All life is the play of universal forces. The individual gives a personal form to these universal forces. But he can choose whether he shall respond or not to the action of a particular force. Only most people do not really choose - they indulge the play of the forces. Your illness, depressions etc. are the repeated play of such forces. It is only when you can make oneself free of them that one can be the true person and have a true life - but one can be free only by living in the Divine.
All life is the play of universal forces. The individual gives a personal form to these universal forces. But he can choose whether he shall respond or not to the action of a particular force. Only most people do not really choose - they indulge the play of the forces. Your illness, depressions etc. are the repeated play of such forces. It is only when you can make oneself free of them that one can be the true person and have a true life - but one can be free only by living in the Divine.
Unlike the transition from adolescence to adulthood, which occurs biologically and therefore automatically, the transition to greater consciousness must be chosen and then enacted intentionally.
Unlike the transition from adolescence to adulthood, which occurs biologically and therefore automatically, the transition to greater consciousness must be chosen and then enacted intentionally.
The ego, which has traditionally been the enemy of the spiritual aspirant, is not just an individual entity. It also has a collective dimension. The collective ego is your culturally conditioned self-the conglomeration of conscious and unconscious ideas that represent the way you assume life is supposed to be. It is all of the “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” you have absorbed from those around you and from the shared history of your culture or ethnic background. It is a set of subtle and not-so-subtle beliefs, ideas, and ways of seeing the world that you deeply subscribe to but may not even be aware of. So much of the individual that you experience yourself to be has been created by the cultural worldspace that you were born into. And that’s not a bad thing, in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when you don’t know how conditioned you are. But the more you are able to shed light on all the different ways in which you are conditioned, the more space will open up for real autonomy-freedom of choice to be the person you want to be. So the culturally created ego is a very significant dimension of the self that needs to be brought to light in your own awareness. And it is not an easy task. It takes an inspired degree of mental focus and a willingness to deconstruct the very foundations of who you think you are-over, and over, and over again. But this process is a critical part of human evolution and spiritual transformation.
The ego, which has traditionally been the enemy of the spiritual aspirant, is not just an individual entity. It also has a collective dimension. The collective ego is your culturally conditioned self-the conglomeration of conscious and unconscious ideas that represent the way you assume life is supposed to be. It is all of the “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” you have absorbed from those around you and from the shared history of your culture or ethnic background. It is a set of subtle and not-so-subtle beliefs, ideas, and ways of seeing the world that you deeply subscribe to but may not even be aware of. So much of the individual that you experience yourself to be has been created by the cultural worldspace that you were born into. And that’s not a bad thing, in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when you don’t know how conditioned you are. But the more you are able to shed light on all the different ways in which you are conditioned, the more space will open up for real autonomy-freedom of choice to be the person you want to be. So the culturally created ego is a very significant dimension of the self that needs to be brought to light in your own awareness. And it is not an easy task. It takes an inspired degree of mental focus and a willingness to deconstruct the very foundations of who you think you are-over, and over, and over again. But this process is a critical part of human evolution and spiritual transformation.
A "small thing" from David
I can see how there’s an aspect of ignorance that is bliss but to me it’s more of a limitation than anything else. The flip side is much more blissful in my eyes. An examined life leads to greater awareness and greater awareness leads to more options and better choices and choice gives us greater possibility. All of this gives us a constantly expanding view of the world and ourselves… and expansion is quite possibly the core characteristic of the universe itself. Sure, there’s some pain and complication that may come along with the greater complexity but it’s a small price to pay. Ignorance is basically the choice to ignore reality and navigating around in the world ignoring what’s really happening will likely lead to unnecessary suffering. Dig deeper, get in alignment with the universe and bliss is sure to follow.
I can see how there’s an aspect of ignorance that is bliss but to me it’s more of a limitation than anything else. The flip side is much more blissful in my eyes. An examined life leads to greater awareness and greater awareness leads to more options and better choices and choice gives us greater possibility. All of this gives us a constantly expanding view of the world and ourselves… and expansion is quite possibly the core characteristic of the universe itself. Sure, there’s some pain and complication that may come along with the greater complexity but it’s a small price to pay. Ignorance is basically the choice to ignore reality and navigating around in the world ignoring what’s really happening will likely lead to unnecessary suffering. Dig deeper, get in alignment with the universe and bliss is sure to follow.
