Being Mindful of Spiritual Materialism

By: David Arran Anderson

Author of ‘The Last Avatar’

www.TheLastAvatar.com

www.thelastavatar.com

Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person? Why have you chosen a spiritual path? What do you hope to gain by living your life in a spiritual manner; and is doing so going to make you a better person?

Those who are sincere in their aspiration to walk the spiritual path often encounter a great deal of confusion, misunderstanding and expectation, so it’s necessary to be aware of some of the dangers. Spirituality is very subtle process; and it’s easy to get sidetracked, which leads to a distorted, ego-centered version of spirituality.

We often deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually, when instead we are only strengthening our ego through these spiritual techniques.

This fundamental distortion is called Spiritual Materialism. It is the belief that by becoming spiritual you will receive some kind of reward, or blessing. Another is to believe that you will become a better person. In both cases, when we can achieve an awakened state of mind, we let go of all the obstructions and garbage we’ve been taught. Then we can see that many of the beliefs we have are not necessarily true.

          The awakening process is not about gaining more knowledge. Instead it’s about loving ourselves and releasing the past; and cutting through all of the clutter we have accumulated throughout our lives. In this “Age of Information” we live in, our minds are much too crowded, mostly with ego, and with constant chatter.  

You may think that you are spiritual because you live on a small budget, or eat vegetarian meals; but the mind is still saying, “I want, I want, I want.”

  By: David Arran Anderson 

There's a lot of talk these days about "Waking Up". That leads to the following questions..., “Wake Up to what?” and “How do we do we Wake Up?”

Waking up is a choice. You choose to wake up, because you long to finally know, remember, discover and become aware of “Who I am.” You are ready for something more, which means you are ready to change. However, you might also choose to not wake up, because it is often human nature to fear the unknown.

Just know that when you wake up, you will change, because you will see how your limiting beliefs have caused imbalances in your life; and your natural tendency will be to correct those imbalances once and for all.

To wake up, means to make a conscious decision for this to be your last lifetime on Earth.

Waking up is a lot like dying; because it means dying to your past beliefs, and to all that once was. One of the world’s masterpiece stories on the subject of death and dying was ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich,’ by Leo Tolstoy.

In 1896, he wrote; “What tormented Ivan the most was the deception. It was all a lie, which for some reason they all accepted, by saying he was not dying, but was simply ill. He only needed to keep quiet, they said, and undergo the treatment, and he would somehow get better.”

Ivan life had been simple and ordinary, and therefore most terrible. While a simple life is generally considered a virtue, Ivan's life was simple in the wrong way, because he was a conformist. His values, desires and behavior were wholly determined by the opinions and expectations of his social superiors. His choice of friends was based upon their social standing. He decided to marry because it was considered the right thing to do. Ivan's life was terrible, because it was a life devoid of any true freedom, and of true individuality.