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The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening

 
Life is Energy
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08/31/2011 09:03 AM
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The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Here I would like to discuss something very important for those who desire to become awakened. It is a problem or a hindrance that many of us, if not most of us, will experience during our journey. Unfortunately, it is such a tricky thing that we cannot always see it as true, like a grand illusion, and thus some of us can never move beyond its grips. It is like a shadow of the mind, when we carelessly look for it, it is not there thus we cannot rid ourselves of it. It is the “enlightened ego”.

There are many viable paths to take while searching for awakening, so instead of fixating on describing what is the ‘best’ path or method for achieving this, I have chosen to go beyond that and speak of the problems that are a commonality to all these paths. Since the “enlightened ego” is the broadest, most generalized form of description to categorize our hindrances, I have decided to start here and then follow this thread up with others that break down these problems in even further detail.

I too have suffered from this, and still do, but I have identified this problem as true and begun to watch my thoughts closely to see how and why this is happening, insofar as the consequences of its presence within me, and thus I have come to realize many things about it that I would like to share with you.

It shall be known that many of those seekers who suffer from an “enlightened ego” have already had a deep realization of some sort or at least a brief glimpse into the awakened state. That is how they have come to this problem. Whether they have concluded that things may not be what they seem as quantum scientists are finding, or that society and its worldly desires are misleading them away from their true Self as Krishnamurti and Sri Ramana Maharshi spoke of, or they had a brief glimpse into the Oneness of all things that Jesus taught, or began to see the truth behind the Buddha’s teaching of Anatta (no individual self)… they have come to a ‘road block’, the ego, that has kept them from achieving full realization.

In fact, many of us seekers do not stop and study the egos validity when we run into this problem as maybe we should, but instead we misidentify it for something else and thus as we continue our search for awakening we are in turn only “enlightening our ego”, not our Self. This is a major problem that creates even more delusion for us then we had before, for, it is nothing but another form of the “dream state”.

(To be clear, when I use the word “Self” with a capitol S, I am referring to the absolute Self that pervades all of reality, the oneness that connects everything. Others may call this God, Universal Consciousness/Energy, or something else. And when I use the word “self” with a small s, I am referring to the sense of individual or independent-self, or the ego. Do not fixate on these things too deeply right now as they are merely symbols to point to a higher meaning that is difficult to explain in a short amount of words.)

Superiority

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.

From my own experience I can relate to this manner of thinking, this sense of ‘awakened superiority’. What’s crazy is I have always been a rather humble and quiet person who listened more than I projected, befriending people of all social classes, races, cultures and religions. However, after I began searching for higher realizations, for awakening, I all of a sudden lost this sense of humility, of being able to listen without judging or projecting my own thoughts.

One day, about a year ago, I came to a deeper conclusion than I ever had before that the ego was not only ‘bad’, but it was the cause of all of our conflict and problems. At that time I was volunteering for a non-profit organization helping minorities get employment, health care and find better schooling for their children. We began to work on building our own school, one directed towards offering a better education for minorities and closing the achievement gaps between White and Black students. Many people in the community stepped up to help and the leader of this organization was/is a truly wise and compassionate man. However, I all of a sudden began to see these peoples egos more-so than I saw their selfless motivation. I would be sitting in on meetings with very important community leaders, business owners and politicians, who were speaking of very important social issues but all I could hear was nothing but their egos. Everything I heard was, “I have accomplished this and that with my life, I feel this way or that way about what you’re saying, I want to see this or that happen, I want to give this person or that person an award…” By the end of these meetings I would literally have no clue what was going on, all I knew was I didn’t like these people. All I knew was that they were egotistical ‘sheep’ who couldn’t think outside of the box, who couldn’t do anything without patting themselves on their backs or without claiming a position of authority in which they could hand out awards or compliments to others who agreed with them. It literally drove me crazy to the point I had to remove myself from that position.

