EGO’S TRIAD  #2

sELF CHERISHING (of the small self)

The search for the Real, True or Higher Self or soul or that part of us made in the image of the divine is at the core of all spiritual motivation whether we know about it or not or do anything about it or not. We are all yearning at some level to return home to the 'light.' Folks who have had a Near Death Experience and who have seen the 'light' are never the same and will usually pursue a spiritual life.

"Before the soul enters this world, it is conducted through all the worlds. Last of all it is shown the first light which when the world was created illuminated all things and which God removed when humankind became corrupt. Why is the soul shown this light? So that from that hour on it may yearn to attain the light and approach it rung by rung." Talmud

The Higher Self or Soul cannot be realized in the presence of a self-cherishing ego. Yoga also teaches that any intention linked to an ego motive has the potential to buy us another life-time - self-cherishing will prevent us from attaining the 'light.'

Do you listen with your heart or are you hearing with your ego. The possible peril is not a punishment, it is a consequence…

Although we live in a world of duality,

we 'Inter-Are' (Thich Nhat Hanh) and we are all one though not the same.

Nevertheless duality presides...

"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose I am here and you are out there." Yasutani Roshi

“In the samadhi that comes at the end of reasoning and discrimination no such thing as “I” exists but it is extremely difficult to attain as “I” consciousness lingers so persistently. This is why humans are born again and again.” Sri Rama Krishna

Jung doubted that the Western Mind could ever truly get rid of Ego. It is usually fleeting in the Oneness Experience or Unity Consciousness; when the Knower, the Known and the process of Knowing fuse into one thing. Maslow called this a Peak Experience (when the dancer becomes the dance.) It cannot be programmed, except in those spiritually adept, and usually comes for most of us through grace. Whatever the stimulus, this oneness experience is free of ego but the ecstasy or rapture are temporary and we soon slip back into a sense of duality. The challenge is to be aware of this duality and still endeavor to see the divinity in others - as in the greeting Namaste. Our Karma will depend on to what extent we have managed to achieve some form of non-dual consciousness.

“To know the real Self to be one’s own is the greatest attainment… To know wrongly the non-self, such as the ego, to be the Self is no attainment at all. One therefore should denounce this perception of taking the non-self for the Self.” Sri Sankaracharya

Ego's self-cherishing is slippery, and like a chameleon is always changing colors or shape shifting to disguise itself. The higher we get up the energy hierarchy the more devious Ego becomes. It is supported by the Shadow, Monkey (Narrow) Mind and our Tricksters who will play on our weaknesses. 

“The Light of lights looks always on the motive, not the deed… the shadow of shadows, on the deed alone.” W.B. Yeats

Yeats recognizes the “enlightened” implications of doing things for their own sake which is a Higher Self, Good Inclination, Spacious/Big Mind motivation. Otherwise it may for be a self-cherishing, ego-bound, narrow/monkey minded agenda related to our shadow or evil inclination. Karma dictates we do things for their own sake and the means never justifies the end.

All must be done for its own sake, not for reason of an outcome.  All is a journey not a destination and it is a continual arriving.

The light of lights is our inclination to do good and there are spirit forces inside and outside of us that seek the same on our behalf. The shadow of shadows is our evil inclination. Our own inner light and our dark sides are affected by those light and dark forces on either side of the veil between worlds. These are operating in opposition either to subordinate, or to enhance self-cherishing and our own compounding negative inclinations.

"High heaven rejects the law of nicely calculated less or more..." W. Wordsworth

We should also remember that the imprint of our soul's 'Store Consciousness' is also present in the background of our subconscious. Store Consciousness is a Buddhist concept and is the accumulation of the positive and negative aspects of our karma residing in out 'soulular' memory from past lives. This is why the Upanishads advise;

"May the hero awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow."

We only have to awaken our positive 'Store' to recall it. Sometimes it arises as a sense of de ja vu. Spiritual knowledge and practice will allow us to subordinate the negative aspects of 'Store' to the positive ones and remember.

God does not measure results, only the trueness of intent and the fervor of effort. This is why there is such joy in daring one’s best.

