Almost all spiritual paths lead up Mount Ego

For about thirty-five years, from age 20 to 55 (I'm now sixty-one), I meditated assiduously in accordance with the tenets of Radha Soami Satsang Beas -- an India-based guru-centered organization whose teachings claim to be able to unite the soul with God.

However, what I learned from my immersion in the deep waters of organized religosity is applicable to almost every sort of spiritual path (to mix watery and earthy metaphors).

True believers generally feel that they're becoming less selfish, egotistical, and me-centered through their devotion to...whatever or whoever. God, guru, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Krishna, cosmic consciousness, Great Spirit, etc. etc.

Yet as some commenters on a recent post have noted, whenever someone believes that he or she is a distinct entity -- an "I" -- who is moving in the direction of salvation, enlightenment, satori, God-realization, or such, a huge freaking usually-unnoticed contradiction lurks at the core of their supposedly selfless spiritual practice.

Namely: a self can't be selfless. So whatever is done with the intention of improving one's self, even if this is to become less egotistical, will have the opposite effect.

This is where certain varieties of Buddhism and Taoism have a lot better understanding of what spirituality is all about than other more self-centered religions, mystical practices, and spiritual teachings.

I say "certain varieties" because Buddhists and Taoists aren't immune from falling into the trap of desiring to become desireless, working hard to achieve effortless ease, and following specific practices to enter into a state of unity.

Here's what Buddhist teacher Rodney Smith says in an opening chapter of his book, "Stepping Out of Self-Deception." It's firmly in line with findings of modern neuroscience, which doesn't find any me at home in the human brain.

The inevitable fallout from this mental reorganization of reality is the belief in a separarte self, which is formed through this restructuring principle, and leads the subject to believe that reality is external to itself.

Once "we" have been established, we start arranging the data to suit our desires and fears, and then act upon reality as if it could be aligned with our needs and wants. That is when all hell breaks loose, because reality is not divided, and acting upon reality as if we were separate creates the pain and suffering of the world.

The fundamental principle we must remember when traversing a spiritual path is that "we" do not "have" a mind. The mind has created the sense of you and me from the way it perceives reality.

The truth is the mind holds "us" within it. "We" are not the possessor of a mind, and the mind is not something happening to us as if we were outside looking in. "We" are a part of the mental processing of the mind.

The thoughts of the mind and the sense-of-I are not two separate events. "We" exist only because the mind thinks us into creation.

Smith goes on to persuasively argue that any form of spiritual practice which emphasizes discrete goals and effortful discipline is going to lead the aspirant further up the slopes of Mount Ego, even as he or she feels like their devotion is causing them to become selfless.

It is helpful if we consciously verbalize our spiritual intention: is our intention to be a person waking up, or to awaken out of being a person?

...Unwise view seizes the opportunity by following the desire [to be a person waking up] and looking outside itself for completion. We go searching for teachers, retreats, pilgrimages, we engage in ceremonies, do austerities, chant, meditate, bend our body into yoga postures, all in the name of satisfying a longing that only needs our attention.

The longing, if read correctly, does not need to take us outside to search for an answer. It is a longing to connect more deeply with what is already here, not to try and find something missing.

Our primary intention is to completely resolve all outside searching and to know our intrinsic wholeness of being. To meet this primary purpose, simply allow your attention to rest with the longing rather than with what the longing seems to indicate is missing.

...The space between fixed notions of reality holds the Dharma. The confusion we feel is the wonderment of the Dharma trying to get through our cognitive maps and indicates the sense-of-self is on shaky ground.

...The momentary confusion keeps us from becoming mechanical or complacent within our ideas of the truth, because the truth cannot be located or mapped. In fact, a quality of truth is that it is not definable.

...I have seen many practitioners overstay their efforts and arrest their understanding. They practice a certain method based upon a logical formula for awakening, and then stay there despite internal cues to the contrary.