Later on looking back on this situation I have realized something truly shocking, that it wasn’t their egos creating this problem for me but it was my own ego that was creating this problem. I surely thought my sense of Self had moved beyond the ego, for, I had come to the realization that the ego was messing everything up. But to the contrary, it was my ego that had this realization, not my Self. So in the end my ego was blinding my sense of Self, and it was hiding from my sense of Self by focusing in on everyone else’s egos as the problem. It wasn’t until I spent a good amount of time reflecting on why no one understood me, or felt the same way as I did, that I came to the realization that I had “enlightened my ego” and not my sense of Self. It wasn’t until I had this realization that I found out that my dislike for ‘their’ egoic projection of superiority over others arose from my own egoic sense of superiority over them. Sure, they may have had this problem too, but that was not something productive for me to focus on. It only hindered my ability to listen to them, insofar as hindered my ability to progress further in my spiritual awakening.

In other words, if you find yourself feeling superior over others because you have had some sort of a realization or glimpse at awakening, you have done nothing but “enlightened your ego”, not your sense of Self. And that is just another form of the “dream state”, so in fact, you are no more wise or awakened than them.

Depression

Another consequence of “enlightening the ego” is depression. Some of the things we come to realize begin to truly disturb us as we think about their validity. Of course this is only because we are contemplating these things through the ego and the ego does not like these realizations so it paints them as threatening or Self-defeating, when in actuality they are empowering and self/ego-defeating. It is like a corrupt or unmoral politician who gets caught up in his own feces pile and seeks to paint the accuser as the bad guy to divert attention away from his own wrong doings.

When we have a realization, such that; our perception of individual self is merely an illusion and nothing more than the construct of our ego, or that free-choice is a very limited and illusionary thing, or that physical death is truly inescapable, or that suffering pervades all of life and in every form, or any other truly ego shocking revelation, it literally can break some of us. Some people begin to look at life as having no meaning, no purpose, as being inescapable pain, and thus become severely depressed, hopeless, frustrated and angry. They may even run away from this feeling, quit their search for awakening, and retreat back into the ego for safety. This is very normal and has happened to many people including myself.

At one point I became so lost in these feelings and ideas that I seriously contemplated suicide. I began to train in sensory deprivation and deep meditation in hopes of one day being able to self-immolate myself for a worthy cause, like monks did during the Vietnam War and like that guy did recently in Egypt. The things I was contemplating on, like: “Who am I? What is reality? What is intrinsically right and wrong? How did the universe come into being? Where is this all heading?”... on and on, left me with only more and more questions until I felt completely overwhelmed. I could find no answers that satisfied my egoic mind. It was like my ego was running me in circles and saying, “It’s all good, you may never find the answers to satisfy me but you must keep searching.”

That is until I just let go of these questions and ideas. I realized my ego wanted to know things that only my higher sense of Self could. I realized many of these questions could not be conceptually answered in any satisfactory way for my ego and so I decided to just try and find harmony with my sense of Self, with nature as it is, and with the process of life in its totality. I realized that it was my ego who was searching for these answers, and doing so forcefully, thus I was merely “enlightening my ego” and not my sense of Self. I realized sometimes we just need to let go of what we are searching for to find out its true meaning.

That may not make sense to you right now, but if you feel depressed about the things you are contemplating on, or the things you have realized, I suggest you just let go of them and not forcefully focus on them anymore. That doesn’t mean you should hide from them or create optimistic illusions for yourself to feel better temporarily, as many positive psychologists recommend, but rather just let go of the whole idea of searching for anything, be that the truth or happiness or liberation. Just become a watcher, don’t judge anything or contemplate on its meaning deeply at all. Just be one with what you are experiencing and accept it as that, a simple experience.

Then when you feel better, when you are no longer so depressed, when you are no longer so attached to these concepts, ideas and realizations, you can again look at these things in a deeper more contemplative manner.

