True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.

Akhenaton

There comes a time in our lives when we believe we have reached a certain level of mastery.

It can be mastery of a skill or of a certain subject.  We may have even received a title or an accolade which provides evidence of such mastery.

Or perhaps we may believe we have reached a certain level of mastery due to our age or the particular experiences we have been through.

Whatever our conception of mastery, the implication is that we do not have anything more to learn.

In a spiritual context, the concept of mastery is not novel.

The goal for many on the spiritual path is true mastery of Self and a perfect knowledge and understanding of All.

But what does the path to ultimate understanding look like?

Is it the elimination of all doubt and uncertainty?

After all, the less susceptible we are to doubt, the greater certainty we have.   How can we claim ultimate understanding if there are still various matters that we are unsure of, or if we are always changing our minds?

Yet the path to True Understanding may not be as simplistic or linear a process.

The appearance of doubt does not necessarily indicate some form of regression or failure on our spiritual paths.

Often times, our greatest moments of clarity follow after our greatest periods of doubt.

In a similar way, we may begin to experience major doubts after we have endured long and comforting moments of certainty.

If we find ourselves susceptible to doubt, it may mean that there is a necessary period of meditation and reflection that we must enter into.

Perhaps we need to re-analyse some of our core beliefs or major thought-patterns that have been limiting our spiritual development.

Changing our minds as a result of this re-analysis is in no way a set-back. We must truly be open and flexible in our thinking to flourish in our spiritual paths.

In this way, pride can be one of our greatest inhibitors.

Pride can inhibit us from learning valuable lessons from people we perceive as less advanced, it can lead us to believe that our path and our knowledge are the only forms of Truth or that we have  reached a certain stage where we do not have anything more to learn.

Yet the spiritual path is never static and is definitely not linear.

We will always be met with the necessary experiences  and lessons that are designed to help us grow and evolve, in ways that we may not be immediately able to perceive.

To this extent, it truly does not matter how advanced we are on the path; we are never too advanced to learn.