I've seen a lot of different people and societies say all kinds of different things regarding how we should act during day to day life, how to meditate, which breathing or other esoteric practices to follow, etc.
For the most part so far the majority of teachings seem to indicate a balance between working on ourselves in day-to-day life and in meditation/learning from the masters.
As I've been trying to find out more about Gnosis, it at least superficially seems like the emphasis is on almost solely esoteric practices and meditation/learning from the masters, with day-to-day life just being a consequence of existing in the place we are and the product of our previous actions. It seems like in Gnosticism working on oneself day-to-day is completely overlooked or not seen to have any effect compared to performing esoteric practices and meditation/learning from the masters, and it is especially emphasized that one cannot do anything about the egos with one's own efforts, only through requesting spiritual aid.
As someone who hasn't been able to succeed in meditating properly yet, it would definitely be very unpleasant to know that nothing I do day-to-day has any bearing on my spiritual progress until I figure out the knack of entering a meditative state, in fact it is hard to know if my pranayama practices among other things are effective if I don't have that ability of concentrating the mind.
For the most part so far the majority of teachings seem to indicate a balance between working on ourselves in day-to-day life and in meditation/learning from the masters.
As I've been trying to find out more about Gnosis, it at least superficially seems like the emphasis is on almost solely esoteric practices and meditation/learning from the masters, with day-to-day life just being a consequence of existing in the place we are and the product of our previous actions. It seems like in Gnosticism working on oneself day-to-day is completely overlooked or not seen to have any effect compared to performing esoteric practices and meditation/learning from the masters, and it is especially emphasized that one cannot do anything about the egos with one's own efforts, only through requesting spiritual aid.
As someone who hasn't been able to succeed in meditating properly yet, it would definitely be very unpleasant to know that nothing I do day-to-day has any bearing on my spiritual progress until I figure out the knack of entering a meditative state, in fact it is hard to know if my pranayama practices among other things are effective if I don't have that ability of concentrating the mind.