Channel Surfing

"Swami, what is the way to salvation?"
"The way you came," was Bhagavan's simple reply.
Ramana Maharshi

I had three revelations the other day. First of all, the the ego’s drive for self-preservation is ingenious. When we embark on the noble quest for liberation, we might as well sign up for the journey to become CEO, or scheme our way into the life of someone we really find attractive. It is all the same hunger for appreciation, sense of belonging, and power. We would never put it that way but we are wired that way and we delude ourselves.

The second revelation I had was that life is brilliantly designed to take our rose-colored glasses away. Anyone who signs up for liberation will get there eventually, but we need life’s ups and downs to show us what is truly hiding beneath the hood. It’s twisted down there. We think that we are the good guy but we hunger for appreciation, being loved and power just like everyone. We need the occasional kick in the behind to find out.

The third revelation I had is that the ego drive, while always be part of us, can be switched around like a channel on the TV. Raise your spine, breathe deeply in an out. There comes a time when the kundalini energy reaches the head area and the ego story just flips from channel to channel. You realize that the story you are telling yourself about the colleague who abused you or the loved one who dumped you is just a story.

We perhaps cannot be free from our ego drive but we can awaken to the stories that we are telling ourselves and literally walk out of the movie plot. Unfortunately I am unlikely to sell books with my revelations that all you have to do is to sign up for a journey Home, live your life to the best of your abilities, and, well, breathe, but here it is. Our ego trip is as real as our favorite show on tv. Do some channel surfing!