Ultimately we must remember that depression is rooted in the ego, and if we don’t feed the ego, it, thus depression, will starve and disappear from our minds. I am not promoting for you to get off of any medication if you are already on it, but just know that depression can be overcome without any psychological counseling or medication. It can be overcome by overcoming the desire to feed the constant bombardment of your ego on your mind, which is struggling to postulate itself as the prominent leader of your mind. Stop feeding the ego and your depression will begin to disappear, this I can attest to as true with my own personal experience.

Next time

I will continue this series of "Solving the Problems of Awakening" next with talking about some fundamental aspects of awakening, such as; what role sincerity and honesty have in the process of awakening, insofar as I will go into further detail of why the ego is so intrinsically natural within all of us and why it is always so damaging to us, even when it doesn’t seem like it is.

Hope you enjoy this as much as me!

P.S. If you have some things you’d like to add to this then please do so! I obviously, by no means, own the totality of truth.

"The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but be in the mystery."
Ossiel

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08/31/2011 09:09 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
bump
Anonymous Coward (OP)
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08/31/2011 09:24 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
bump
 Quoting: Ossiel


thanks
zippin

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08/31/2011 09:28 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
I enjoyed that read. I am going through much the same as you. I am listening to "The Power of Now" on cd and I am trying to stay in the now as much as possible...my ego cannot survive there. :) And I am trying to be a watcher of my thoughts. It is such an interesting thing to do, but at times, it feels like I am going crazy and I want to run away from it and sink back into my ego.

Last Edited by zippin on 08/31/2011 09:28 AM
Anonymous Coward (OP)
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
I enjoyed that read. I am going through much the same as you. I am listening to "The Power of Now" on cd and I am trying to stay in the now as much as possible...my ego cannot survive there. :) And I am trying to be a watcher of my thoughts. It is such an interesting thing to do, but at times, it feels like I am going crazy and I want to run away from it and sink back into my ego.
 Quoting: zippin


I understand how you feel. Meditation can help you tremendously in dealing with this issue.
OmarEastwind

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08/31/2011 09:36 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Excellent post OP! 5 stars and you've been added to my buddy list.

The ego is so deceptive...

Just a few minutes ago I posted something on another thread about nightmares...it might add to this discussion:

Quote: "Yes, I've been having lots of violent and strange dreams...not at all normal for me.

My theory is: In order to move into a higher state of consciousness, ALL our repressed and ugly thoughts and tendencies have to be brought to the surface to be looked at, accepted, forgiven and finally, let go. This process will involve bad dreams, and can be painful, but if we practice gentle acceptance and forgiveness, we can move through it gracefully.

What happens in our dreams is microcosmic, while we can also see the same thing out there in the world, macrocosmically. The world can look a lot like a crazy dream...because it is.

Of course, this is my theory...I'm not trying to sell it to anyone else..."

peace
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 10:53 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
An approaching Christ can feel like anything buthiding

great heart of my own hearthf
mrsnacks
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08/31/2011 11:26 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
I enjoyed that read. I am going through much the same as you. I am listening to "The Power of Now" on cd and I am trying to stay in the now as much as possible...my ego cannot survive there. :) And I am trying to be a watcher of my thoughts. It is such an interesting thing to do, but at times, it feels like I am going crazy and I want to run away from it and sink back into my ego.
 Quoting: zippin


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

You can't help but be in the now. Where else can you be? Effort is not required. The effort is just a thought in the mind. The thought " to stay in the now required effort " is a trap. Man is not the doer so how can man do anything? Things are getting done yes but doing happens to man. Do you cause your heart to beat ? Do you control your body and all the trillions of cells in your body to function ? But of course the ego will say" I am in control. I have free will. I did this and I thought that" etc. All thoughts.
Just observe and seeing will happen.

The ego is always in the past and the future. Never ever in the present moment. Life is in the now. The mind is in the past or future. The past is dead and the future doesn't exist.