 

If God were after numbers he would have made the way to Him abundantly apparent and attractive – enticingly so, ego free and forever lasting. And of course, S/He has also granted us our own lens for seeing and our own will for choosing what we see.

The Ancestors say that it is better to do good deeds even if linked to ego rather than doing none at all. Nevertheless, these 'merits' may be karmically neutral or even negative depending on the intention.

Emperor Wu asked, “I’ve built temples and ordained monastics; what merit is there in this?”
 Bodhidharma replied, “No merit.”

 Doing things for their own sake and without any personal agenda is the crux of ego subordination. Our deeds must be done without consideration of any reward or pay back. But...

Ulterior motives are greatly under-rated. Acting compassionately to do good for any reason is preferable to not doing good at all.
But determine well the heart’s true desire for in releasing the power of your motivation, its energies will actualize the holiness or unholiness of your intent.

It is good to donate money in order to build a hospital or anything else that can help humanity but for karma's sake it should not be attached to an agenda. It is better to give charity – even if it is to get one's face in the media or for a tax deduction - than not to give it, but the act may not have spiritual merit depending on the intent. It should be given anonymously or, better still, instead of giving a person a fish, rather teach him how to fish.

"A net is spread out for the living and everything is given on loan..." Rev. Akiva

The 'net' comprises all the challenges that we face arising out of our sentient existence and the temptations of being in a sensory body. When we leave for the "Elsewhere" we lose the sensory body. We are born again and again (the continual wheel of samsara) because of the mishandling of our sentient bodies. We are here to enjoy things fully but responsibly, free of self-cherishing.

"Dying, dying, the world keeps on dying but no one knows how die. No one dies in such a way that s/he wont die again." Kabir

 

EGO's THREE ASPECTS #1

 In the next series of blogs we will look at  Karma's requirements and demands in greater detail beginning with Ego. Ego - in relation to Karma - is one of the biggest stumbling blocks on the way to 'Becoming.'

EGO'S TRIAD

sELF-CHERISHING

DESIROUS ATTACHMENT

JUDGMENT

Although Ego is really all one thing it is useful to separate It for the sake of clarity. All three often coexist in the moment.

sELF CHERISHING

(of the small self and Persona) 

self versus Self

"S/he who loses himself, will find himSelf." Matthew

In Yoga Ahamkara (ego) is the deluded sense of "I-ness," the false self that identifies with the body, monkey mind, shadow and achievements, creating separation and suffering. The goal of yoga is to transcend this self-centeredness and attain the non-duality of unity consciousness.

The challenge is relief from ego, how to be free from its tyranny.
The way is relief from ego, surrendering and releasing one’s instinct for protection and cultural conditioning; subduing its tyranny but with respectful and grateful acknowledgement for its appropriate worth. 
The "prize" - the place of arrival - is relief from ego and a true sense of the pleasure of its place.

Ego is our power center and how we make our way in the world. Ego's self-cherishing can comprise, arrogance, pride, prestige, power, opulence and fame. Our goal is not to get rid of Ego but to subordinate it to the higher Self. Ego resides in the Third Chakra and needs to be developed before we ascend to the Fourth Chakra of love and the three higher Chakras above it. We have to self-actualize (as in the small self) and have something to subordinate before we can fully realize the Higher Self. This is why the Yogi, the Buddhist, the Kabbalist and others on the path usually begin the journey later in life. It is essential to have a solid ego base before trying to negotiate the challenges of the 'Field.' Now that there is so much spiritual technology available to both young and old, as well as mind-altering substances and entheogens which open us up to the Field, we have to be aware and beware. It is important that we have a sturdy base in our lower chakras before venturing beyond.

The other danger of becoming adept is 'spiritual materialism' where the motivation for material gain can creep in. A good rule is to do everything for its own sake and if possible to keep one's lines of supply and survival separate. This may also be why Kabir says;

"Friend there are very few who find the way."

For some renunciation can be karmically neutral when there is little to renunciate.

Humility - Modesty

“This is what God asks of you, only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah

"Don't be so humble, you are not that important." Unknown

We need to first have a level of self-mastery and maybe a little hubris to be able to merit any ability to be humble.

