I’ve been reading a lot of books lately — The Untethered Soul, The Presence Process, The Surrender Experiment — all about the spiritual journey and enlightenment.
They’re great reads with lots of provocative questions about how to relieve suffering and find peace. All of which is great.
Except.
The whole “spiritual journey” thing becomes just another fabricated identity created to give ourselves the illusion of control.
Let me speak from my own perspective. When I’m trying to be “spiritual,” it’s just another bullshit self-concept that sets me up for pain.
But what do I know? Maybe it actually works for the other guys.
A friend said to me in yoga class one day, “I just need to let go of my Ego. It keeps getting in my way,” like the Ego is some nemesis we have to conquer and root out.
I’m just not buying it.
The Ego isn’t bad. It’s a part of being human. It’s what makes us more than just a lump of protoplasm.
I like my Ego. I like having a Personality.
It’s fun to be “me,” even if it is a construction. And yes, I am somewhat attached to it. (Oh, the horror!)
Even Jesus and the Buddha had personality. Right?
I’d rather make friends with my Ego.
I imagine my Ego as this petulant child living inside me that needs to be right. It whines at me and worries about things it can’t control. It likes to start drama.
But you wouldn’t kill your kid just because she’s whiney and annoying, would you? If you look at it the right way, whining kids can be kind of…cute.
So that’s where I’m at. I want to befriend my Ego, my demons, my shadow side. I think they have something important to teach me.
I don’t really want to be “enlightened.”
I want to live the full spectrum of experience. I want to be here now to soak up everything this moment has to offer.
That’s my kind of awakening.
What do you think?