You are trying and that is the problem. Who is the one trying?? The who doesn't exist.There is no "self." It is a mental fabrication. An invention of the mind. You claim you are watching the thoughts. That is in itself a thought. Have you ever seen a thought? You already are assuming that a thought is real assuming a thought.No one has seen a thought even.Yes we have thoughts about a thought and that is conversation we are having. We have to use words. The mind labels. The words aren't the real deal. Words are just sounds translated. The mind receives the sound being heard and translates and interprets the sound from converted the sound into words. Man doesn't listen without
interpretation . He listens to his/her mind. There is nothing wrong with all this. It just is. The mind is doing it's job.

What is real is permanent and eternal. What is not real comes and goes. The world is an illusion says the sages.
An illusion doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just doesn't exist as the mind says it does. But it all seems so real.
The illusion is so sophisticated and has most fooled. What the mind says about love isn't love. What the mind says about happiness is not happiness. Even the mind is an illusion.

I do relate about going mad. When this all came to me and I didn't cause it or willed it. It just happened. I have had quite a few meltdowns as I call them. Times when I didn't come out of my apartment for days. Beliefs and concepts ideas I held to for years started to drop like flies. I thought I was losing it.

We live in a world of thoughts. And in deep sleep the mind disappears.The world disappears. And then we wake up but we don't do anything. Waking happens. And then the mind kicks in and then problems begin. Am I going to be late for work? What am I going to do about my marriage? How am I going to pay my bills? The list goes on. All problems are in the mind and not in life. Life is a thoughtless and timeless state. NO problems in life. All in the mind. Just sharing. Take care.
Left_Of_The_Dial
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08/31/2011 11:43 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Very true.

My opinion is that many people such as Osho and Andrew Cohen suffer from this "Enlightened Ego" disease. Although they say all the right things...I do my best to stay away from people like that.

Nisargadatta Maharaj, on the other hand, was a fully awakened human being.

Sometimes it can be very difficult to tell the difference between one and another.
Always Looking

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08/31/2011 12:08 PM

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I am trying just to do the opposite of what I feel when I know the ego is in control of that feeling.

If that makes any sense. It is not easy though.

Good post 5 stars for you OP.
Truth and Facts - The two words liberals hate most!

Suffering is burning emotional energy on the uncontrollable!

The architect of the universe did not build a stairway to nowhere!
mrsnacks
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Here I would like to discuss something very important for those who desire to become awakened. It is a problem or a hindrance that many of us, if not most of us, will experience during our journey. Unfortunately, it is such a tricky thing that we cannot always see it as true, like a grand illusion, and thus some of us can never move beyond its grips. It is like a shadow of the mind, when we carelessly look for it, it is not there thus we cannot rid ourselves of it. It is the “enlightened ego”.

There are many viable paths to take while searching for awakening, so instead of fixating on describing what is the ‘best’ path or method for achieving this, I have chosen to go beyond that and speak of the problems that are a commonality to all these paths. Since the “enlightened ego” is the broadest, most generalized form of description to categorize our hindrances, I have decided to start here and then follow this thread up with others that break down these problems in even further detail.

I too have suffered from this, and still do, but I have identified this problem as true and begun to watch my thoughts closely to see how and why this is happening, insofar as the consequences of its presence within me, and thus I have come to realize many things about it that I would like to share with you.

It shall be known that many of those seekers who suffer from an “enlightened ego” have already had a deep realization of some sort or at least a brief glimpse into the awakened state. That is how they have come to this problem. Whether they have concluded that things may not be what they seem as quantum scientists are finding, or that society and its worldly desires are misleading them away from their true Self as Krishnamurti and Sri Ramana Maharshi spoke of, or they had a brief glimpse into the Oneness of all things that Jesus taught, or began to see the truth behind the Buddha’s teaching of Anatta (no individual self)… they have come to a ‘road block’, the ego, that has kept them from achieving full realization.