The practitioners feel safe and unassailable, expertly following their breath for hours according to the Buddha's instruction, or sweeping their attention from head to toe over and over, knowing they are practicing in accordance with long-established traditions or progressions of insight.

But scratch beneath the surface and their hearts are dry. The mechanics of the approach eventually dulls their aliveness. They are often waiting for the results more than seeing into the mystery, and have opted out of the wonder for the mental fulfillment of precision.

This impediment is often accompanied by firm views and opinions about their methodology, and an equally firm resistance to hearing feedback, making the journey through the maze much longer.

...If we look down from above the maze, the path leading toward the exit is obvious. It is not obvious from inside the maze because the walls of self prohibit the clarity of observation.

The effort involved in seeking the truth is paradoxically long and arduous because the truth is what we intrinsically are, and therefore cannot be sought. From the beginning we need to invert the effort so the effort is not externally seeking what is already here or creating a fixed spiritual terrain.

This new effort is releasing the need to be separate.

Nicely said, Mr. Smith.

When people identify with a particular religious, spiritual, or mystical teaching, they feel closer to that belief system than to competing faiths. So they go through life thinking, "I am a _______. I'm on a special path."

How could this lead to genuine humility, selflessness, and identification with our fellow human beings?

Most forms of spirituality aspire in some way or another to oneness, lessening the sense of isolation we feel from ourselves, the natural world, and other living beings. Yet all this aspiring, all this desiring, all this trying to be something other than what we are, and to make reality into something other that what it is, fosters separation.

We divide our personal characteristics into what is OK, and what needs to be changed. We divide time/space into where we are now, and where we believe a better there-and-then exists. We divide reality into what we consider to be true, and what those fools who lack our unique understanding falsely view as truth.

As I observed in another post, spiritual ego is worse than worldly ego. So it's better to be naturally self-centered, than artificially (and falsely) believing that your religiosity is making you into a selfless person.

Comments

[Steven]

I'm going to toss out the idea that the problems starts "one layer" back.

Namely, as soon as one entertains the idea of "spirituality", of something other than what's right in front of our faces.

Or, as soon as one entertains the idea of "improvement" which only has meaning based on a limited perspective of time and space and by not considering the effects that might have occurred had one not improved.

It's not until we have "spiritual" and "improvement" that we get into problems with the "I" that's trying to improve spiritually.

[The Rambling Taoist]

Desires are part of the human make-up. And so, almost anything we do or think is motivated by the desire of our perceived individual egos.

Of course, our attachment to this ego is the problem. If we try to detach ourselves from the attachment of ego, the drive to detach becomes yet another attachment. So, we tend find ourselves always back at square one.

[NARESH SEHDEV]

HAVING GONE THROUGH I HAVE TO JUST ADD REAL GURU IS THE SHABAD AND AND REAL DISCIPLE IS THE SOUL. IF I , YOU OR ANY ONE ELSE HAS NOT ACTUALLY SELF REALIZED THIS. ALL ELSE IS SOMETHING BASED ONLY ON READINGS HEARSAY.EVEN SWAMAJI (AGRA) WRITES THAT IF YOU DO NOT REALIZE IN LIFETIME YOU HAVE TO BEAR CONSEQUENCES.IF AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF MEDITATION YOU HOVE DOUBTS .THEN HOW CAN YOU CONVINCE / DELIVER YOUR VIEW POINT TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT, BUT ONE THING I AGREE THAT IT IS HEART BREAKENENING. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THEORY OF RELATIVITY WAS ACCEPTED SO MANY YEARS LATTER.SO MANY PROOFS OF SCIENCE COULD NOT BE COMPLETED IN TIME. NO CITICISMS I THINK DO YOU HAVE SOMTHING BETTER TO OFFER?

[Mike Williams]

"And how is this realized? By doing nothing."
quote from poster

There is a major problem with Nisargadatta, Ramana
and Ramesh Balsekar. All jnani.

This problem is language and the common meaning of words.

