Competitiveness & Arrogance Surrounding Enlightenment

[creator20]

I've started engaging with a lot of people who are on their own self actualization & enlightenment journeys. Not just on this forum, but on other forums & my personal social media accounts. I've realized that there is a sense of arrogance & competitiveness among some people in the community. I don't know if this is just something I'm experiencing personally with the specific people & content I'm engaging with or if others have experienced this same thing, but it almost feels as if some people in the community are trying to compete with each other about who is the more enlightened one. Everyone is in a different stage in their journey & I have seen some people who claim to be enlightened talk to others who are not yet at their stage in the journey as if they are stupid or act arrogantly in their communications as if they already know absolutely all the truths that there are to know. It's contradictory in my eyes because this seems to be the exact opposite of how an enlightened person should supposedly conduct themselves being that they are enlightened. I understand how someone could get annoyed trying to convey higher level truths to someone who is in the beginning stages of their journey, but I would hope that people who are farther along can realize that they too were just as ignorant to these truths at one point in time. I think some people farther along in their journey keep themselves in their bubble of other people who are also aware of these truths & are dumbfounded when the vast majority of society can not relate to these truths or understand them at face value, so they act arrogantly as if what they know is basic common knowledge. The fact that some people are putting in immense levels of effort to understand these truths & to develop themselves only to be met with someone farther along in their journey criticizing them or treating them as if they are blatantly unintelligent is bothersome to me. Maybe not the consensus among everyone, but for myself, compassion for others, no matter how unenlightened one considers them to be, is necessary in order to lead a truly enlightened life. 

[purerogue]

Probably because you confuse I with "Enlightenment", whatever it means to you. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by purerogue

[creator20]

Just now, purerogue said:

Probably because you confuse I with "Enlightenment", whatever it means to you. 

Interested in hearing more about what you mean by this in relation to the post. 

[purerogue]

14 minutes ago, creator20 said:

Interested in hearing more about what you mean by this in relation to the post. 

I mean that your persona is your persona, have you heard that your ego gets nothing from Enlightenment, although it is not completely true, I hope it is enough to clarify what I meant. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by purerogue

[Byun Sean]

A truly awakened person will be very humble and hesitant to even proclaim he/ she is awake. They won't be proclaiming it to everyone right away. 

The reason for that is the "I" that could have become "enlightened" or "awake" is seen through as an illusion as the metaphysical entity that exists as them replaced by the awareness of themselves as the absolute.

 

The people you describe might still have plenty of ego left if they get competitive or defensive about spiritual matters. An awakened person will usually be a lot more chill about everything because they don't have that rock solid egoic consciousness intact to defend anymore. 

 

Don't worry that much about others though. Focus on your own growth and make sure you don't fall into the same trap thinking you've reached the end when you really have not.

 

 

[WisdomSeeker]

@dflores321 I get frustrated to and know I shouldn't. It actually shows my lack of development in such areas. But, man when you have an awakening experiences, there's almost no one who understands unless you work hard to seek those people out. My friends can't relate, and I'm in effective in explaining the impact because the limitations and duality of words. Such is life. 

[Superfluo]

@creator20

It could be a superior feeling that derives from an inferiority complex, psychologically speaking.

Most of the time the biggest baggages we carry come from family, and people have the subconscious need to reenact past traumas to rielaborate them and feel better about them, hence most of all human behaviour is explained.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Superfluo

[tuckerwphotography]

This is partly why I resonate with Ken Wilbur's integral model of Wake Up, Grow Up, Clean Up, Show Up. Important to address our egos, insecurities, shadows, etc otherwise even the most awakened among us can turn toxic, according to Wilbur.

http://www.integralworld.net/diperna06.html

[WisdomSeeker]

On 9/20/2020 at 5:32 PM, dflores321 said:

@WisdomSeeker

The danger imo is falling into the trap of "helping" others from a selfish standpoint, not out of love but arrogance, as you want to create an illusion that youre more advanced than you really are and feeling like some wise teacher. 

Yup, that's why I downplay how much I think I know, not out of the appearance of humility, but because I really wouldn't trust myself to even be able to gauge what I know. It's only in deep meditative states where I just know, and when I'm not in this states that I have to cultivate, then I'm  in states where I'm not even conscious or connected to what I know.  So, on any given day I'm in flux of these states. Knowing and not knowing. 

Edited September 29, 2020 by WisdomSeeker

[No Self]

This is a great topic, one that I'd considered starting myself if only I were a bit braver.

When I was a young man, frequenting a car enthusiast forum, there were guys with $70k+ models and boy oh boy did they piss on everyone below them. The forum was effectively a hierarchy with the Alpha male being the guy with the most money, and everyone else fighting to climb as high as they can. A microcosm of wider society, perhaps. Imagine my surprise decades later to see some similar elements sometimes arise on advanced spiritual forums!

One thing I have learned is that the ego will never go away permanently while the body is alive. The ego will always quietly, slowly re-assert itself and use spiritual advancement to boost its status or power. And yet, it is not necessarily arrogance for someone like Jesus to bluntly proclaim, "I am the light and the way." Calling one's self God is the height of profound truth, or the ultimate expression of egoic insanity depending on the state of who is doing it.

The key seems to be benefitting from the perspectives and insights of others, without buying into any sort of competitiveness. If there is a hierarchy, I'd rather not be on it at all. The 'I' that would be on it is the very thing I am in the business of trying to dissolve.

[Epikur]

@No Self

I was playing table tennis and badminton at a club. I thought to play for fun like I played with my brothers though we were a bit competitive.

At the club there was quite a hierarchy. It was quite strange for me. Since then I try to create a playful environments while doing sports. 

What I found is it's ok to be competitive to get to a certain level and then operate on a lower level mainly for fun.

Little bit like in capitalism. You put alot of effort to earn money at the beginning later you can take it easier.

In the spiritual world theoretically if you have the playful mindset other competitive members should not bother you. In realitiy I am not so shure about it.










 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Epikur

[No Self]

55 minutes ago, Epikur said:

@No Self

In the spiritual world theoretically if you have the playful mindset other competitive members should not bother you. In realitiy I am not so shure about it.
 

This makes sense. 

One of the tragedies of text based communication is that there is no way of distinguish between banter or a ranter! Caveat Emptor. 

[Epikur]

2 hours ago, No Self said:

This makes sense. 

One of the tragedies of text based communication is that there is no way of distinguish between banter or a ranter! Caveat Emptor. 

I guess there are ways to deal with it. One can for example watch some Seinfeld for every 5 minutes being in the forum. Till one gets to the next level that is 10 minutes or so.

Btw. Seinfeld could be the series for non-duality. 

[No Self]

2 hours ago, Epikur said:

Seinfeld could be the series for non-duality. 

Life is a show about nothing.