Kabbalah teaches that humility is truthful acknowledgement about the wonders of yourself, taking appropriate credit for your part but recognizing the Infinite One's gifts to you. 

Our task of course is to find and pursue those gifts, be it our core strengths or our true destiny. We are here to cocreate with the Supreme Being by improving His creation and creating well being for all the Four Beings of Nature.

Modesty … has more to do with realizing how small the container is for the overwhelmingly great gift, yet trusting in God's offering and so accepting and using it without pretense.

True humility should make others know God better through you. One ought to marvel at what God can accomplish through you.

There are things that the Creator cannot do without our cooperation. We are here to co-create with the Divine's unlimited Intelligence with our own limited but potentially divinely inspired, imaginative abilities. We should not hide our talents under a bushel. 

God gives the talent but He would not have an Antonio Stradivarius violin without Antonio's hands.” Stradivarius

It is easier to get ourselves and any sense of unworthiness out of the way if we use our gifts on behalf of others. That gift that is given is not about us but given so that we can benefit others. Some might say who am I to think I can do this? Who are you not to...

Just as its presumptuous to put ourselves above others, so it is pretentious to put ourselves below them.

Each of us has a destiny 'cup' to fill. For some its smaller than others and easier. For those with a big one it can be demanding but we are all obliged to fill it.

“Everybody feels inferior in some way or other. And the reason is that we don’t accept that everybody is unique. There is no question of inferiority or superiority. Everybody is just one of his/her kind - comparison does not arise.
The moment you accept yourself as you are, without any comparison, all inferiority, all superiority, disappears. In that total acceptance or yourself you will be free from these complexes - inferiority, superiority. Otherwise you will suffer your whole life....


Just be yourself, that is enough… Osho

"…you are accepted by the sun, you are accepted by the moon, you are accepted by the trees, you are accepted by the ocean, you are accepted by the earth. What more do you want?
You are accepted by this whole universe. Rejoice in it!” Osho

God wants you, to be truly you. You were created for that.

Although Ego is necessary for self-mastery and self-actualization there comes a time when it gets in the way of spiritual growth and Self-Realization. Attachments to Ego's self-Cherishing, Desirous Attachment or Judgment create karmic burdens. Being tied to these will guarantee more wasteful, future lifetimes where we come back again and again to correct the errors of the past instead of going forward. 

Non-Attachment to ego and persona is commendable. 

However, attachment to our spiritual path is essential and will guard against more reincarnations. What is required of us is a path attached to pursuing a life that embraces spiritual principles and helping others. This will bring happiness and inner wealth. 

 

GLOBAL KARMA - GAIAS REVENGE #2

How can we get back to where we were when indigenous wisdom is sadly disappearing and has never been appreciated - even ridiculed - by the West. We need to try and restore the Indigenous Nature-bound mind-set we all once had when we were Hunter-Gatherers and lived entirely off the Earth Mother. Now, more than ever, before their wisdom disappears, we need to pay attention to what they are saying or have said.

Some intriguing stories and maybe facts that endorse Gaia's wisdom and power.

The Kogi

The Kogi, a tribe in Colombia, claim they are here to guard the planet. They talk about 'Dark Unknowable' matter that physicists also describe but cannot explain. This matter is just one aspect of the Creator whose many manifestations are beyond our understanding. They say this power holds the universe together - the planet as well - but only if we behave. We still have time, the Kogi say, to reverse the changes but we must act quickly. Lovelock adds that the right technology can save us. 

The Kogi have theories that they regard as truths as to how we have allowed the earth's sickness to happen and what must be done to begin the process of restitution and rehabilitation. Some of what they are saying may be lost in translation. 

Aluna means 'Conscience' (or also maybe, the right consciousness.) The 'Mother' linked the sacred sites with a black thread of invisible thought. The 'Se, the Darkness in the heavens is the mother of all things and it accelerates the universe and fills all space. The Kogi were left objects like maps to connect with this Darkness. Scientists also believe that 'dark matter' is holding the galaxies from spinning out of control. 

They believe that the Darkness is linked to the material world in critical places that must not be damaged. 

