Stage 1

When I was a child, God was explained to me in a way that my tiny intellect could grasp. For me back then, God was a Superhero. He was good, kind, powerful enough to thrash all the bad guys. He could do all magic possible. I believed he was there near me, though I could not see him. And, if I am near him, nothing bad can happen to me. At that age, I was a spiritual novice.

Stage 2

As I grew up, so did my rational mind. My mind started ‘questioning’. Questions like, how can someone sit up in the clouds without falling? I started understanding that magic is just a set of tricks and no one could do it for real. I needed more proof that God existed. I wanted to see for myself to believe.

What I simply believed was no longer simpler. The peerless faith went missing. A lot of mental effort was needed to grasp the complexity. But my paradigms changed as I grew further. I saw glimpses of miracles in this mundane existence. I saw small inspirations in times of grief. I received unexpected hands during times of turmoil. I started seeing God through experiences. What was once a superhuman phenomenon, became a realization. A realization that transformed into belief and belief into strong conviction.

Stage 3

I am completely with God. Immersed and undoubting, at a level of higher understanding. Stories of heroism are unnecessary. Mental effort to understand is not needed. The peerless faith is back. The cycle of understanding is complete. Internalization of the concept of God through my intellectual effort is done.

In life, most learnings pass through these three stages. The novice, the amateur and the master.  The novice believes without knowing. The amateur struggles trying to learn. And the master believes after knowing.

As a kid, when I saw my dad driving, it seemed easy. I thought “I too can drive a car”. When I sat in the driver’s seat for the first time, my belief crashed. I feared I may never be able to drive a car. As I drove more and more, I believed again. I can now take on any road. The best part is, the more I drive, the better it feels.

When you reach mastery, you enjoy more. You start relishing the minute aspects of the craft. The ‘act’ becomes an ‘art’. A master feels the intricate beauty behind the mundane, because he has broken the complex into the simple.

Blind belief in one’s own competence and strengths gets transformed into strong convictions through an enriching process of learning and understanding. That is mastery.

Bruce Lee cited,

"Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick.

After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick.

Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick"

No one could have summed up mastery better