Ego “Death”, Enlightenment, and other misunderstandings.

I believe it’s safe to say that most of us will f*!k up royally many times, perhaps forever, on our path to Self Knowledge. And that's ok. 

The ego is stubborn. It operates from the mind-body-intellect perspective (I AM “THIS OR THAT”), and it perceives life through the lens of duality. 

It compartmentalizes life into good and bad, love and hatred, acceptable and unacceptable etc. It makes us believe we are separate from others, from the Whole, thus, we suffer.

“Attaining” Enlightenment means that the Consciousness (I AM) realizes its True Self, its non-dual nature in the universe, and it no longer perceives itself as a “separate-from-Consciousness-being” constantly needing to control the outcome of an ego illusion (body/mind/intellect.)

Your true self (Pure consciousness) knows the ego. But your ego doesn’t know your true self.

It's tricky. 

On the one hand, one of the primary purposes of the ego is to defend and protect (fight or flight). It helps us survive and demand changes and balance in this chaotic physical plane. Think of any rights or causes you actively support. 

On the negative side, it is also the creator of our sadness, greed, pride, desires, anger, envy, and lust. 

It’s like a ticking bomb you can't get rid of —but you might be able to deactivate. 

Now, let’s imagine for a minute we reach a time when we believe we have finally shed all mental constructs and desires, the truth of being one with all has finally been integrated and we are the embodiment of love on Earth. Does that mean we have successfully dissolved the ego? How do we know if we have truly reached “enlightenment”, or are we possibly just creating another ego identity for ourselves?

You see, the simple act of asking these questions means that we are still operating from a mental construct of duality. 

I see a lot of brothers and sisters claiming to have reached “enlightenment” lately, whether through meditation, psychedelic experiences, or some other personal exploration path.

I deeply encourage and support the commitment to Self Realization and any practice that assists us in it. I even facilitate some of these practices. The problem is that too many people seem to be caught up in the “destruction” of the ego and earning some kind of “enlightenment master” label,  not realizing that’s the creation of new ego identity in itself!

Let me be clear. If you are discussing that you have attained enlightenment, you haven’t. And please don’t take my word for it, do your own research.

First, Pure Consciousness, Nirvana, Moksha, Self Knowledge, Enlightenment, call it what you prefer, is desire-less and peaceful. It’s a sacred Union, the non-dual, True Self no longer identifying with the illusion of body-mind-intellect-SEPARATENESS. It doesn’t know the dancer from the dance. It is the end of the intellectual self and the beginning of Wholeness.

It is impossible to claim enlightenment if you’re enlightened because the need to claim it is in itself is an illusion. 

Second, as long as we are experiencing life as human beings on Earth, the ego isn’t going anywhere. It is never destroyed, nor does it die. 

The ego is necessary to continue navigating this story we’ve created as Consciousness incarnated as a human. And that’s OK. Because even though we can't kill the ego, we can work towards TRANSCENDING it. 

And it starts by surrendering to the destruction of every limiting belief about ourselves, other people, and the world (confronting our shadow), and being humble enough to understand that the path to Self Knowledge isn’t linear. 

So we might experience a “momentary enlightenment” or glimpse into our True Nature (Satori) and then something happens, and we begin to act from our ego again. 

To be committed to transcending the ego means understanding that unless you’re an actual Buddha or bodhisattva, you will go back and forth between these conscious and unconscious states. In and out our ultimate truth, as you figure out how to best spend your time on Earth.

AND THAT’S OK.

Until maybe one day the search to lose or attain or prove something comes to an end. And the only thing left to do is to laugh out loud because we finally understood that the end is the beginning, and the beginning is the end.