Spiritual awakening is not about some big explosive shift in consciousness and that’s it; now you’re enlightened.
Oftentimes when a person suddenly experiences an awakening or spiritual opening of some sorts, however small or big it is to experienced by the person, the ego takes ownership of it – and it’s important to be aware of the fact that even though we have an experience that shifts our whole perspective, the ego will still be there, and it will think that It has awakened if we’re not conscious enough to see it for what it is.
The true spiritual path is not about avoiding pain and suffering and to always be in an everlasting happy and blissful state– that’s all the egos’ game. (And sales-pitch for enlightenment: “never be unhappy again” and “get what you want”).
The ego is all about trying to do everything it can to avoid uncomfortable feelings and thoughts and to the ego spiritual awakening means to abide in an everlasting blissful state, a Nirvana-kind of place where there’s only clarity, love for all, and endless ecstasy.
I’m exaggerating, but you know what I mean, and it’s not really far from the truth.
The ego thinks that an awakening is an arrival, that once they get there, everything will be fantastically alright with the world and in their lives.
But in reality the ego has nothing to do with spiritual awakening at all.
So often times when a person suddenly experiences an awakening or spiritual opening of some sorts, however small or big it is to experienced by the person, the ego takes ownership of it –
The ego gets almost addicted to those experiences (spiritual ‘high’ states of mind), and keeps grasping after them, trying to re-create them and so on.
Frenetically tapping on the meridian points or chanting mantras in order to create those good feeling places again and keeps looking for spiritual highs, just like an addict.
“If I keep saying this mantra, I will get to that place again”, “If I mediate for hours everyday I will become free again”, “If I give up my desires I will be enlightened”, “If I cleanse my body I will get that feeling again, so I’ll fast for a week”, “If I surrender to the will of God I will get what I want”, “If I just get rid of the ego I will become enlightened”, and on and on it goes.
In reality; you and I as persons can never ‘make’ any of those experiences happen, and actually, the more trying there is, the more we get nowhere – the more stuck we remain in ego-land.
Just ask yourself, and I mean really ask (don’t just think it)
Who is it that wants those experiences? Who/what is that..? Feel into that question, let it sink in and really listen to what comes up.
Sometimes people share with me some spiritual experience they had years ago and all this time up until now they have wanted to get that experience again and they have tried all kinds of things to get them again and sometimes when I say that those experiences really don’t mean anything (they are not meant to be held on to and we don’t even have to understand them with our minds) and that they will come and go, they get offended, and their ego gets threatened and defensive.
Only people who are willing to go beyond experiences (no matter how profound they are) will ever get anywhere in their own evolution.
Ultimately all will wake up of course, but many people are not aware of the fact that awakening is from the ego; it’s not the person who wakes up.
So it’s ridiculous if you think about it; the ego (the person we think we are) trying to both become awakened and get rid of itself, at the same time!
So just because one have had a spiritual experience it doesn’t mean that they are ‘chosen’ – and I have heard people say that too, people writing to me as if we’re in some kind of enlightenment-club together and we are the chosen ones that shall save the world.
Someone gets a spiritual experience and boom! They think they are chosen by God and now they are very excited and they want to share it with the world as in “I’m special, I have had this wonderful experience of oneness, so let me save you now you poor little sucker..“
When the ego thinks it’s enlightened, it’s very difficult to get through to that person, it’s just not going to listen.
It’s just going to keep seeking for those highs, wanting them again, and it will throw fits at times out of frustration, decades can go by and they are still in that place of wanting – while at the same time ‘trying’ to be spiritually noble (“I’m very, very compassionate and caring spiritual person”) and even the surrendering always has an agenda!
Spiritual surrender is about letting go of the will completely – and expecting nothing in return!
That whatever comes, however Life decides to move – the ego will not protest, at all.
The ego’s image of being enlightened is a glorified picture; it may include getting recognition from the world, specialness by being ‘somebody’, while Life may very well put us in a position that is less desired by the ego.
We can never know. We may be called to do something that we could not have ever even thought of before. Something that gives us no recognition or specialness at all.
It will just feel natural and obvious to us – but it may not mean that we are called to be some kind of saviors of the world. We will be at service yes, but it may very well be in so called “small” ways (small to the ego) that are not even recognized by anyone – we might not even get a thank you, but the difference is that we don’t care about those things anymore.
We come from a totally different place and we really don’t care who sees it or doesn’t see it.
Bliss is certainly a bi-product of awakening and it’s definitely what we will experience at times, but that’s not all there is to it.
The human-ness will still play out its role, although from a completely different perspective. (Spirit)
All those wonderful experiences of bliss, oneness and truth can never be manufactured by the mind, we can never make them happen by will or effort.
Only by remaining totally honest with ourselves and turning within with a sincere desire to know truth, to the point that nothing else matters, will we ever find true peace and freedom.
By being in a constant state of curiosity without trying to get anything out of it will we realize the peace that is already here.
Not by any egoic agenda whatsoever.
When all we want is truth – without grasping it; wanting it without wanting it, and that can’t be manipulated by any means.