They can connect to It with thought The ocean sites that are 'threaded' together have connections with the mountains above and these connections and their rivers are being changed or destroyed. The rivers born in the mountains must go home to the Mother ocean below. The water speaks to them about the planet in various mystical ways. Sacred mountains destroyed by developers have broken the sacred threads. Dams have been built and mangroves drained which  have polluted the lagoons. Ports have disturbed the land and this will bring floods and mudslides. The rivers are drying up and the snow and glaciers are disappearing because these 'threads' have been interrupted. There are special areas, special sites which must be preserved for the species that live there to survive. Alien plants are destroying the eco-system, taking over from native plants and sucking up the ground water. The Kogi are describing a microcosmic dynamic which is destroying not only their habitat but also ours.

We have made a mess of God's sacred planet, of Gaia.

"A river arose out of Eden forming four rivers and four winds which animate all of creation (the Still Beings, the Growing Beings, the Wild Beings and the Talking Beings.)" The Zohar

Many indigenous peoples believe that the planet is a living Being. The book of the Zohar would agree and that She is animated by the Breath/Wind/Spirit of the Creator. 

"All things share the same breath, the beasts, the tree, the man ... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports." Chief Seattle

Water, Wind, and the Spirit that moves through all things.

PO WA HA  Water, Wind and Spirit.  Pueblo Indians

"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves." Chief Seattle

"Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." Chief Seattle

The Earth is feminine but we have an overload of masculine power in charge. Maybe its time for the more 'mothers' to be in control.

"When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money." Cree wisdom

Kariba

The Batonga people lived peacefully in the Zambezi valley and built their kraals (homesteads) along the banks of the great river for centuries until the Rhodesian government decided to build Kariba dam. Reluctantly the Tonga allowed themselves to be resettled higher up the bank, but they believed Nyami Nyami, the river god, would never allow the dam to be built. Eventually then when the project failed they would move back to their homes. 

In 1957, when the dam was well on its way to completion, Nyami Nyami struck. The worst floods ever known on the Zambezi washed away much of the partly built dam and the heavy equipment, killing many of the workers. Some of those killed were white men whose bodies disappeared. After an extensive search failed to find them, Tonga elders were asked to assist as their tribesmen knew the river better than anyone. 

The elders explained that Nyami Nyami had caused the disaster and in order to appease his wrath a sacrifice should be made.They weren't taken seriously, but in desperation, when relatives of the missing workers were due to arrive to claim the bodies of their loved ones, the search party agreed to do the ritual. This was done in the hope that the tribesmen would know where the bodies were likely to have been washed up. A black calf was slaughtered and floated on the river. The next morning the calf was gone and many of the workers’ bodies mysteriously appeared. The disappearance of the calf holds no mystery in the crocodile infested river, but the reappearance of the workers’ bodies three days after they had disappeared has never been satisfactorily explained.

After the disaster, flow patterns of the river were studied to ascertain whether there was a likelihood of another flood and it was agreed a flood of comparable intensity would only occur once every thousand years. The very next rainy season, however, brought further floods even worse than the previous year. Nyami Nyami had struck again, destroying the coffer dam, the access bridge and parts of the main wall.

The project survived and the great river was eventually controlled. In 1960 the generators were switched on and have been supplying electricity to Zimbabwe and Zambia ever since. (taken from Wikipedia.)

Statue of Nyami Nyami overlooking the dam.

We are all in an existential crisis and no matter our views or belief systems we need to try and restore our Mother, as much as possible, back to Her original Nature before its too late. We need to find and support those in power who have similar beliefs.

 

GLOBAL KARMA - GAIAS REVENGE #1

 Nature is Creator's masterpiece given to us to care for. We have not done a good job of it and now, the earth's changes are all around us.

... The human incapable of appreciating Her, She despises and only to apt, the pure, the true, does She resign herself and reveal Her secrets. Goethe 

“The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned how to ask.” Nancy Newhall

 "To keep every cog and wheel - is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." Aldo Leopold

J. Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis

“Earth is best understood as a single, self-regulating, Super-organism. The planet is self-regulating through the interaction between living things and the inorganic environment on earth. Gaia’s goal is to maintain a balance in the ecosystem that allows Her to stay alive.”  

