Misery or Divinity
There is only one person that can make us miserable and this is our own self. The essence of all misery is within and the source of all its anger and fear is hidden within the ego. Where is the ego? The ego crouches behind the “I.” The “I” camouflages it, rationalizes it, verifies it and expresses it. But if one can go beyond the “I,” and its ego there is no suffering. There is no pain. There is no misery.
The ego cannot be destroyed. It will always be there. It even hides behind so called spiritual qualities. For example, one can think, “I have humility… I am humble. I am good. I do my best… I want to be humble. I want to be good.” One can act with much humility. One can do a lot of good. But where there is an “I” attached to being humble, or being good, the “I” will try. Where there is trying, there is ego. Where there is ego there is judgement, manipulation, pride and competitiveness. Judgement of self is as destructive as judgement of others. Both yield the misery of ego.
You may not be able to destroy the ego but you can make it powerless and you can move beyond the attachment to being anything. Good or bad: humble or proud: spiritual or worldly.
All you need to do is watch ego without reaction and emotion as it expresses itself through you and as it colours what you think, what you feel, what you speak, what you do. Remain detached from what you see as much as you can. Observe the expression of ego in the play of Duality. Identify that which has become your center of being. Observe that which has eclipsed your true center of nourishment—the center of Divinity within you.
Seeing it play, watching it play, ultimately weakens its power. Awareness is the ultimate key. The result of all spiritual practice is increasing Awareness. Mindfulness of the destructiveness of the ego leads one to search more deeply towards one’s true center of being where all nourishment is and where Peace reigns.
Here is the true disappearance of the ego. Here is the true connection to Divine Source beyond all suffering. Here, goodness, humility, Divinity, arise naturally and spontaneously from within, without effort and without ego. Here, there is no misery at all.