Knowing that experiences will always come and go, just like any other experiences we have in life, and by letting them come and go as they do we remain open and receptive to the flow of Life.
Written by Maria Erving
Energy Healer and Teacher. I help people connect with their flow so that they can work with life and not against it. VISIT: www.MariaErving.com
8 comments
Of course, the interesting question is: Why even care about being enlightened at all? Why even read books and articles about spirituality? Why try to get rid of the ego? Why even care about anything? Not being facetious here. Is that not all ego desire?
Thanks for commenting Tom.
I personally never cared about becoming enlightened, all I cared about was to know the Truth and that is what I got.
It is the ego who starts out on the spiritual quest and sometimes it wants to become enlightened, and when this is the main ‘goal’ a person has and they have a profound spiritual or mystical experience they many times think that that’s the enlightened “state”.
But it’s not. Those are simply experiences.
So the ego starts out on the spiritual path but on that journey, the deeper the individual goes, the more the ego (false self) also starts to realize that it’s not going to get anything out of the whole enlightenment thing, that it’s actually going to die in the process, and when that realization hits you, it’s too late to turn around.
Now you have to either go through it fully (which most don’t) or latch on to some spiritual idea or belief-system and make it “the Truth”, and if you haven’t connected with the deeper part of you (true nature), you’re going to delude yourself into believing that experiences are what enlightenment must be like.
It’s all ego desire in the beginning and in the middle and towards the end, but at a certain point the truth of your nature takes over and by then you have matured spiritually and come to many realizations and insights about the process so you surrender to it and let it do its work in you.
And it’s not about “killing the ego”. That too I have written about a lot on my website since it’s what many people think they have to do.
I was reading a book a while ago called “The God Conspiracy”, and I kind of let the knowledge seep too much into my head. I started thinking about how foolish people were, and how I should save them is until I snapped out of it a couple of minutes ago after realizing that judgement was clouding my head, that I was clinging to my beliefs too much and it was the ego taking control. Anyway, the article is pretty spot-on. It reminds me of how many newly converted atheists would start acting so superior to everyone else.
Self-awareness is absolutely the key. The spiritual path is not so much about finding yourself as it is about finding out who you are not.
True, deep spiritual transformation and growth comes from exactly that; to realize that the person (the “I”) that did/does all the spiritual work is not the ‘true self’, it’s the ego. That is, up until a point when the individual has gone deep enough to realize that all beliefs are false.
I love this article, because it speaks truth. You’ve put into words a phenomenon that was difficult for me to describe and something I feel very uncomfortable about (and have witnessed before).
I especially like the fact that there is mention of addiction (to self improvement, that is), as I have noticed this in spiritually inclined “circles” shall I say?
There is this unhealthy forcefulness/willfulness, where people seem to be in a race with themselves (with the intention of being more “whole” and enlightened). Like who they are “now” in this moment, is never enough. And that doesn’t sit well with me. Like we’re not allowed to even be human, experience human-ness or allow Ego to express itself.
Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to be more conscious, self aware or expanded. The thing that has me feeling uncomfortable about self improvement is how “forced” it feels at times, like you’ve mentioned in the article.
I have come to a point in life where I want to reacquaint myself with the art of “going with the flow”. The “Stream” of Life. Let it guide me instead of trying desperately to mold into something that isn’t a match for me to begin with.
I remember when I was younger, I used to allow Life to guide me and then I would adapt.
As I got older, I found it harder to adapt and became more inflexible (and fearful) over time.
Anybody can fall prey to this and self-awareness definitely is key, and having the tools to release self-limiting beliefs and behaviours.
Reading the above artice felt very liberating. Thank you for sharing those insights!
You’re so very welcome MB 🙂 Glad to hear it resonated with you.
Yes, the ego can never become “whole” or enlightened so the spiritual pursuit for enlightenment is a dead-end street for it.
It will not come with you so to speak but will be left behind in the awakening process.
The spiritual awakening process is almost like spiritual suicide process (and not about “love and light”) where the old you (ego) dies and Life comes alive/wakes up in you.
But ego and your humanness is not the same thing.
As I wrote in the article, your humanness will still play out its role, although from a completely different perspective but it’s not about letting “ego express itself” as you wrote in your comment.
Ego is out of the picture here, in the background of your life, making no disturbances at all anymore.
Life/consciousness is expressing itself in the human form, but there is no ego needed in this at all.
It’s all Life/consciousness expressed.
You’re definitely on the right path if you have discovered (or remembered again) for yourself that flow is the way to go.
My whole work is about flow and I write a lot about it on my website:
http://www.MariaErving.com
Thanks for your article. I chuckled a few times. Well said. Guilty of several of those. Kind of like having your reality altered and then running around and trying to figure out how you can advance, etc. Your article resonated with me and was well writen.
Thanks.
You’re so very welcome Jara! Glad to hear it resonated with you.
The ability to laugh at yourself is really good 😊 It helps develop and increase self-awareness, which is always the key to further growth.
Here’s another article that you might like:
http://mariaerving.com/ego-takes-itself-to-be-important-laugh-at-it