In fact, many of us seekers do not stop and study the egos validity when we run into this problem as maybe we should, but instead we misidentify it for something else and thus as we continue our search for awakening we are in turn only “enlightening our ego”, not our Self. This is a major problem that creates even more delusion for us then we had before, for, it is nothing but another form of the “dream state”.

(To be clear, when I use the word “Self” with a capitol S, I am referring to the absolute Self that pervades all of reality, the oneness that connects everything. Others may call this God, Universal Consciousness/Energy, or something else. And when I use the word “self” with a small s, I am referring to the sense of individual or independent-self, or the ego. Do not fixate on these things too deeply right now as they are merely symbols to point to a higher meaning that is difficult to explain in a short amount of words.)

Superiority

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.

From my own experience I can relate to this manner of thinking, this sense of ‘awakened superiority’. What’s crazy is I have always been a rather humble and quiet person who listened more than I projected, befriending people of all social classes, races, cultures and religions. However, after I began searching for higher realizations, for awakening, I all of a sudden lost this sense of humility, of being able to listen without judging or projecting my own thoughts.

One day, about a year ago, I came to a deeper conclusion than I ever had before that the ego was not only ‘bad’, but it was the cause of all of our conflict and problems. At that time I was volunteering for a non-profit organization helping minorities get employment, health care and find better schooling for their children. We began to work on building our own school, one directed towards offering a better education for minorities and closing the achievement gaps between White and Black students. Many people in the community stepped up to help and the leader of this organization was/is a truly wise and compassionate man. However, I all of a sudden began to see these peoples egos more-so than I saw their selfless motivation. I would be sitting in on meetings with very important community leaders, business owners and politicians, who were speaking of very important social issues but all I could hear was nothing but their egos. Everything I heard was, “I have accomplished this and that with my life, I feel this way or that way about what you’re saying, I want to see this or that happen, I want to give this person or that person an award…” By the end of these meetings I would literally have no clue what was going on, all I knew was I didn’t like these people. All I knew was that they were egotistical ‘sheep’ who couldn’t think outside of the box, who couldn’t do anything without patting themselves on their backs or without claiming a position of authority in which they could hand out awards or compliments to others who agreed with them. It literally drove me crazy to the point I had to remove myself from that position.

Later on looking back on this situation I have realized something truly shocking, that it wasn’t their egos creating this problem for me but it was my own ego that was creating this problem. I surely thought my sense of Self had moved beyond the ego, for, I had come to the realization that the ego was messing everything up. But to the contrary, it was my ego that had this realization, not my Self. So in the end my ego was blinding my sense of Self, and it was hiding from my sense of Self by focusing in on everyone else’s egos as the problem. It wasn’t until I spent a good amount of time reflecting on why no one understood me, or felt the same way as I did, that I came to the realization that I had “enlightened my ego” and not my sense of Self. It wasn’t until I had this realization that I found out that my dislike for ‘their’ egoic projection of superiority over others arose from my own egoic sense of superiority over them. Sure, they may have had this problem too, but that was not something productive for me to focus on. It only hindered my ability to listen to them, insofar as hindered my ability to progress further in my spiritual awakening.

In other words, if you find yourself feeling superior over others because you have had some sort of a realization or glimpse at awakening, you have done nothing but “enlightened your ego”, not your sense of Self. And that is just another form of the “dream state”, so in fact, you are no more wise or awakened than them.

Depression

Another consequence of “enlightening the ego” is depression. Some of the things we come to realize begin to truly disturb us as we think about their validity. Of course this is only because we are contemplating these things through the ego and the ego does not like these realizations so it paints them as threatening or Self-defeating, when in actuality they are empowering and self/ego-defeating. It is like a corrupt or unmoral politician who gets caught up in his own feces pile and seeks to paint the accuser as the bad guy to divert attention away from his own wrong doings.