 Gaia has Her own complex consciousness and to this we are accountable. The Still, Growing and Wild Beings all have their own individual consciousnesses but they vibrate at different levels. All are animated by the 'breath/spirit' of Divine energy. Gaia is more complex, embracing all the Beings, hence the consequences of our misbehavior will be exaggerated. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole and can be devastating. 

Karmic principle

 Heal the planet (Gaia,) the Beings of Nature embraced by Her, and do no harm.

The Great Spirit does not micromanage. Everything that happens whether its to our own Selves or Gaia is built into the system as a default maybe like a some complex mathematical formula that we will never fully understand.

The Talking Beings are also part of the web of nature. The other Beings are doing exactly what the Creator wants from them. We Talking Beings, not so much. 

When we consider Karma being the law of cause and effect, the earth changes are all a part of a global Karma. We are responsible with our higher consciousness. Big money, when associated with greed and ambition, creates a lot of this havoc. Moreover, because of their resources, those concerned mostly escape the consequences of their actions while the people with the least suffer the most. Karma is relentless - there is pay back and she does not discriminate. It's a sad indictment when we spend billions of dollars prioritizing travel to Mars and beyond instead of attending to issues at home. We are facing an existential crisis.

All must be done for Her own sake, not for reason of any outcome.

The Gaia hypothesis implies that Nature needs to exist for Her own sake, not only for what She can provide, just as we Talking Beings do. The healing and transformational benefits of the elements and of the Beings of Nature apart from their material benefits make it imperative that we sustain the natural world in an optimal state of being. If feasible, as close as possible to Her original nature.  

"You cannot have a healthy human on an unhealthy planet."  Margaret Chan

We desperately need Her to be healthy and for our own sakes’ as well. Lovelock felt that the earth changes could potentially be beneficial, in a cruel Darwinian kind of way. 

We need to get a grip! 

"The far bigger threat to humanity in the early 21st century is global warming ... Climate change is more dangerous to life on Earth than almost any conceivable disease and if we don't do something about it, we will find ourselves removed from the planet."

Lovelock doubts we can switch from dirty to clean energy quickly enough. To buy time he says we need to turn to technology. The Kogi (next blog) say it is still not too late but we must act immediately.

Gaia is conscious, as are all the Four Beings of Nature and the Creator has given us all varying levels of consciousness animated by His/Her breath. We are responsible for the other three Beings of Nature. Gaia, the Earth Mother has feminine attributes and 'hell has no fury like a woman scorned' - the hurricanes, the floods, the fires, the mud slides, the earthquakes, the eruptions... It seems that Gaia wants to cleanse by burning, drowning, burying, blowing away or vomiting us away. Not to mention Covid and other pandemics which are related and are now part of our human condition.

And the high mountains will be shaken and the high hills laid low and will melt like wax in a flame. And the earth will sink ... and there will be judgment upon all. The book of Enoch 

 The Native Americans have been saying, for some time, that the 'red skies' are coming and they are now here with a vengeance. Chief Seattle eloquently predicted this long ago - crudely speaking saying - do not shit in your own beds. Scientists have more recently been predicting the same. 

Each 'Being' of Nature is animated with its own vibration and frequency together with 

Water, Wind, and the Spirit that moves through all things.

PO WA HA from the Pueblo Native peoples represents the same; Water, Wind and Spirit.

The breath that created us is the same breath that created the worm and the stone and thus we share a oneness. The Zohar

“A river arose out of Eden forming four rivers and four winds. They joined to form a singular spirit which animates all creation.” The Zohar

The Zohar says that the four sacred rivers of the planet that arose out of Eden with the Four Winds is what sustains all of creation's Beings;

Nothing exists whose existence is external to God. Still Beings, Growing, Wild and Talking Beings.

Creation takes place - Something out of Nothing and is an ongoing flow of Divine life force without which it would revert to Nothingness. The Zohar 

The Zohar also claims that all the Beings, the Universe, the Multiverse are being continually animated by the Breath/Spirit of the Divine without which everything could dissipate back to the way it was maybe even before the Big Bang. 

Lets hope the Creator has patience with we Talking Beings, at least for the sake of the other Three Beings.