Unconscious Competence

I learned once that there are 4 stages of competence in our lives. These stages apply to anything that we can do. The first is where an individual is unconsciously incompetent. This is where a person does not make any attempt at performing an action and finds that in turn, that they are not effective at it. This is a stage where laziness or fear is the name of the game. We refuse to try to do something because we find distraction in other tasks, or because we wish to maintain the illusion that if we tried, we would be successful. This is a common stage for people to be in, particularly when we find we are stuck in a "rut" of some kind. It usually does not lead to much spiritual growth or effectiveness in our material lives, and only works to shield our emotional self from the sting of failure.

The next stage is where an individual is consciously incompetent. This is where a person tries to do something to the best of their ability, but does not get the desired results. This happens sometimes when we try to do things that are beyond our own personal abilities or well outside our comfort zones, or when we attempt something for the first time. This stage helps us to learn our limitations - once we know what doesn't work, we are able to grow in directions that are positive. Learning what you are consciously incompetent at is a very important stage in developing and growing spiritually. Usually, this stage is temporary. It is important to not be discouraged by initial failure when doing something new. In most cases, we grow from being consciously incompetent at something to eventually becoming consciously competent.

This next stage is where an individual tries to do something to the best of their ability and finds that, if they try - they succeed. This is an important aspect of our material and spiritual growth, because when we try and succeed, we are developing skills as well as confidence. Conscious competence reflects the first stage of success. When we grow to being consciously competent, we are able to carry out actions well as long as we put in the required effort.

The final stage of competence is when we grow to becoming unconsciously competent. Sometimes, a person can exhibit signs of being unconsciously competent at something for a short period of time - something we know as "beginner's luck." This is a temporary state for the most part. Usually, the way one grows to a state of unconscious competence is through constant repetition. Doing something again and again and again, until one no longer needs to put in any effort at all to do it in a repeatable and effective manner. This is the pinnacle of competence and what we should all strive to do consistently.

So, what's the purpose of all of this?

Prayer in our lives takes on these roles. Now, when I talk about prayer, I specifically refer to remembrance of God in our daily lives. This would not include many other forms of spiritual search. We can be unconsciously incompetent at praying - which leads to us spinning our wheels when we pray. This is where someone refuses to even try to pray. Granted, some people feel that prayer holds no benefit for them - and that is their right. However, I would argue, that this state results in no spiritual growth for the individual.

We can also be consciously incompetent at prayer. This is the most common state for a person who actually tries to pray. It's very difficult to pray and concentrate and have any discernible "results," particularly since we are talking about an esoteric phenomenon. This is an important stage, because this stage is where a person can either - understand their limitations and what acts to limit them and attempt to overcome their obstacles, or, give up and revert back to a state of unconscious incompetence. The attempt, the struggle against one's inner self is what leads to eventual growth into a state of conscious competence.

In prayer, when one is consciously competent, we "see" the growth of our spiritual selves. We can understand our own development and nurture it in an effective manner. Prayer requires effort, and if we aren't careful we can easily slide backwards, but this is the stage where we begin to understand what "success" in prayers truly means.

With hard-work and long hours of practice in the state of conscious competence, we may eventually grow to become unconsciously competent. Here, our every breath is a prayer. We begin to understand that all along, every particle of our being, every molecule that makes up the self has been in a constant state of prayer, and we understand all of this... effortlessly. Because we have already put in hours of effort to grow to this stage.

Growth in a spiritual manner is not linear, it is not easy, nor is it the path that every person needs to follow. We all have our own paths in life, and some people may not grow in this manner. However, for those who are spiritually inclined - the attempt to grow to a state where the self is unconsciously competent in prayer and remembrance of God is one way in which spiritual growth can be attained.

May you find yourself growing towards competence in every way.

Continuing the Journey

I've spent some time in the past while thinking about the next world. What happens after we pass away? Is it relevant to how we live our lives?

For a long while I grappled with the concepts of science and religion (and I still do). One of the uneasy truces I reached early on was in my thoughts regarding the nature of the soul. I felt that in some way, our souls were linked to the universal source and cause of matter. To put it another way, our being is made up of energy, that energy IS the soul, and this energy is the same energy that innervates the rest of creation. This is a similar thought to that of panpsychism, that everything in the universe that is made up of energy has some level of consciousness, however, we are different in the level of consciousness - the level of information processing we are capable of. In this way, I was able to create an intellectual link between the spiritual, esoteric aspects of faith (such as the soul) and the hard, facts, theories and proofs of science.

I'm beginning to see holes in my earlier logic.

I see links between the soul and the energy that innervates our every particle. Possibly the two are closely intertwined, but then I think of death and what comes afterwards.

I believe we do have an existence after we pass away, I also believe that we are to be held accountable for our actions after we pass away. This means that when we die, we cannot join the universal stream of energy that innervates all of creation. At least not immediately. Accountability for our lives on this Earth, accountability for our actions, our deeds is an integral aspect of all religious traditions. It isn't something that can be lightly cast aside, because it doesn't fit a particular theory.

Possibly, both of these thoughts are not so divergent - maybe when one dies, one joins the universe until the end of creation, the Day of Judgment - after which judgment occurs. But this seems a very... incomplete journey for the soul. The more I think on it, the less likely it seems to be. How do I know this? I don't... but maybe, just maybe, something inside of me is telling me that what seems to work outwardly is not always sound when examined with an eye that can see what is hidden.

Maybe that's my inspiration talking?