When we have a realization, such that; our perception of individual self is merely an illusion and nothing more than the construct of our ego, or that free-choice is a very limited and illusionary thing, or that physical death is truly inescapable, or that suffering pervades all of life and in every form, or any other truly ego shocking revelation, it literally can break some of us. Some people begin to look at life as having no meaning, no purpose, as being inescapable pain, and thus become severely depressed, hopeless, frustrated and angry. They may even run away from this feeling, quit their search for awakening, and retreat back into the ego for safety. This is very normal and has happened to many people including myself.

At one point I became so lost in these feelings and ideas that I seriously contemplated suicide. I began to train in sensory deprivation and deep meditation in hopes of one day being able to self-immolate myself for a worthy cause, like monks did during the Vietnam War and like that guy did recently in Egypt. The things I was contemplating on, like: “Who am I? What is reality? What is intrinsically right and wrong? How did the universe come into being? Where is this all heading?”... on and on, left me with only more and more questions until I felt completely overwhelmed. I could find no answers that satisfied my egoic mind. It was like my ego was running me in circles and saying, “It’s all good, you may never find the answers to satisfy me but you must keep searching.”

That is until I just let go of these questions and ideas. I realized my ego wanted to know things that only my higher sense of Self could. I realized many of these questions could not be conceptually answered in any satisfactory way for my ego and so I decided to just try and find harmony with my sense of Self, with nature as it is, and with the process of life in its totality. I realized that it was my ego who was searching for these answers, and doing so forcefully, thus I was merely “enlightening my ego” and not my sense of Self. I realized sometimes we just need to let go of what we are searching for to find out its true meaning.

That may not make sense to you right now, but if you feel depressed about the things you are contemplating on, or the things you have realized, I suggest you just let go of them and not forcefully focus on them anymore. That doesn’t mean you should hide from them or create optimistic illusions for yourself to feel better temporarily, as many positive psychologists recommend, but rather just let go of the whole idea of searching for anything, be that the truth or happiness or liberation. Just become a watcher, don’t judge anything or contemplate on its meaning deeply at all. Just be one with what you are experiencing and accept it as that, a simple experience.

Then when you feel better, when you are no longer so depressed, when you are no longer so attached to these concepts, ideas and realizations, you can again look at these things in a deeper more contemplative manner.

Ultimately we must remember that depression is rooted in the ego, and if we don’t feed the ego, it, thus depression, will starve and disappear from our minds. I am not promoting for you to get off of any medication if you are already on it, but just know that depression can be overcome without any psychological counseling or medication. It can be overcome by overcoming the desire to feed the constant bombardment of your ego on your mind, which is struggling to postulate itself as the prominent leader of your mind. Stop feeding the ego and your depression will begin to disappear, this I can attest to as true with my own personal experience.

Next time

I will continue this series of "Solving the Problems of Awakening" next with talking about some fundamental aspects of awakening, such as; what role sincerity and honesty have in the process of awakening, insofar as I will go into further detail of why the ego is so intrinsically natural within all of us and why it is always so damaging to us, even when it doesn’t seem like it is.

Hope you enjoy this as much as me!

P.S. If you have some things you’d like to add to this then please do so! I obviously, by no means, own the totality of truth.

"The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but be in the mystery."
 Quoting: Life is Energy 1452260



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

Enjoyed your post. The thing though is understanding has to happen to you. One cannot cause understanding to happen. Man is not the doer even though he thinks he is. Man is not the thinker even though he thinks he is. Thoughts happen to man. Thoughts come and go and arise and disappear.When understanding happens and deepens then it will all take care of itself. One then becomes steady and at rest through life. Expectations drop away. Beliefs drop away. Wanting to win an argument or being right becomes a thing of the past. Opinions and ideas are seen as thoughts. And thoughts are not taken seriously. They are just watched without judgments or interpretations. The mind will always judge and interpret and translate, but where before that was in the forefront.Now it takes a backseat and hardly noticed.
This all doesn't happen overnight for habits and beliefs have enslaved all of this over the many years. It cannot be done with overnight. So being patient will happen to you if it is meant to. Effort is not required.

