Spiritual ego

[VeganAwake]

8 hours ago, Alysssa said:

What is spiritual ego? How one can know if he uses spirituality as an excuse to escape life? 

Ego is the knower. It's the one that thinks they have gained the correct and right amount of knowledge. This is sometimes referred to as "painting the prison wall". 

It's no different than a religious person that believes they have found the one right religion and then goes on attempting to convert other's on the so-called correct path.

The individual that attempts to escape or bypass life is an illusion. So in that sense spiritual bypassing is non applicable because there simply isn't a right or wrong path to begin with. It's just another concept within the dream story of separation.

Enlightenment is the dropping of all concepts to reveal the unimaginable freedom that was already the case.

It's the disentangling from the socially conditioned matrix of mind known as 'ME'.

 

 

 

 

 

[SriSriJustinBieber]

Spiritual ego is a concept used to feel really bad about the inevitability that when you already feel very bad, you will try with no definitive success to twist spiritual understandings to feel happy.

By all means, have a spiritual ego if that keeps you going through a valley experience

[Emerald]

7 hours ago, FlyingLotus said:

Good points!

@Emerald has an excellent video on Spiritual Bypassing:

 

 

Thank you for recommending my video!  

[Goldzilla]

@Emerald Hehe, nice to see you around. 

Great coach of live people, take advantage of her videos, haha. 

Namaste

[Emerald]

Just now, Goldzilla said:

@Emerald Hehe, nice to see you around. 

Great coach of live people, take advantage of her videos, haha. 

Namaste

Nice to see you too! Thank you

 

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

What is spiritual ego?

It's the final boss!

 

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Kamo

Thanks!

On 27.8.2021 at 1:54 PM, Kamo said:

This also seems to drop any reasons to do the work? What is the reason of doing any of the "spiritual work"  without a spiritual ego that seeks, questions, and wants to understand reality.

Reminds me of this quote: "There is no path, but only a fool does not walk it.”

On 27.8.2021 at 1:54 PM, Kamo said:

I feel like at this point I'm just cultivating knowledge, insights and constructing my ego. There seems to be a desire to improve quality of life. It feels like this too is ego. Ive made it a lifestyle and feel like I'm getting to a point where I'm like questioning why do any of this (besides for self betterment) as it all is just spiritual ego, as It feels ego driven, useful for survival, and "the best method" to live life, to be meditating, and introspecting to construct the highest quality of person I can be, which is all ego.

Oh, for sure. I totally get you. At one point, we have to discern whether we keep cultivating knowledge or focus more on practicing and embodying. Even practice loses a bit of its meaning when you realize that awakening is not about practice. Or when you understand how your practice is not a step towards truth, but rather a step backwards, because the illusion of 'coming closer to truth' is seen through. Recognizing some limits of practicing, however, only make the practice more efficient. You know what not to do, and you recognize just how much you're doing when you try to meditate. That's what the do-nothing approach points to. By knowing the limits of practice, you know what practice, being, meditation are trying to point to.

I currently don't actively cultivate more knowledge about awakening like I used to. It's all been kinda heard and it's of no use to just hear about it. I wanna see it myself. But when I do happen to listen or read through a teaching, I always use them as pointers to something actual, something that is in my direct experience, so that I can immediately work with the teaching. If it doesn't click after some time, I don't bother to listen further and move on. Other than that, I just allow life to unfold as it will. Haven't meditated strictly since a long time, but lately it's "calling me back" to sit on the cushion. All I do is listening to my guidance.

It's a counterintuitive move, but I don't even try to get rid of my ego anymore. I just focus on feeling good and living my best life. One could argue that this will only grow my ego, but to my surprise, that's been the one thing which made me more selfless. Wanting to get rid of ego is still ego because it still perpetuates the perspective that there is someone, who you can get rid of. There's no one even there to begin with. So I don't criticize myself whether I'm doing things which grow my ego (making money, for example) or which supposedly shrink my ego (meditation, psychedelics). Nothing matters, you are free, and it's all part of this beautiful dance.

On 27.8.2021 at 1:54 PM, Kamo said:

Then the awareness of the fact that even "seeking" to see through the illusion of ego as if that "State" will be more optimal is also ego. I experienced non-duel states before and it's as you said your ego is on standby and your just existing there until "You" come back. It's been highly useful for me however I can see how it keeps looping back to the spiritual ego?  It's as if I'm trying and usually not even trying but happening to realize myself again and again, Where do people see a point in it all after having realized deep Truths, who aren't coming from the spiritual ego? I feel like there is no point, but it's happening anyway. The mere appearance themselves are the point it seems.  I'm open to your opinion here if you could offer some feedback, if you don't mind?

I'm not there yet, nor deeply realized. So for this question, I summon Sri Sri @Nahm. ?

[vladorion]

Spiritual ego is simply a more subtle form of ego.

It usually sounds like: "I am God", "I am pure awareness" etc.

[RickyFitts]

Where it becomes really counter-productive is when you place restrictions on what you can or can't think or feel - eg 'a spiritual person doesn't get angry', say, and then you simply deny the anger that exists within you. That sort of thinking doesn't lead to spiritual liberation, it leads to emotional repression.

A true spirituality places no such conditions on life. That doesn't mean that you can behave however the hell you want based on how you're feeling - we still have to behave responsibly, obviously, or else we simply create problems for ourselves and others further down the road. It simply means that you stop trying to make life conform to your preconceptions.

[Kamo]

@EmptyVase Thank you for your input, I understand what your saying. Its a nice reminder to hear that these things are "pointers". I havent really had the thought process of getting rid of ego as most seem to assume is the point, Ive been aware of what it is. Its been more of realizing that what motivates taking action on the process is stemming from the spiritual ego, therefor when seeing that the motivation to continue wants to fall away with it since I understand theres no where to get to. How ever at this point theres more of a letting actions carry themselves and observe "happening" Like i still routinely meditate (more awareness focused on awareness) and read and watch specific material, and that is because i have conditioned my normal behavior and developed patterns of it all. I dont plan to stop because it is all useful, and It is all quite interesting when you see exactly what your doing.

Its like you noticed theres "something" here that thinks its doing something, for some reason, and when you noticed it, its like "wait wtf exactly is "That"? Followed by any other questions about it. lol

[charlie cho]

Most spiritual egoes have this in common.

They have a dichotomy inside themselves of these lists.

1. good vs evil

2. wise vs fool

3. Real vs unreal

4. Honest vs liar

5. Authentic vs hypocrite

Any sort of divisive understanding of the world may lead to danger. Any sort of division is ego

[Alysssa]

You give me good material here,

I'm not sure I understood all of it but the videos are very helpful. Thank you.