The best book I have ever read on what exactly happens
at enlightenemnet, was called, The Realization of No Self,
by Bernedette Roberts. It is completely stripped of dogmatic

terms. Simple language. U. G. Krishnamuti, linked on
the site below is the most popular jnani now.

http://radhasoamis.freeyellow.com/index.html

Here is the problem. All these terms, ego, soul, mind,
Higher Self, on and on confuse the person.

Is there a way that can produce enlightenment ?

Not a path, or method ?

The answer is yes.

But, the jnani does not want you to know it.
The jnani does not want to destroy peoples' selves.

His sole effort is to get you away from religion and
Gurus. To help mankind.

They want you to give up the search, not realise
the state of 'no self'. They want you to stop hurting
yourself and others.

But, unless they very specifically detail how the
event occurs, you are left blurry. This is no accident.

It is enough you have an intellectual understanding
of why your search should end.

Enlightenment hurts the person experiencing it, but
it is very good for the world.

Fake jnanis abound, like fake Gurus. This whole
bag of teachers watch each other and copy each other.
They refine their ideas by plagerising others.

The refinement can make any local yocal look like
the real deal.

But, they cannot tell you how enlightenment occurs
specifically, because they are not enlightened.

It is true enlightenment does not exist. But, it is
also true it does exist.

But, it will do you no good to become enlightened,
as you still won't know if there is a God, or afterlife.

This is what you have been told, you will escape chaurasi
and see, or hear the face of God.

Not true. The jnani does not know.

The enlightened jnani only knows one thing. Or, rather
they have seen there is no self, for themselves.

Hypnotism keeps you from seeing it. Nothing else.

No logic will help you attain it.

And, you should not even try. Your intellectual
understanding will suffice you in this life.

With this you will be free from religion and Gurus.

No one whom has ever lived has known if there is a God, or afterlife, not even the true jnani.

[tAo]

NARESH SEHDEV uses all caps because he thinks that SHOUTING will cause his fundamenatlist beliefs to predominate over other's views and opinions.

Naresh Sehdev writes: "I HAVE TO JUST ADD REAL GURU IS THE SHABAD AND AND REAL DISCIPLE IS THE SOUL."

-- "real guru" and "shabad" are nothing but ideas (thoughts) and words. so you are merely repeating dogma. in reality, there are no such things.

Naresh Sehdev writes: "IF I , YOU OR ANY ONE ELSE HAS NOT ACTUALLY SELF REALIZED THIS. ALL ELSE IS SOMETHING BASED ONLY ON READINGS HEARSAY."

-- your entire comment is based on heresay and unsupported beliefs. and neither you nor anyone else has realized anything... because there is nothing to realize.

Naresh Sehdev writes: "SWAMAJI (AGRA) WRITES THAT IF YOU DO NOT REALIZE IN LIFETIME YOU HAVE TO BEAR CONSEQUENCES."

-- what did that guy know anyway? it doesn't matter what he said. there is nothing to realize. all this talk of realization is foolishness and myth. and those who indulge in such nonsense are lost.

Naresh Sehdev writes: "AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF MEDITATION YOU HOVE DOUBTS .THEN HOW CAN YOU CONVINCE / DELIVER YOUR VIEW POINT TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW"

-- no one else is trying to "convince" and "deliver" anything. this is merely a discussion forum. but it does appear that you are trying to convince people of something or other. otherwise, why are you shouting (using alll caps), and why are you being so assertive with your sant mat dogma?

"I THINK DO YOU HAVE SOMTHING BETTER TO OFFER?"

-- not so fast. first of all, just what are YOU offering? you have presented nothing but some vague dogmatic notion about a "real guru" and "shabad". your own assertions prove nothing. so what is it that you are looking for from others?

[Dungeness]

When people identify with a particular religious, spiritual, or mystical teaching, they feel closer to that belief system than to competing faiths. So they go through life thinking, "I am a _______. I'm on a special path."

