The Enlightened Ego - Solving the Problems of Awakening pt.1

what a wonderful thread, i realize by reading it that maybe i am not alone. sometimes i just hide in my corner and watch the world pass by wondering if any one else really gets it...we all walk in our own skin and no one feels for us our pain.
show me a wounded finger and i see the blood but cannot feel the pain nor can i fully understand someones wounded heart, but my finger and my heart i feel every day all day. i accept who i am allthough others may not it really doesn't matter because i alone live in this skin.

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


You've made some very good points and I can echo most of what you said.

For me and others its been a great help to learn about hypnosis and language patterns because at the moment you are using language patterns by accident and once it clicks things are much easier to explain but for the most part you are on the right track but its the language skills and choice of words which could use a little tweeking and it might be worth thinking about which stories you absorb and tell others but these are only small things.

To others on the thread who think enlightenment is snake oil, its like the phrase if you think you can or if you think you can't you are right (except with trance experiences this is not true)

I've said it before, englightenment is real, its at our finger tips and the easiest way to prove this is true is to ask your self with your inner voice - How would I feel if I were enlightened? but as the OP explains, the people who struggle seeing/feeling/understanding this are the ones that are too ego driven.

Peace

PS Don't forget why we have an ego though, it's there for a reason, it's a tool and like an tool it should be used in the right way.

Originally posted by Revolution9
reply to post by LifeIsEnergy

 

One of the biggest consequences a seeker who “enlightens his/her ego” will find is that of a stronger sense of superiority. We begin to look at ourselves as already awakened or wise and thus we look at everyone else in society who does not speak of the same things as un-awakened or unwise. Our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, bosses, leaders… all of them suddenly become the ‘sheep’ while we remain the ‘good guys’, the awakened, in our mind. We see them as blind to reality and judge them accordingly for this. Thus we seek to awaken them by telling them our perspective on life, on reality, and when they reject this notion or do not understand what we are saying we become frustrated and angry. This of course only shows how un-awakened we truly are, for, a truly awakened person will not act out in frustration or anger at anyone, even those who are rejecting what we ‘know’ to be the truth. Christ and Buddha are perfect examples of this.

Took the words right out of my mouth. A very eloquent and honest post with great sensitivity and insight.

I have stumbled on this continually. This is where the depression is. One's soul has reached a certain level of consciousness, but the harder part is learning true humility. I am drawn to the example of Christ washing the feet of His disciples, revealing true Leadership. That is the One who is enlightened and wise enough to lead should serve those he/she leads. The toal reverse happens in the dynamics of our societies where the ruler or leader is so choked with ego that leadership becomes corrupt and trapped in the lowest realm of the ego.

Our world is upside down. Some would call this the state of our fall from grace and a symptom of it. For our grace to be restored...well those of us for whom it has importance, we must find our way to becoming what we were meant to be. We choose our paths and we are entitled to have the freedom and choice to follow our choice of path as we see fit.

Thank you for the insight and experience you have shared.

im awakened, you are exact truly enLIGHTened souls are so consistent and constantly aware of the all of that is creation in everything that can be, has been, and all of infinity of potential and omnipotent power and gentle love is the power and expansion. even when you finally have found YOUR WAY, you cannot do anything to "make" others aware, discovering that we are of god and in god in their own way is THE FREE WILL, the image so to speak, we are the crown. it is the time for all to awake, but there is no specific date or "dead line", time is NON-LINEAR..... UNI-VERSE===ONE-SONG

Originally posted by Revolution9
reply to post by LifeIsEnergy

 

One of the biggest consequences a seeker who “enlightens his/her ego” will find is that of a stronger sense of superiority. We begin to look at ourselves as already awakened or wise and thus we look at everyone else in society who does not speak of the same things as un-awakened or unwise. Our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, bosses, leaders… all of them suddenly become the ‘sheep’ while we remain the ‘good guys’, the awakened, in our mind. We see them as blind to reality and judge them accordingly for this. Thus we seek to awaken them by telling them our perspective on life, on reality, and when they reject this notion or do not understand what we are saying we become frustrated and angry. This of course only shows how un-awakened we truly are, for, a truly awakened person will not act out in frustration or anger at anyone, even those who are rejecting what we ‘know’ to be the truth. Christ and Buddha are perfect examples of this.

