first. Claiming to act for a deity makes it even more important to ask whether you express a wish to help or a wish to impress. This is more than polite language; learn divine character within heart and conduct.

I regard removing arrogance from the soul and innate or primordial spirit as the first step in practice. Over more than a decade of observation, I have seen this issue arise for everyone. When deep pride emerges and one cannot return to inner clarity, practice may stray. Powers, ritual abilities, and blessings cease to serve practice and become displays of importance. Practice means learning the deities' faith deeply, understanding their teachings, and learning their virtues to help others.

Another reminder is that everyone's practice is assessed separately. We are all divine children; you are not superior. Great deities have differing missions and specialties, leaving little to compare. Everyone faces different subjects, tests, and lessons. If your subject is A, aim to do A fully; someone else's B result is not a comparison with yours. Compare yourself with yourself and ask yourself to do things well.

Early on, channeling and exchanging spiritual movement with practitioners, I sensed humility and compassion in some and pride in others. These impressions accumulated through interaction. What matters for myself is remaining receptive and willing to learn, rather than using feelings to rank everyone.

Discussing demons, I have said they may 'give themselves away': pride can make them assume humans cannot tell, so they speak boldly and show off. This faith-based observation reminds us that emphatic claims and display do not establish truth or deity. The same applies to ourselves: ability does not permit speaking confidently about what we do not know because others seem uninformed. Return to wisdom and actual learning, rather than using the label arrogant to declare someone a demon.

How can someone without perceptions discern? In that episode I continued by saying to examine what the teacher says and judge from those words whether there is wisdom.