Happiness. It is one of three main things that people want (The other two being safety and health/healing). When someone has a significant spiritual shift like a spiritual awakening, they hope that a lot more happiness is on the way. But happiness is a passing experience. Even as many people find that letting go of ego beliefs and body attachments opens them to more happiness, the experience still comes and goes. Furthermore, we find that peace is actually more interesting than happiness.  It's the peace of not riding the waves of emotional ups and downs and not fueling them further. It ..read more

There's this phrase about "becoming your best self" or "being the best version of yourself" that has gotten popular. I'm not sure what it really means. Do you know what it means for you? This is the problem with vague statements. They leave us in a bind as to what to do and how to live because they don't really mean anything.  Usually, we end up having to rely on society to tell us that being our best selves is some form of having a relationship, achieving fitness goals, having a vaguely understood concept of purpose, succeeding in business, and doing other things.  It's quite exhau ..read more

Most people who think they are spiritually advanced are not. The concept of "advancement" is a tricky one because of how the ego thinks of advancement. It often thinks in superiority, special knowledge, special powers/gifts, false humility masquerading as humility, and other, well, egoic ideas. Spiritual advancement shows up in all kinds of ways, but adaptability is one that I don't know that many people discuss. Without ego, we are more adaptable to how life and situations change. The rigid ego is not flexible. A rigid spiritual ego will constantly cling to old ideas or try to re-justify the ..read more

No one wants freedom; they want better control over the experiences of their lives. People don't want to give up the ego; they just want to better manage the symptoms it causes. This is why so few people realize spiritual freedom. It's generally through continued failure and suffering that people get serious. And an even smaller number of people get to a point of seeing how vast their attachments are and that any amount of ego will cause them continued suffering. When someone gets to that point, then they may truly choose the path to realizing spiritual freedom. Choosing Spiritual Freedom Laz ..read more

A spiritual breakthrough is when we really let go of something and more deeply experience reality. Unlike a spiritual opening, this lasts. There can be many breakthroughs under the umbrella term of spiritual awakening or the larger term of spiritual shift.  You have changed.  You know it. Now is a time of acclimating, integrating, and rest to understand what you are now seeing that your ego had not let you see. For more resources, check out these posts: Feeling Uneasy in Spaciousness The Newness and Uncertainty After Releasing an Issue Integrating Your Spiritual Awakening ..read more

Facing ego attachments is a lot harder than people understand. It's hard because we're identified with our thought, emotion, and behavior patterns. We feed them constantly as we believe in them and tell our bodies to continue to re-create these patterns. Even when we start to let go, we still feed them. It's like deciding that you won't give the stray dog anymore food. But you hear the constant whining at the door, and by 10 PM, you give in because it won't really matter, right? Which means the dog keeps coming back to your door. The ego is like this. Do you have the resilience to listen to t ..read more

Your ego is a practice. Every day you get up and remember/re-learn yourself. Every day you have the opportunity to stop this process. You can choose to unlearn yourself. Unlearning is necessary as we find out that we have more than a few patterns stuck on auto-pilot. Around and around they go feeding you the same thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Hence, inner work is critical to break the patterns. Once broken, the inner work is no longer necessary, and you can choose to create whatever patterns you'd like. For more resources, you can check out these posts: What Is Spiritual Inner ..read more

The spiritual path is simple. You are here now. You Are. It's the ego that's complex. Seeing through the many false complexities and stress that we create for ourselves, we find that our moment to moment choices tend to be very practical and straightforward. The proverbial weight of the world drops from our shoulders. We flow through life without the internal resistance that often makes things seem so difficult and complicated. For more thoughts, you can check out these resources: Simplicity and Spirituality: The Loss of Ego Complication Conflicting Ego Beliefs Are a Major Headache How Do I M ..read more

Being of service to others means putting aside your interests. Plenty of religious texts remind people to let go of the "fruits of your actions." Yet, this point is often missed.  Lots of lost spiritual people--including spiritual teachers and wounded healers--try to give others what they themselves want. You may want a peanut butter sandwich, but if your friend is allergic, why would you even think to give them that? Instead, selfless service teaches us to talk to the friend, find out what their needs are, and then offer what is needed if it is within our power. When service is offered ..read more

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