IF THIS, THEN THAT: Are You Planning to One Day "Awaken"?

Do you meditate religiously? Do you attend spiritual conventions and retreats? Do you subscribe to “spiritual awakening” blogs and read all the most popular spiritual literature? Do you often employ spiritual terminology in conversations? Have you restricted most of your friends to those who believe the same spiritual concepts as you and avoid those who do not? Do you judge others based on "spiritual" standards? Do you often judge yourself harshly for thinking non-spiritual thoughts? Do you often envy those who claim to have experienced “enlightenment" or "awakening"? Does it sometimes seem that all other areas of your life been subordinated to your 'spirituality'? Do you seek to live a "spiritual" lifestyle?

Are you planning to one day "awaken"?

Spiritual fundamentalism is a powerful driving force that takes “spiritual awakening” very seriously. It's a finite game that seeks rewards for hard work and sacrifice. Ironically, the game that promises the reward of ego-transcendence, often results in the most rigid ego-fixation.

Do you believe there is a way to “awaken”? Do you become agitated with your ‘self’ when you fail to stay focused on your plan of awakening? Do you often change that plan when new information becomes available?

Make no mistake, within the ego’s self-concept is the goal of “awakening” to truth. It’s easy to recognize the ego’s plan for “awakening” by four simple words: “If this, then that.”

If you do this long enough and struggle hard enough, then that will cause you to “awaken.” Think only this, do only that, be only this, say only that....and you too will awaken to truth.

Yet, what the ego stubbornly refuses to see is that truth is infinite. There is NO point at which one will have it, in contrast to NOT having it. Truth does NOT contrast or compare, but egos do quite often.  Therefore, all your plans of acquisition, or 'getting,' truth are useless. However, you will get "spiritual" (for whatever good that does)

The ego-self is a sacrificial concept that is real, but NOT true. Indeed, even the ego realizes this, because it’s life is nothing but a struggle to be TRUE. Infinite truth requires no struggle or sacrifice.

However, the ego will have none of that. It’s plans must always involve sacrifice and this is why it believes truth can be found, but only through hard work and sacrifice.

The one thing the ego will never accept is that it cannot have truth, like it has stuff. There is nothing you need do to have truth. There is nothing you could think that would help you ‘know’ truth and there is certainly no one you need listen to in order to learn truth.

You cannot plan for truth.

So now what?

Ha!


Artwork by Scot Olsen - "untitled"