Upgrading our avatar along the Way

Ego is Latin and means ‘I’, literally. The psychologists used the term ‘ego’ with the hope that we could broaden our consciousness and rational decision making. In our spiritual community we are rather skeptical of our ‘I’-perspective and are more interested in what lies Beyond. Many of us can, we feel the hearts and beings of others, we hear Voices telling us what to do, or see Signs advising us what to be mindful of. The spiritual understanding of the ego is that it keeps us away from Oneness.

So far, so good, but what do you intend to do about it? Say, when you feel fear, is this a self-imposed interference trying to keep you from living your dreams, or is this Spirit telling you that something is off? When you desire to be with someone, is this the self projecting your longings into someone, or is this true love in the making? How do we know unless we have trusted divine messengers nearby telling us all about it? How about flipping the logic around? What if the choices define who we truly are beneath the surface. We use life to discover Oneness. The ‘I’ is an avatar on this journey Home.

When we say, ‘let’s love this brother like myself’, then sometimes this is a great idea and sometimes less so. We have to figure how this brother fits into our world. Maybe he is a competitor who eats our lunch in the end. Maybe he is a thief who just pretends to be nice, so when we practice our Christian love on him, we might walk away from this lesson with a black eye. Yet, when we say, ‘let me get to know this brother as I know myself’, then maybe he teaches us how competitive we are ourselves.

A spiritual path is a pressure cleaning exercise. It is not about winning or losing, not about loving and hating, it’s about understanding who we truly are. Our agenda gets revealed to us along the Way and modified so that we can finally combine our passion with spiritual purpose. ‘Do this’, a Voice says, ‘you will you feel good about yourself, and you will cut out all inner conflicts for good!’ Finally we can have it our way, without having to mind our agenda all the time, we can whole-heartedly walk the Way.

You have a fine avatar at your disposal—now sign up for your divine mission.