The Deceptions of the Ego in Searching for Spirituality
http://www.universalconsciousness.co.uk/The%20Deceptions%20of%20the%20Ego%20when%20searching%20for%20Spirituality.htmlSo many people who begin their path on their spiritual journey are naive about the many pitfalls that have to be faced, these pitfalls are the learning curve of facing the many fears that the self or ego holds. The ego or outer self hides the truth from who and what we really are, it hides the demons that the self creates and the journey of finding your true spiritual self is to face those demons and accept them. Spiritual awakening can be a beautiful process as it shows us the true meaning of what is within, but it can also be a true awakener of how the outer self or ego has deceived the individual into thinking it was the true self. Spiritual awakening is not a happy go lucky endeavor because the path of truth is deep and profound but it also has a simplicity to it. No spiritual path if walked properly is ever easy because of the obstacles of the many possibilities that the outer self/ego creates to hide the true being of which it overshadows. It does not matter what practices one uses to attain self knowledge and enlightenment or what method is used in meditation, but one must remember the ego will always wait in silence and when it thinks that the inner being is becoming awakened and realises it is losing it's own power then it will step out and ambush the mind with its own self creating ideas of what spiritually is all about thus being for its own gain. One must remember that the outer self/ego always wants to be in charge of the persons thoughts and it will go to any length to deceive these thoughts to being the correct ones.
This is why one must train the mind in accordance with the truth and why it is important to do some form of meditation to calm and clear the mind from the self/ego thoughts, it is only this that can bring understanding of the knowledge and wisdom that the true inner being holds. A confused state of mind is just the ego's disirability of its own creation and this is why it is so cluttered and chaotic it is this that forms layers between the ego's mind of desires and the soul/spirits needs. All these layers must be stripped away before any true enlightenment can be found, and it is cutting away the layers of the ego's desires that can often be painful and hard to master because the self/ego wants to be in charge of its own destination. Spirituality from the inner soul/spirit wants its knowledge to be shared, but when the ego tries to step in and be in charge its only goal is recognition so it can hold onto the status of its own creation. No individual can find the truth of its own inner being without facing up to its own self/ego and its desires.
When the soul/spirit integrates with the self/ego it already knows what its role is and will always attract those that can learn from this knowledge, but it will not go out advertising it or seeking for some kind of re-payment. If the process relied only on the self/ego then the awakened state of mind would become a product which depends only on the cause and effect of its own creation and therefore will eventually dissolve because anything created must at some point die its own death. Enlightenment is permenant and therefore cannot die but stays within the soul/spirit for all infinity, if enlightenment were created in some way through its own desire there would always be the shadow of the ego trying to reassert itself to suit the desires that were being created which would eventually return itself into confusion, which is what the self/ego mind is, but having true enlightenment is permenat because the self/ego has not produced it or created it just discovered it.
The heart of the confusion is that all human beings have this sense that everything is continuous and solid in their world and this comes from the consciousness of the self/ego which projects a self description of who they think they are. When a thought or an emotion or an event occurs there is always a sense of awareness that something is taking place or happening, this is because the individual senses action that is taking place and it is this sense of self that is actually a transitory of a discontinuous event which gives the individual the impression that the mind is solid and continuous. One must remember the brain is a receptor to the self/ego thoughts of emotions which create chaos and illusions to the true reality of what lies behind them and this is how most people take the self's/ego confused view that everything is real. We all struggle to maintain and enhance this solid reality of which the self perceives so strongly, this is because it imposes itself and its will to experience the pain and pleasures in life and it is in this way that we continually struggle to cover up any possibility of discovering the real reality that is within us all.
So ask yourself if you think of your real condition as an awakened state and if so, why are we so busy trying to be aware of avoiding it. It is because we have become so absorbed in this confused state that the self/ego creates and the world and its reality and it is in this sense that we struggle to maintain the semse of a solid continious self that creates the actions that the self ego desires. The self/ego desires to experience both dualities of pain and pleasure as it is through these very sensitive emotions that it can keep control of the reigns. Imagine dark clouds with streaks of light trying to break through, this is the same as our duality of consciousness the higher consciousness of the soul/spirit is the streaks of light trying to shine through the clouds which the self/ego creates.
