Q: Is curiosity then an advantage to the spiritual seeker?
A: With humility, it is a useful servant. Without discernment, however, it can lead to serious pitfalls. Curiosity can lead the naïve seeker into blind alleys and useless distractions as well as snares and serious, painful traps. This is where a true teacher is necessary. Again, humility means acceptance of the indisputable fact that cannot be repeated too often: The human mind is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood. Were this not so, there would have been no wars in history, no social problems, and no ignorance or poverty. Everyone would be enlightened, and the consciousness level of mankind would not have remained at 190 century after century.
Curiosity is the aspect of human being. Without it we could be pretty aimless. Most people shoot theirselves and others death by hiding pure Love, Friendship and Peace.
The first lessons of ACIM I feel aim to teach us discernment so we can understand how to detatch from our thoughts, feelings and emotions that are a result of judgement. There is a negative energy attachment when one is in judgement as judgement is being led by the ego, either collective or individual. This is because judgement is a result of belief systems. Belief systems form our perceptions of the world. The first ACIM lessons teach us that within perception our minds project meaning onto the world.
Judgement: “This object is most important because it was given to me by my great grandfather who recieved it from the Emperor of China.”
Discernment: “This is a rock, this is a computer.”
I remember Hawkins saying that a useful humble approach is to say “I do not know” which opens us up to a broader interpretation and context than our limited perception.