--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When your practice has led you to…" description: "\"When your practice has led you to experiences that you can't understand, you need a better theory. Otherwise, if you try to understand these transcende..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/betty-sue-flowers-40274_cultivation_when-your-practice-has-led-you-to-experi_2328492.png" --- # When your practice has led you to experiences that you… ![“When your practice has led you to experiences that you can't understand, you need a better theory. Otherwise, if you try to understand these transcendent experiences with 'profane' or, we might say, 'materialistic' ways of thinking, your cultivation will be set back.” quote by Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/betty-sue-flowers-40274_cultivation_when-your-practice-has-led-you-to-experi_2328492.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/betty-sue-flowers-40274_cultivation_when-your-practice-has-led-you-to-experi_2328492.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/betty-sue-flowers-40274_cultivation_when-your-practice-has-led-you-to-experi_2328492.png) > “When your practice has led you to experiences that you can't understand, you need a better theory. Otherwise, if you try to understand these transcendent experiences with 'profane' or, we might say, 'materialistic' ways of thinking, your cultivation will be set back.” [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for deeper theoretical frameworks to understand transcendent experiences, warning against purely materialistic interpretations. **In simple terms:** Need better theories for spiritual experiences. Key Takeaway Seek deeper understanding. Themes spirituality theory growth Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - academic research - mindfulness practice Key Concepts phenomenology transcendence Questions to Reflect On - What theories best explain transcendent experiences? - How can we balance material and spiritual perspectives? A Different Perspective Materialistic views can limit insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-theory-945311/) [Cultivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultivation/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experiences Profane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiences-profane-5592033/) [Experiences Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiences-understand-4212702/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Materialistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialistic/) [Materialistic Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialistic-ways-5592034/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Profane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profane/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Cultivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-cultivation-5299903/) [Transcendent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendent/) [Try to understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-to-understand/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way of thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The point of Buddhist meditation is not to stop thinking, for cultivation of insight clearly requires intelligent use of thought and discrimination. What needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-alan-wallace/the-point-of-buddhist-meditation-is-not-to-stop-thinking-for/) [B. Alan Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-alan-wallace/) > [I look like this because I'm alive," Reagan said. "Because I've had experiences. Do you understand?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/i-look-like-this-because-i-m-alive-reagan-said-because-i-ve-had/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [Because of my life experiences, I understand that I have an opportunity to help other women. I have the desire and the ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-allred/because-of-my-life-experiences-i-understand-that-i-have-an/) [Gloria Allred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-allred/) > [Too often we judge people based on our own backgrounds and experiences, but when you understand people's stories, it's easier to understand their demeanor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/too-often-we-judge-people-based-on-our-own-backgrounds-and/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [If you want to make better theory, you've got to use the best that's available and look through the lens of another discipline to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/if-you-want-to-make-better-theory-you-ve-got-to-use-the-best-that-s/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [There is no falsification before the emergence of a better theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-lakatos/there-is-no-falsification-before-the-emergence-of-a-better-theory/) [Imre Lakatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-lakatos/) > [Any theory is better than no theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fuller-albright/any-theory-is-better-than-no-theory/) [Fuller Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fuller-albright/) > [ If the theory accurately predicts what they \[scientists\] see, it confirms that it's a good theory. If they see something that the theory didn't… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/if-the-theory-accurately-predicts-what-they-scientists-see-it/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [And, partly, I had found that theory-structure was a superpower in helping one get what one wanted. As I had early discovered in school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/and-partly-i-had-found-that-theory-structure-was-a-superpower-in/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [A little experience is worth much argument; a few facts are better than any theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stanley-jevons/a-little-experience-is-worth-much-argument-a-few-facts-are-better/) [William Stanley Jevons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stanley-jevons/) > [Things just seem so much better in theory than in practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-wooding/things-just-seem-so-much-better-in-theory-than-in-practice/) [Chris Wooding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-wooding/) > [“love is profane, since it mortally reaches toward the heaven in ye!