The Consciousness State of the Human Mind.
The conscious state of the human mind seeks comfort, security and pleasure and shies away from poverty and insecurities because the self/ego's ambition is to secure and entertain itself through the vehicle the human body which it identifies itself. The self/ego does not like too many changes as it loves the comfort of owning various possestions which gives it a status of security. The ego/self likes order and belonging to something whether this is family ties, religious ties, cultures ties anything that bonds it to something else.
It does not like solitude as it's whole existence is to create and experience what it creates. It also acts like a filter to screen the individual away from the true perceptions of what it really is, the ego uses this to project and solidify the reality of the world around us which it likes always to be in control of. The ego is nameable of many things which exist only to the I or the my and mine. The ego also uses the mind in which is controlled via the brain to the awareness of self that all humans have within their conscious form. But it is not through the mind of the self/ego that one finds the true inner self this can only be obtained through stilling the chaos of the ego and mind and allow the silence of the inner mind to come through bringing quietness, peace and contentment. Some people have a bigger ego/self indentity than others and those who do, always have more layers between the soul/spirit and the self/ego which always takes longer to strip them away.
The power of the soul/spirit is strong when it awakens to its true role, but the strength of the ego/self is much stronger as it sees itself as the core of its own being. The structures and habits that the ego creates are strong and it takes a lot of self disicpline to cut away the barriers, these structures creates fundlemental myths that are believed because the ego gives us the belief that everything is solid and we are only solid beings, when in fact we are spiritual beings in a physical form once the spirit is awakened. The only way to free ourselves from the burden of this sense of solidity is to free ourself from the ego's deception and habits and to slowly cut away the layers that bind us. So bit by bit one must sever the ties until one gets to the true source of the spiritual being the true role in which is the reason why we are here.
When searching for your own spiritual being one must learn some form of meditation as it is the only way to still the mind to allow the light of the inner mind to project itself through, it is only when the gaps of light appear in the clouds that insights are glimsed to help shine the way towards finding the inner being. Meditation is not controlling the mind it is stilling the neurotic state of the neurons that create confusion within the mind that the ego/self creates, now to alter that pattern or structure is to bring the mind still, so you can open a door into the mind of the soul/spirit. In this way one can learn and deal with so many factors that come into our daily lives and relate to them with a much more open mind than the clustered one of the ego. Think of it like a stringed instrument the strings can neither to be too taut or too loose, it is the same with meditation one should not impose anything forcefully on the mind, neither should it be left to wander in too many directions so that it allows the self to take back control. In true meditation there is no ambition or desires of material worth there is just an acceptance of letting it be. The ego/self's delusions create vivid wonderful emotions or fear which captures the minds attention, its a bit like watching a good film we get engrossed in what we are watching and the ego is the one that is engrossed to what it is creating. Meditation neither encourages these images but it also it does not suppress them because when you see with clarity and clearness you allow them to be as they are and not as some form of entertainment or a form of distracting the mind, thus it becomes an inexhaustable flow of energy which fulfills egoless action.
So by examining our own thoughts, emotions and fears our concepts can glimpse the reality of the illusions of which the ego/self mind builds arounds us. From this pointon we can eleviate the struggle and prove the existence of the soul/spirit so there is no need to have rules and be dominated by the habits that the ego creates. It is only in the egoless state of which our soul/spirit resides in that enlightenment can be attained, this is because the soul/spirit becomes aware of its true role. We cannot always be aware of the true source that the ego/self imitates because it is so good at what it does, this makes the individual believe that some of its choices are in the spiritual mode and not in what is termed as the self mode. The ego/self can translate everything in term of its desires because when it experiences these desires it feels a great sense of power and achievement. It has the ability to create its own pattern one that is not always in alignment to the original pattern of the soul/spirit energies. When one can express themselves through the spiritual consciousness of the spirit, it then has a direct route to the spirits conscious path, but when it is re-routed by the imitation of the self/ego's attempt to use spirituality for its own gain, then the genuine spiritual development which is at a much deeper level is very unlikely to occur. This is due to the mental habits being stronger which creates a barrier which the soul/spirit cannot penatrate. The mind of the ego is far more powerful in subverting the spirit from rising above it.