Man is not the speaker either. Yes speaking happens.

All problems are in the mind and not in life.

Life is a mystery you are correct. Life cannot be known. It can only be lived.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 01:25 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
PEARLS are being offered in this post.

The only thing you must be careful with OP, is giving people all the answers without them finding it on their own.

It won't mean as much.
Anonymous Coward (OP)
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
PEARLS are being offered in this post.

The only thing you must be careful with OP, is giving people all the answers without them finding it on their own.

It won't mean as much.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1529435


I can't give people answers, as I myself don't have them. But I do try to point those who are lost to the right direction.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 02:14 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Thanks OP, that was a great read and is very helpful for my current state of mind.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 02:15 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
PEARLS are being offered in this post.

The only thing you must be careful with OP, is giving people all the answers without them finding it on their own.

It won't mean as much.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1529435


I can't give people answers, as I myself don't have them. But I do try to point those who are lost to the right direction.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1452260


For someone who doesn't have any answers you're on a pretty enlightened path.

Just be careful is all I'm saying, you could be wrong.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 02:17 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
PEARLS are being offered in this post.

The only thing you must be careful with OP, is giving people all the answers without them finding it on their own.

It won't mean as much.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1529435


I can't give people answers, as I myself don't have them. But I do try to point those who are lost to the right direction.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1452260


For someone who doesn't have any answers you're on a pretty enlightened path.

Just be careful is all I'm saying, you could be wrong.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1529435


Them being lost at this point and time is part of their awakening.

They'll get it or not.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 02:21 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
bump

for later reading definitely got mu attention thanks for posting this.
Anonymous Coward
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08/31/2011 02:40 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well it means LOADS to me, having the opportunity to have read your post OP.

If I am 'ready' for it or not, I can relate to it, I reckognize it from within myself and my own actions. If I would have figured it out on my own? Maybe one day, maybe not.

For me, this has all been one amazing and fantastic journey and I know that I still have far to travel before I 'get there'.

However, with that said, my journeys have brought me to this site, to this thread and to your words, which have planted a seed within me which, if cared for properly, will blossom over time with better understanding.

As opposed to previous replies (above mine), I do not feel cheated in any way and the words and meaning of your post don't mean any less than if I had spent 40 years contemplating this very thing to only cry out "Eureka!".

My journey has lead me here, right here and right now, and for that I am grateful.

Thank you OP.

grouphug
pauldamo

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08/31/2011 06:08 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
i think i understand what you mean,my pineal activated involuntary after i had a realization,a beam of gold metallic light hit me in the forehead and flowed through my body,but it lifted me up and put my body in a position i was uncomfortable with,like it lifted me on to my toes, head thrown back and forced my arms to stretch out to my sides,i felt like i was standing in the crucifixion position,i suddenly had the realization of how i was standing and freaked out,i said no in my head,thinking i would be going around thinking i was Jesus or something special,so the energy withdraw,when i think back,what i saw at the end of the hollow beam was actually me,or the me how i could be,i dread saying no now,but the energy was so intense i thought it was going to kill me,but now i think i don't care if it does,if it happens again, I'm going to say,yes.good post 5 stars
Anonymous Coward (OP)
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08/31/2011 07:30 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
i think i understand what you mean,my pineal activated involuntary after i had a realization,a beam of gold metallic light hit me in the forehead and flowed through my body,but it lifted me up and put my body in a position i was uncomfortable with,like it lifted me on to my toes, head thrown back and forced my arms to stretch out to my sides,i felt like i was standing in the crucifixion position,i suddenly had the realization of how i was standing and freaked out,i said no in my head,thinking i would be going around thinking i was Jesus or something special,so the energy withdraw,when i think back,what i saw at the end of the hollow beam was actually me,or the me how i could be,i dread saying no now,but the energy was so intense i thought it was going to kill me,but now i think i don't care if it does,if it happens again, I'm going to say,yes.good post 5 stars
 Quoting: pauldamo