That's an overly broad, pejorative view of those followers -- of whatever path and I believe there are many -- striving for stillness, and mindfulness in the present moment. I don't believe it's not identifying with the teaching but unmindfulness that is the problem. One of the most powerful antidotes to self is living in the 'eternal now'. Useless or delusional reveries of the past or constant fantasies of the future reinforce 'self'.

And, since the "I'm special" malaise afflicts all, identifying it in others can become its own kind of clubbiness. There's special merit in catching any other blasphemous prattle too. Damn the infidels. Full bias ahead.

Hey, listen, can you hear it..? It's faint at first but the chorus is quickly mobilizing. The faithful are shouting again... 'halleujah, brother, we're with you'.

[tAo]

Brian, what happened to the other comment i posted?? it was addressed to Mike, and it also had several links to some very interesting and relevant videos about consciousness.

[Brian Hines]

tAo, as you noted in another comment, I think your links are here:

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2010/08/live-in-the-here-and-now-also-in-the-there-and-then.html

[Mike Williams]

Hi Tao,
Thanks for links. I am hitting my limit
of 5.2MB, so I will have to wait a few days to look.

In a post to Roger, whom asked about the discovery consciousness was not continuous. I fogot to mention, the doctor whom proved it, was very vocal that this indeed proved
consciousness was an effect of evolution,
not the cause of the universe.

This proves there was no need for a God,
whom was conscious and willful, to cretae the universe.

That the big bang happens by its very inherent nature.

With Darwin's theory of evolution and the proof consciousness is not a cause, but an effect, where is the need for a God theory ?

Buddha didn't know about the big bang, Christ didn't know the earth went around the Sun, Sawan didn't know about DNA.

Godmen spout unprovable theories. Because,
they themselves are unprovable.

We know know kundalini, inner planes and karma and the mind do not exist.

Only hypnotised people can believe.

They need a magician, not a Guru, to correct
their dilemna.

For an exsatsangi to be helpful to believers, they must study messmerism.

No good logic, or science, will help the believer.

Only at the count of ten and a snap of the fingers will they come out of their deep coma.

[tAo]

Brian,
as i said before, my comment to Mike did not show up. its not there.

it had a number of links to videos in it. however, it is still not under your other article/thread ("Live in here and now. Also, there and then.")... where you said it is. i just checked. so i don't know what you are referring to, because it is not over there at all.

fortunately, i saved my list of links to the videos, but i did not save the test of my comment to Mike. so i guess i will have to try to reconstruct my comment and then try posting it all over again.

howeber, are you sure that my comment did not get sent to the spam file? tnx.

[Brian Hines]

tAo, you were right: it was in the spam file -- because of the number of links, I guess. Sorry for the problem. I haven't been checking the spam recently for non-spam comments.

[albert]

Hi, and thanks for a poignant article, as well as comments. The bondage of the body is very great. Few realize how attached and subservient we are to the human frame. The "inner path" is blocked by heavy barriers, though most would not believe this is so. The apertures (pertaining to higher knowledge and regions)within the brain are closed, thus we are forced to utilize the intelligence and abilities of the human intellect and mind for all activities, including the quest for identity and purpose, love and God. We are at a very great disadvantage, but do not comprehend that we are - this is one of the manifestations of "ego". The human incarnation is definitely the most rare and it should be utilized to find THAT Guru Who can open the internal apertures (which we are all endowed with) that are inaccessible otherwise. But it is very difficult to find the true Sat Guru - He is extremely rare in this world. Many teachers and sophists exist, expounding a variety of truths and a panoply of instruction, but none has the capacity to open these closed apertures within the brain but a true Sat Guru. This feat cannot be accomplished by the most stringent intellectual rumination or effort. Nor can it be accomplished via physical surgery. Why have Saints come here and imparted the imperative need (to keen seekers) for the Sat Guru of the time, Satsang and true initiation? Is it all a "big farce"? I think not. We all need help. I know that I do...I have realized over the years how feeble is my mind and how powerful are the forces which would keep me here, in this world of pain and pleasures. A Sat Guru, if one is fortunate enough to find Him, is truly priceless. He alone will steer our ship across this vast ocean of existence and re-unite us with our true and real Beloved. The journey is made easy with such a Friend and Master. I encourage all to keep seeking, holding fast to one's skepticism and doubts.

