Making a stand as opposed to being self-righteous

I am like a dog with a bone these days pondering on how to get the balance right between being a stand and being self-righteous. I am a stand for everyone to commit to and have faith in the spiritual path. To be a stand for this is not expecting people to go against their true nature, it is to inspire others to know that the spiritual path is real and vibrant. The discovery of the spiritual is our purpose on this earth as a human. To pierce the human covering to experience the inner spiritual essence, to break free from the bonds of maya and human suffering to experience that which lies deep within.

As a human there is so much that is hidden from our view and thus our awareneness. To bring these blind spots into consciousness often requires something other than our own consciousness. I tend to use my friends when I'm struggling to see a way I am being that is hidden from my view. I have a cousin who I think of very highly and I emailed her with my dilemma about being a stand and how it can be seen as being self-righteous. What she sent me back was so powerful that I think it deserves for me to copy it to this blog.

She says : The ego is so subtle in not making itself known. The ego attaches itself to material things and we equate ourselves with this. So what I have is what I am, and the more I have the more I want. This is how the ego survives. When we give up the material and walk a spiritual path we have to be careful that the ego cannot attach itself to what we want to become. Our new identity. It must not be important how we look in the eyes of others. When we walk a spiritual path sometimes it becomes our identity.

The truth contained in these sentences at least how it applies to me is breathtaking. The ego is never truly vanquished it just gets more subtle and attaches itself to the spiritual when the material is given up. But in many ways a spiritual ego is more dangerous than the ego that is associated with materialism. At least the materialistic ego is upfront about wanting more'. The danger with the spiritual is that there is the illusion of the ego wanting spiritual liberation for everyone, but the truth is that it wants the spiritual power for oneself. It is so important to guard against this.

And yet this blog is the result of a couple of real events which resulted in energy rising from the base of my spine and which shifted the entire context for my life. The first happened in an ordinary everyday setting of work, the 2nd which was more profound happened over the course of a week long meditation retreat. I am clear that if I didn't have these experiences this blog would not be in existence. It is there to openly acknowledge a power that lies deep within all of us. How can I not be a stand for this path when I have direct experience of what committing to it will produce in time. Given the nature and power of these experiences and more importantly their lasting and transformative results for me not to be a stand would appear to the biggest insult I could give to the force which enabled it to be possible for me. To sell out on this because I am afraid of what others will think or I don't want to stand out is to be a coward in the extreme. I don't think I would have been given these experiences if I was such a coward. I know what I was before these experiences and I know what I am now and the difference is nothing short of being reborn but not in a religious sense but a spiritual sense......