Took the words right out of my mouth. A very eloquent and honest post with great sensitivity and insight.

I have stumbled on this continually. This is where the depression is. One's soul has reached a certain level of consciousness, but the harder part is learning true humility. I am drawn to the example of Christ washing the feet of His disciples, revealing true Leadership. That is the One who is enlightened and wise enough to lead should serve those he/she leads. The toal reverse happens in the dynamics of our societies where the ruler or leader is so choked with ego that leadership becomes corrupt and trapped in the lowest realm of the ego.

Our world is upside down. Some would call this the state of our fall from grace and a symptom of it. For our grace to be restored...well those of us for whom it has importance, we must find our way to becoming what we were meant to be. We choose our paths and we are entitled to have the freedom and choice to follow our choice of path as we see fit.

Thank you for the insight and experience you have shared.

im awakened, you are exact truly enLIGHTened souls are so consistent and constantly aware of the all of that is creation in everything that can be, has been, and all of infinity of potential and omnipotent power and gentle love is the power and expansion. even when you finally have found YOUR WAY, you cannot do anything to "make" others aware, discovering that we are of god and in god in their own way is THE FREE WILL, the image so to speak, we are the crown. it is the time for all to awake, but there is no specific date or "dead line", time is NON-LINEAR..... UNI-VERSE===ONE-SONG

Fantastic post, I can relate as a 21-year-old. I am in the frustrated state when it feels like no one understands anything and I am all alone (except for on the internet). I guess I have to let go of my ego and do non-egoistical choices to get over that bump in the road.

Ive read a few articles like this and I was curious because you mentioned people looking like "sheep" and i thought you just meant as an example of a less intelligent animal, but many other articles mention them as sheeps...do you actually see these people as sheeps or just "different"

reply to post by STONEcoleD


more so i think they are referring to people who blindly follow others/what they are told/the establishment/media ect and do not think for themselves. someone who blindly accepts what they are given.

Originally posted by onequestion
The problem with your thread is this....

There is no trying to be awakened. There is no path to being.

This is a bunch of bologne. Stop peddling nonsense.

Hey buddy, long time no see... wondering what happened to your meditation threads, they were great!

Think of it like this friend,

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

Onque (onequestion) is walking down the path/road of life others before him have created, (our normal societal life)

On both sides of this path/road he sees a forest of large beautiful trees but it is too dark to see what lays beyond them,

People have told him his entire life, "There is nothing else out there, just stay on this road like the rest of us",

But Onque sees all of the corruption, suffering, ignorance and hate that these people go through on this path/road and can't help but wonder if there is some other path/road,

He looks left and right, day in and day out, but is too afraid to wander into the unknown dark forest, especially since others have warned him against it,

Then one day as he is traveling this path/road he sees a man walk out of the forest back onto the path/road everyone else is walking on, (this man is like a Bodhicitta),

Onque runs up to this man and asks "where did you come from? what else is out there?"

The man looks at Onque and replies, "I have made my own path/road through the forest and came back to tell others that there is nothing to fear out there, that there is more to life than this path they are now walking."

Onque follows this man for a few months out of interest of what he has to say about this place he has always been so curious about, (like a disciple)

Then one day this man turns to Onque and says, "I cannot show you everything that lays beyond this tree line, you must go and find out for yourself",

But Onque is scared, because well, everyone has put fear in his heart about what lays beyond this tree line,

They've told him he will get lost, that he will be betraying and abandoning his people, that he may lose everything he loved, that he may even be killed by a beast...,

But that is not enough to keep Onque from finding out for himself, because he is a true warrior and is unafraid of death,

So one day he sets out into the forest and begins to clear away his own path, just as that man he was following had,

Then after a few months of wondering into the unknown, into the dark cold forest, he stumbles onto a opening in the forest where the sun is shining, a lake is glimmering, and the air is clear,