[Roger]

albert,

Have you found this true Sat guru? If not, did you read somewhere that such a guru exists? I can see a Big farse here, as you mentioned.

[tAo]

albert writes:

"The bondage of the body is very great."
-- how is that? i don't see it that way. where is the "bondage"? and who is it that is bound?

"Few realize how attached and subservient we are to the human frame."
-- in what way?

"The "inner path" is blocked by heavy barriers"
-- what are the barriers?

"The apertures (pertaining to higher knowledge and regions)within the brain are closed"
-- i don't agree. for most people, the brain is functioning quite normally. so where is your evidence?

"thus we are forced to utilize the intelligence and abilities of the human intellect and mind"
-- what is wrong with intellect??

"We are at a very great disadvantage"
-- what disadvantage? in what way?

"this is one of the manifestations of "ego"."
-- there is nothing bad or wrong with ego. ego is not a problem.

"The human incarnation is definitely the most rare and it should be utilized to find THAT Guru"
-- seeking or finding a guru is only your own personal opinion. people can do whatever they like with their lives. and no guru is necessary.

"Who can open the internal apertures (which we are all endowed with) that are inaccessible otherwise."
-- there is nothing that is "inaccessible". and a guru is not necessary.

"But is very difficult to find the true Sat Guru"
-- this 'satguru' is merely an idea. and seeking is the problem. reality is that which is always already the case.

"Many teachers and sophists exist, expounding a variety of truths and a panoply of instruction, but none has the capacity to open these closed apertures within the brain but a true Sat Guru."
-- that is total rubbish.

"This feat cannot be accomplished by the most stringent intellectual rumination or effort."
-- you don't know that. thats just your opinion.

"Why have Saints come here and imparted the imperative need (to keen seekers) for the Sat Guru of the time, Satsang and true initiation?"
-- because they want to be a guru. but there are no "Saints". there are only ordinary people.

"Is it all a "big farce"?"
-- i would not say that it is a "farce". i would say that its a fantasy, a myth.

"We all need help."
-- speak only for yourself.

"I have realized over the years how feeble is my mind and how powerful are the forces which would keep me here, in this world of pain and pleasures."
-- its sad that you have fallen to such a low self-image. simply surrender yourself to source. then everything that you need will be revealed and given. a higher destiny awaits you.

"A Sat Guru, if one is fortunate enough to find Him, is truly priceless."
-- this is a delusion. you have been mislead. you need nothing and no one who is external to you. surrender to source. connect with source. engage with, and be guided by source.

"He alone will steer our ship across this vast ocean of existence and re-unite us with our true and real Beloved."
-- this belief is rubbish. it is a delusion. you are not separate from source. simply enter into conscious conversation with source.

"The journey is made easy with such a Friend and Master."
-- no such friend or master is needed. that is all an illusion. simply surrender and re-connect direct with source.

"I encourage all to keep seeking"
-- there is no need to seek. you always have a direct connection to the love and divine intelligence that is source. seeking will only mislead you. no seeking is necessary. surrender seeking and turn directly to source. reality is that which is always already the case.

[albert]

Dear tAo, Thanks for your detailed and cogent reply, which I greatly respect and apppreciate.

Albert

[tAo]

Avatar Meher Baba - Highlights of His Life, Work and Message...

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Meherabad1#p/u/5/o8hfYK3nB6U

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Meherabad1#p/u/4/8jEsmD3YaJw

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Meherabad1#p/u/3/oX62F5avgl0

[Suzanne Foxton]

tAo...your detailed response to Albert was absolutely brilliant. Nothing is ever good enough, it seems. What, indeed, is wrong with the body, the mind, and all that is apprehended by those wondrous tools of energy-bound atoms? It's simply energy-bound atoms taking note of energy-bound atoms, the atoms themselves - nearly without substance. Whatever it seems to be, just that it is aware of itself and seems to exist is mind-boggling. My energy-bound seem very content, but perhaps my energy-bound atoms are merely fiddling while Rome burns...in itself an interesting judgment.