The Structure of the Ego/Self
Most of us if we are honest are subjected and ruled by the ego's structure in the five sense world, we often without knowing it defend the ego/self making excuses for the actions we make, we make all kind of excuses for being a human being but it is only because we have not fully understood that we are all spiritual beings in human form if we only allowed it to be. Nothing can shield us from the world of war, poverty, crime, disease, growing old and all the securities that we think we need, these fears and emotions can only be altered when the state of the inner consciousness rises to the surface and over comes the habitual habits of fear. All the fears we experience are from the outside reality which conditions our lives and it is very hard and needs a lot of discipline to eradicate them. One must remember that the ego gives us all a false structure to what life is all about and how that everything around us is solid including the aspect of how we percieve ourselves to be. But this is a myth that we want to believe in because it gives us a structure which protects us to some form of comfort, but in the deeper realms of the true reality it is the root of all our suffering. The only way to free ourselves and give us all liberation is to begin by changing our habits our perceptions, our ideals and outside influences, we must slowly cut away the layers bit by bit until we get to the true source of our inner being and to understand why we are here and allow the vehicle to play the role of the spirit to guide us on the path created for us. No spiritual path is easy as there are to many layers to cut through and this takes time and patience to be able to still the mind and have a much clearer view of where you are going and rid yourself of the confusion and chaos that the ego's mind creates and instills in us. So trust that the inner being as it is the only one that knows where it is going and what it needs to experience.
The structure of the ego's consciousness is created out of a materialistic views of the mind via the brain, our thoughts and emotions the outer self creates only filters itself through the brain into what we call reality and the only way to calm the chaotic mind is to get outside the confusion of the mind and to still it with methods of meditation as it is only through this techinique that one can aquire insight. One does not need to give up the work or the ambitions of the work that you are doing as whatever skill you have comes from the tools of the inner being it is all part of the role you are playing, as long as you keep a balance knowing whatever it is you are doing you are doing with the highest intent which will help benifit others in some way as well as yourself. As long as you dont have the intent of I am, me or mine only doing it from the egotistcal perception of the I in big capital letters then all will be shown to you as the guidance will be given to which path is waiting for you.
The Transcendance of the Ego to the Spirit
Any transcendendence of energies from the subtle body to the physical is to accept your fears and accept the mirror image that the ego is trying to protect and have the ability to see things of how they really are and not how the self perceives them to be. So many spiritual teachings focus on spreading the word love but love is an emotion which has duality to its meaning, what is really needed is to send out compassion and accept the events that occur knowing there is a much bigger picture than any of us can see and trust in the inner guidance which is there so you can tap into its energies and be guided on your rightful path . Look for balance in all things, the universal energies create duality such as light and dark but without darkness we would not have light and when you accept the duality then you can begin to balance the whole. There are many who teach with flowery aspects of words to give the spirituality of their teaching some mystic divine essence to it, but there is no mystic realms in universal creation only the truth of its creation which interprets the duality of consciousness and when one find the balance between these two then you have found the wholeness and the essence of the soul/spirit consciousness which is spiritual awareness and true enlightenment.
The creator of all creation does not play dice in anything you see in the world past, present or future, the only changes that occur are the ones derived from the human consciousness of free will. Universal creation is a structure where every thing grows and evolves continiously in its ever expanding growth of its own spirituality. Nothing happens by chance and if you walk the path chosen for you many inspirations and experiences will manifest themselves to you, but if you chose your own path through the fear and desires of the self then you must expect to experience whatever it is you have created. There are many pitfalls in the many desires of your outer being and the only way to rid yourself of them is to let go of the many illusions that the outer self or ego creates. So let go and surrender to what you really are and try to find the true guidance of why you are really here and to what purpose your role is that you have come to play. Remember your role and the play that you are in and the true realisation of your path will be shown to you. We all have our roles and we are all here for a purpose no matter what that purpose may be, we are all important to the role given to the soul/spirit so it may experience the role of its own creation. Without a body of matter the spirit could not experience what the creator creates this is from everything from a fly to an ant and from a bird to a human all atoms of matter have their individual role to play in the great universal play of creation.
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