I keep coming across unusual testimonials of awakening such as this. My experience was very simple. On the third day of listening to Eckhart Tolle speeches, and practicing his advice, I realized I was very aware and relaxed. As the day went on I felt more and more thoughtless and aware of my environment. That night I went with a friend to a busy bar in NYC and I made friends with everyone there. I'm not usually extroverted. But that night I just felt very light and like I was suddenly rich. With no problems or worries what so ever. At the highest point of the night, I felt like I was 6 years old. Full of optimism, with absolutely no worries, and no fears. However, most of the night I avoided thinking about the experience and what was going on because I felt like thoughts were sort of my enemy.
So it was nothing like the fancy out of body experiences I keep hearing about.
JivaMukti

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08/31/2011 07:35 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
truly enlightened gurus are humble
Anonymous Coward (OP)
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08/31/2011 09:34 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
bump
Anonymous Coward
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09/01/2011 10:53 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
bump
Valtor

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09/01/2011 11:28 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Extremely insightful post ! +5 my friend !

We should never forget that we are not our thought or even our feelings, we are the Presence behind it.

Much love and light to you.
We are ONE
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Celia D.

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09/01/2011 11:31 PM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well, once you're awakened, how will your human life be different?
OmarEastwind

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09/02/2011 08:13 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well, once you're awakened, how will your human life be different?
 Quoting: Celia D.


Some famous Zen master, who's name I can't remember, said "Before enlightenment, chop wood...carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood...carry water."

Nothing necessarily changes in the illusory world...the changes take place within the mind.

hf
rken

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Thailand
09/02/2011 09:32 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Ego is but a tool of spirit. It is not bad. The only problem lies in it thinking it is the one in control. Put upon a pedestal, being the master, instead of the servant.

The ego, like the physical body or emotional body is but a tool spirit uses to express itself through. It is through the experience of oneness that the ego begins to perceive its rightful place in the structure of things.
rken
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lol
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Lithuania
09/02/2011 09:41 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well, the mind always makes something out of nothing. So, basically what you are discussing here in your post is non other than mind itself.
My question is, why give such credibility to that which does not exist? As long as we believe in ego or whatever, so long "problems of 'awakening' or whatever" will come up. Isn't it?

It appears so that somehow we must approach the 'problem', but the case is that without ego there is no problem. And it is right now.
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09/02/2011 09:46 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well, once you're awakened, how will your human life be different?
 Quoting: Celia D.


Some famous Zen master, who's name I can't remember, said "Before enlightenment, chop wood...carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood...carry water."

Nothing necessarily changes in the illusory world...the changes take place within the mind.

hf
 Quoting: OmarEastwind


That Zen saying exactly means what it means, that no-thing changes. Realization means, that whatever was always - is being realized. It means that nothing new is gained and nothing is lost. How can change take place within the mind which itself does not exist? Have you inquired into the mind? Have you asked to whom does the mind come? Have you investigated what is it and if is it?
OmarEastwind

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09/02/2011 10:02 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
Well, once you're awakened, how will your human life be different?
 Quoting: Celia D.


Some famous Zen master, who's name I can't remember, said "Before enlightenment, chop wood...carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood...carry water."

Nothing necessarily changes in the illusory world...the changes take place within the mind.

hf
 Quoting: OmarEastwind


That Zen saying exactly means what it means, that no-thing changes. Realization means, that whatever was always - is being realized. It means that nothing new is gained and nothing is lost. How can change take place within the mind which itself does not exist? Have you inquired into the mind? Have you asked to whom does the mind come? Have you investigated what is it and if is it?
 Quoting: lol 778496


The change within the mind is the realization that there is no change within the Mind. The One Mind, that has many names within this "reality"....

afro
Silent Companion
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09/02/2011 10:06 AM
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Re: The Enlightened Ego – Solving the Problems of Awakening
really good info here..thank you OP and others.





GLP