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.”