Beware these 5 forms of Subtle Spiritual Ego

You may have heard the quote: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire

In this vein, it really is a great block to spiritual awakening to believe you have overcome ego. Let’s start with a useful definition of ego from a friend and collegue Mike George.  Ego is attachment to a wrong image or belief about myself.  This can anything from identifying with something as gross as your favourite handbag brand, to using the word ‘I’ when talking about the experience of negative emotions. 

The experience of the bliss of pure awareness which comes from contemplating the timeless, eternal real spiritual self, helps us to see the contrast of how the mind habitually identifies with temporary phenomena.  This can be a tangible physical object or a thought object, a concept. 

This is the level where more spiritually focused individuals might get trapped.  As attachment to your concept of God, may pass as having faith, whereas attachment to your football team, maybe appear to be more primitive. 

So lets explore 5 forms of spiritual ego and we can check ourselves to see if we are being influenced by them.

1st.  Attaching my identity to spiritual concepts.  Getting an ego boost from ‘my’ wisdom. 

There is a big difference from contemplating the concept of soul, to actually perceiving the world through the eyes of the soul.  The ego tends to be satisfied with the level of concepts, and keeps us distracted from the deeper realization of the soul, by keeping us refining our concepts,  comparing those concepts to those of others, making a story about much deep my concepts are.  Writing poetry, giving speeches, making podcasts, sharing my wisdom with others, these are can also be huge traps of the ego.  Sharing spiritual knowledge cannot necessary be labelled as ego, but for sure, ego will use such situations to try and feed itself and strengthen this false identity as a special chosen, especially enlightened wise one. 

2.  Attaching my ego identity with lifestyle factors, or how pure I think my habits are. 

One of the striking realizations that most people have during NDE’s, is that they are a timeless immortal soul, and that the body, the role, the experiences that they had on earth, do not define them at all.  Many spiritual paths will recommend certain lifestyles and behaviours, which are aimed at keeping energy positive, and worldly distractions to a minimum.  However, in the absence of real spiritual awakening, the ego will satisfy itself by building an identity around how pure my diet is, how disciplined my routine is, how much renunciation I have, how beyond the gross sensual pleasures I may be.  This means I get to feel superior to less pure mortals or have shame about my sins.  The soul by its nature is pure and completely uninfluenced by anything material.  This is our true identity, but the ego will feed the substitute the spiritual truth with an of an image of a pure person, based on these limited behaviours. 

3rd: Attaching my ego identity to a person I consider more spiritual than myself

This is a tricky one, as for most of us, our spiritual journey is filled with people who have shared their useful wisdom and insights with us.  However, when ego enters the picture, it creates a false limited sense of self from identifying with that person.  Then, I create stories around my connection to them.  I am the most loyal follower of the one and only messiah.   I then defend that one, compare that one to others, believe everything and anything that one says, thinking my salvation lies in those beliefs.  I devote myself to promoting that person.  As long as I am impressed by the character and role of any human being in this worldly earthly drama, I cannot realize the true nature of the self.  My mind is stuck worshipping a false image and in the desire to have that image for myself one day.   All gurus are just my own fantasy images about what a pure being  should look and behave like and comparing myself as not being that.  This is all an empty substitute for the truth that the soul doesn’t need saving. 

4th.  Attaching my ego identity with ‘spiritual’ experiences

This is a subtle trap where we have an experience and then create a story about who we are around that experience.  It’s as if the experience by its unique or other worldly aspect confirms to us that we are special, and spiritually advanced.  True realization of the self, doesn’t need constant reaffirming.  Stories needs this, as they are unsubstantial.  They fade, we doubt them, we need more stories.   This is why people can get psychologically addicted to substances that create altered consciousness.  I am not just seeking new relevations, I am trying to quell the doubts that I am spirit by having spiritual experiences.  But experiences always fade.   Whether it is an experience of a vision, or a feeling, of a state which I believe is englightened, instead of identifying with an experience, we have to recognize that all these experiences are happening within the self.  Nothing which comes and goes, including any sort of elevated or degraded state of consciousness, is the self.  And identifying with them, is just another trap of the ego.

5th.  Identifications with Manifestations

Following the release of the book and movie the Secret over 20 years ago, a whole generation was introduced to the concept of the mind being able to attract whatever it wants through belief and mental focus.  Eastern spiritually has known these concepts for eons, and many great Indian masters are able to manifest objects immediately, including transporting themselves to remote locations.  The mind is a powerful, incredible tool, which interacts with this matrix to create our reality.  However, if we experience the true self,  the manifestations in the matrix, cease to delight us in the same way.  As long as i feed the identity of myself as spiritual advanced, by counting the quality and quantity of my manifestations, i will get a thrill from every 11.11 and a discouragement every time I don’t get the car park spot.  It is fun to see how thought create things, but be careful not to create stories about your spiritual level and your worthiness by identitying with opportunities, miracles, sychronicitiies, abundance or lack therefore, in the material world.  We are much greater than this.

I’m sure there are many more subtle spiritual ego traps that we can all fall into, but these are 5 that we all can watch out for.   It’s important to keep a sense of humour about all this, because it is just a game.  Ego mechanism is seeking to score against us and strengthen itself, and keep our true self hidden, but every time we see its tricks and don’t feed it, it becomes less and less.  When we stop identifying with concepts, with experiences, with people, with our lifestyles, and with things we create, and come closer to knowing and experience the unconditional freedom, power and love which is our true beingness.

Om Shanti.