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/love-is-profane-since-it-mortally-reaches-toward-the-heaven-in-ye/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-better-proof-of-reverence-for-that-holy-name-would-be-not-to/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [No parent can consistently teach faith in Christ who profanes the name of Deity. Profanity is never heard in the well-ordered home. Swearing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/no-parent-can-consistently-teach-faith-in-christ-who-profanes-the/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) ## More by Betty Sue Flowers > [Serving the emerging whole means paying attention to what's right here within my awareness, what's completely local, and surrendering to what's being asked of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/serving-the-emerging-whole-means-paying-attention-to-what-s-right/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [What's emerging is a new synthesis of science, spirituality and leadership as different facets of a single way of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/what-s-emerging-is-a-new-synthesis-of-science-spirituality-and/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [When you see what you're here for, the world begins to mirror your purpose in a magical way. It's almost as if you suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/when-you-see-what-you-re-here-for-the-world-begins-to-mirror-your/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [A living system continually re-creates itself. But how this occurs in social systems such as global institutions depends on our level of awareness, both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/a-living-system-continually-re-creates-itself-but-how-this-occurs-in/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [So you're stuck. Every time your madman starts to write, your judge pounces on him... So start by promising your judge that you'll get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/so-you-re-stuck-every-time-your-madman-starts-to-write-your-judge/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [What we're calling 'presencing' is possible because of this womb, where the absolute and the manifest interact. I think a buddhist would say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/what-we-re-calling-presencing-is-possible-because-of-this-womb-where/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [The U theory suggests that the central integrating thought ... will emerge from building three integrated capacities: a new capacity for observing that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/the-u-theory-suggests-that-the-central-integrating-thought-will/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [If science is an unfinished project, the next stage will be about reconnecting and integrating the rigor of scientific method with the richness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/if-science-is-an-unfinished-project-the-next-stage-will-be-about/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [The emerging whole manifests locally. It manifests in particular communities, groups, and, ultimately, in us as individuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/the-emerging-whole-manifests-locally-it-manifests-in-particular/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [The basic problem with the new species of global institutions is that they have not yet become aware of themselves as living. Once they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/the-basic-problem-with-the-new-species-of-global-institutions-is-that/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) [Explore all 11 Betty Sue Flowers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) ## More Cultivation quotes > [We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-nothing-in-our-history-or-position-to-invite-aggression-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It require you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results. There's a season for sowing a season for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-ryan-blair/self-discipline-is-an-act-of-cultivation-it-require-you-to-connect/) [Gary Ryan Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-ryan-blair/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/whatever-we-may-say-against-collections-which-present-authors-in-a/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade of grass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/when-a-buddha-is-painted-not-only-a-clay-altar-or-lump-of-earth-is/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [In the Middle East, bread is so essential to everyday life that word for it in Egyptian Arabic is aish, which means life. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annia-ciezadlo/in-the-middle-east-bread-is-so-essential-to-everyday-life-that-word/) [Annia Ciezadlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annia-ciezadlo/) > [The cultivation - even celebration - of victimhood by intellectuals, tort lawyers, politicians and the media is both cause and effect of today's culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-cultivation-even-celebration-of-victimhood-by-intellectuals-tort/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [To see rich land eaten away by erosion, to stand by as continual cultivation on sloping fields wears away the best soil, is enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/to-see-rich-land-eaten-away-by-erosion-to-stand-by-as-continual/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/only-that-education-deserves-emphatically-to-be-termed-cultivation-of/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Taste is not stationary. It grows every day, and is improved by cultivation, as a good temper is refined by religion. In its most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/taste-is-not-stationary-it-grows-every-day-and-is-improved-by/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [In this metallic age of barbarians, only a relentless cultivation of our ability to dream, to analyse and to captivate can prevent our personality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/in-this-metallic-age-of-barbarians-only-a-relentless-cultivation-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Perhaps the chief cause which has retarded the progress of poetry in America, is the want of that exclusive cultivation, which so noble a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/perhaps-the-chief-cause-which-has-retarded-the-progress-of-poetry-in/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [In our view the Olympic idea involves a strong physical culture supplemented on the one hand by mobility, what is so aptly called 'fair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/in-our-view-the-olympic-idea-involves-a-strong-physical-culture/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) > [Next to selfishness the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/next-to-selfishness-the-principal-cause-which-makes-life/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The great benefit of science is that it can contribute tremendously to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level, but it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-great-benefit-of-science-is-that-it-can-contribute-tremendously/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The growth of all the plants of the garden from seeds and roots keep us mindful, in accordance with of the Parable of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stokes/the-growth-of-all-the-plants-of-the-garden-from-seeds-and-roots-keep/) [John Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stokes/) [Browse all 242 Cultivation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultivation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When your practice has led you to experiences that you can't understand, you need a better theory. 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