Spiritual Ego? The Insidious Facade

I received a message this morning from a Facebook friend, who read something I had posted in a group we both belong to; she wanted to know "What is the spiritual ego?"


Well first let us understand the ego, to better reach a conclusion for the question. The ego is the false identity, it is the persona which we adopt through out our lives, which helps us identify ourselves as individuals. When we are born, we do not have this ego, as we are innocent and as yet un-conditioned. Through our formative years, and indeed throughout our lives, people will shape us, through their ideals, values, morals, and teachings. As we collect information, we learn about polarity; right and wrong, bad and good, positive and negative. All of this knowledge contributes towards our creating a sense of "self". 


However, the persona we use is not who we truly are; it is just a mirror of all we have experienced, and how we have adapted and responded to it. The truth of who we are is innocence, and pure love; wide eyed wonder and awe. The ego is the societal and familial player we become as we grow here on planet Earth.


The ego is hardwired into our emotional sense of self, and acts as a polarizing judge within us. The ego seeks to be validated, and dislikes being criticized. This is human nature, we are drawn to those who coddle us, and try to label those who disagree with us as ignorant, or rude, or mean. We identify with like-minded people, because they provide us security within our sense of self, and our ego likes to feel secure.


The spiritual ego is a much craftier component of our illusionary self; and it is harder to detect, as it is extremely complex and a master manipulator. The spiritual ego has read all the books, and knows how to say all the "right" things, spiritually speaking. It knows how to posture and spin to garner positive feedback and attention, and it thrives on being spiritually right and righteous. Some general examples of spiritual ego in action are:

• Making passive aggressive comments towards someone you are having a disagreement with, but following them up with a bland "Namaste" or "God bless you." The need to stamp statements of polarity or masked aggression with spiritual platitudes is something the spiritual ego excels at.

• Believing that what one "knows" is all there is to know, and brandishing that knowledge like a weapon, or with snobbery. A true spiritualist is at peace in their understanding, and needn't detract from the peace of anyone else to uplift their own knowledge or self-awareness.

• Saying the right things, in order to gain validation, rather than stating an internal truth with a passionate sense of calm. I see it often, I'm sure you all do too. 

The spiritual ego is a mask we can adopt as we experience shifts of perception, during our awakening process. And it is natural, and not in any way indicative of a "bad" person. Anyone who endeavors to understand themselves spiritually, in context of the Universe and infinite knowledge is bound to adopt a spiritual ego at some point or another. It is human, and just reinforces the fact that as humans we can not possess all of the answers to existence.

I see spiritualists online talking about ego a lot, however I don't see spiritual ego coming into the discussion, and I do hope people will see that this is another way in which we lie to ourselves, and try to be honest with themselves with this regard.

In the end, the only people we are lying to are ourselves, and what is the point? If you are truly seeking spiritual enlightenment from an authentic and humble place of love within you, then there is no need or desire to race to some invisible finish line, or to be "better" at awakening than others. We all have our own path to walk, in our own time and way. So be mindful as you continue to explore your self, as you speak with others, as you experience friction with others; do not let yourself be fooled by a very crafty and savvy creation - the spiritual ego.

And when you do identify it within yourself, I hope you can laugh - loudly. It is a comical thing after all! And again, this life is not meant to be so somber and serious, if we can't laugh at ourselves in all honesty, then there is little point in this process of discovery. 

I wish you much honesty on your own journey, lots of laughter, and infinite opportunities to better know yourself. Your true self - the Love you Are.