Onque then looks past this opening and sees even more of the same dark forest, but now he has hope that there is more 'out there' than just a dark cold forest and so he continues his journey,

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I will stop this story here as you may have already got the point. The dark cold forest is our hindrances, our desires, our attachments, our ego... when we go 'against the grain' and journey into this dark unknown and rather scary place that others have warned us about, we begin cutting away at the 'trees', the hindrances, and after some searching we find an opening in the forest, a realization, a glimpse at awakening, which gives us hope that there truly is another way, that there truly is more to life than everyone had been leading us to believe. What lays beyond that forest? Well, maybe no one here knows, but there is something my friend, and if you are fearless and courageous enough to keep making your way through that dark cold place you may just find out.

That is what we mean by a path. Very rarely is there ever someone who can see what lays beyond the tree line, the forest, without 'cutting it away'. And even more rarely is there ever someone who is born where there is no trees, no forest, no accumulated hindrances from society, from the main path everyone else is walking on. Even Jesus had to 'cut away the trees' to see things clearly my friend. That is called making a new path.

Peace brother.

reply to post by STONEcoleD


Jesus also refered to people as sheep....

This is an excellent start, I cant wait to read more. Its a very interesting and thought provoking point of view that begs the reader to look within. Star and flag.

Jesus also referred to people as sheep

Originally posted by STONEcoleD
Ive read a few articles like this and I was curious because you mentioned people looking like "sheep" and i thought you just meant as an example of a less intelligent animal, but many other articles mention them as sheeps...do you actually see these people as sheeps or just "different"

That was just a word, a label, I had learned from other people to describe people who blindly follow others lead without figuring out where their being led to. I don't really look at people this way anymore, and I realized I only did so because of my own sense of egoic superiority over them. It was wrong of me, they are people just like me, not the objects that I made them out to be.

Peace friend.

Really nice thread, i enjoyed reading it.
After reading it i had to think about myself and my awakening. Sometimes i feel superiority over some people but i never show it to them. Also i tell to myself that's wrong to feel like that. Till now i didn't think much about it but i will pay more attention to it in future.
I guess that i can be happy that i don't have problems with depression

I really appreciate this post today. I've spent all day thinking thinking about how someone's ego was bothering me and this really helps put things into some sort of perspective. I too have fallen into those traps, and will continue to I'm sure, but I really hope to further deepen my understanding of the ego and my relationship with others, especially those who do not see the same.
As the band Tool would say:
"Crucify the ego, before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical,
And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable."

Great post OP.
Becoming an observer is the first, and in my opinion, most critical step into letting the ego go. (As you said)
You are wise indeed. Look forward to the next parts.

Well stated, a very sincere and intuitive essay on some very true and difficult perils in the journey.

Because none of us can ever be completely free of these distractions, it is very useful to see them so well articulated. Thank you.

Thank you! You delivered a monumentally important message just when I needed it. I have experienced just as you have described. I am pulling my self out depression by just letting go but it isn't easy. I am trying to hold that blissfull feeling one gets in meditation but it's hard to hold it for long. Any suggestions? Namaste

thanks for the OP there was lost of useful information.

the ego wants to add 2 cents to the pile because it needs validation, I guess its a bit of a razors edge that we walk, to absorb useful information incorporate it into your growth and walk away because you dont want to feed the ego by participating too much. Or to stay and add to the mix but run the risk of fooling yourself that you actually know anything at all. i guess ill flip a coin and let fate decide........

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy

HI,
Many thanks for this sharing it is needed as we have an enourmous amounts of teachings at hand, we can easily be misslead. The reappearance of the ego is assured, but how we react to it whether is be ours or others is what is important. True realization is that its appears to be there with tremendous power, but really its not at all. Bit like Bin Laden really, an eternal threat to true peace represented in a world wide drama.
Just Be self.

reply to post by HUMBLEONE

hi my suggestion, is the very wanting to hold it is what will keep that natural state away. Just have faith, in the process that you are rediscovering at the moment. It cant be forced or made, rather it reveals itself to the person who is in the right receptive mode.
justbself