The Pharisee syndrom

"...God, I thank you that I'm not like the other men..."

Anyone following a spiritual path should be familiar with this parable found in the Gospels. But somehow, I wonder... True there are several interpretations of this parable. But I feel that it exemplifies perfectly well an attitude that we find widely spread among the people that claim to follow a spiritual path (but not only : self-righteousness is endemic in the social and political). And I've been affected the same at some point. Who can claim that he or she had not been feeling superior to others after discovering and starting to follow a spiritual teaching ? And this affection can last a long time if not all of one's life. This attitude is the perfect "compost" to develop a cultic and fanatic approach. And it doesn't have to refer to any church or group or teacher. It can definetly turn to be just the cult of "me", of my view, my way, my approach, especially in these times of self-proclaimed gurus. The Reiki world is not devoid of such an attitude. And this is also the case of many other teaching. So we might do well to try to understand this parable and avoid to be affected by the "Pharisee syndrom". For this matter, sincere and honest self-observation will be the only cure.