One could say that the householder path involves three stages.

In the first stage, we practice not being afraid of ourselves. 

In the second stage, we practice removing ourselves from the center of the universe to communicate genuinely with others. Caring is the working basis.

 

In the third stage, we take an unstinting interest in our world and every one of its details. We open. When we open, there is nothing to hold on to and so we enter a state of groundlessness. Letting go is the working basis.

Susan Piver