[Mike Williams]

---------------------------------

(Kirpal's Godman Meher Baba), as Paul Brunton (1935) related:

I have taken the trouble to investigate during my travels the few so-called miracles of healing which [Meher Baba] is alleged to have performed. One is a case of appendicitis, and the sufferer's simple faith in Meher is said to have completely cured him. But strict enquiry shows that the doctor who has attended this man could discover nothing worse than severe indigestion! In another case a nice old gentleman, who has been reported cured overnight of a whole catalog of ailments, seems to have had little more than a swollen ankle! As further detailed by Brunton, Meher's numerous prophecies concerning upcoming calamitous events fared no more impressively, consistently failing to materialize on time.

(Brunton then came to a conclusion:)

"Meher Baba, though a good man and one living an ascetic life, is unfortunately suffering from colossal delusions about his own greatness ... a fallible authority, a man subject to constantly changing moods, and an egotist who demands complete enslavement on the part of his brain-stupefied followers. "

http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/spiritua lchoices.asp

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4002 SIKH SAINT KIRPAL SINGH (Meyer Baba incident)

After the messages were read, Baba conveyed to the students: "I feel one with you as well as one of you. The purpose of my coming here will be served if you try to follow the two messages that have been read out to you."

IT WAS in Delhi at this time that the Sikh saint Kirpal Singh, age fifty-nine, met Baba for the first time. Harjiwan Lal knew him and had scheduled one of the darshan functions at the saint's place, where a large number of people assembled on the afternoon of Sunday, November 30th. But when informed, Baba objected that perhaps people would be confused, thinking they were coming for Kirpal Singh's and not for his darshan.

Kishan Singh and Dr. Deshmukh were then appointed to inform the saint that Baba preferred giving darshan that evening in a more central location on Minto Road, and that the saint with his followers was invited to come there. Kirpal Singh came, and in the absence of a chair, Baba bade him sit on a suitcase on which Baba had spread a carpet. Baba remarked to him, "You have come; you are so humble. You have won and I have lost." Baba embraced him lovingly as he left the place, and while Baba was getting into his car, Kirpal Singh once again asked Kishan Singh to request Baba to visit his ashram. Baba agreed, saying he would meet the saint and only his family members for fifteen minutes, and fixed the date and time for it.

A group of women who had gone for Baba's darshan on Minto Road offered their residence at Rajinder Nagar in New Delhi for one of Baba's programs, agreeing to make all the arrangements. Baba went there on the morning of December 3rd, but shortly before his arrival it was learned that the women were disciples of Kirpal Singh who were holding regular meetings at their house, and that the saint had also been invited by them. To ensure that Kirpal Singh was accorded an equal position with Baba, they had placed two chairs side by side on the dais in the tent, one for Baba and the other for the saint. Kishan Singh and his mistress, Prakashwati, prevailed upon them to remove the second chair, but the women objected. Harjiwan Lal approached the saint directly, who agreed at once and on entering the pandal had the chair placed at a lower level. Baba arrived immediately afterwards. Darshan was given and Baba spelled on the alphabet board, "The worst scoundrel is better than a hypocritical saint."

http://www.lordmeher.org/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPa ge=4002

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[Roger]

Mike,

What is the point you are trying to convey in the above articles about Kirpal Singh?
Thanks,
Roger

[tAo]

mike,
as i said before, from time to time i post links to possibly interesting or educational info. but that does not mean that i endorse, support, or defend any particular individual. the facts are the facts, whatever they are. but not every opinion is correct or factual.

i know about paul brunton, and i also knew about paul brunton's conclusions about meher baba. same goes for that kirpal thing. i can't really say one way or the other, therefore its all just heresay to me. so like roger said, whats the point anyway.