The Enlightened Ego

 It’s easy to forget that a stick has two ends…

 An enlightened ego is a scholarly mind that has learnt the right words and definitions, but is still caught up in a ‘me’. In Tibetan Buddhism there are six psychological profiles of humans: Hell beings, Hungry Ghosts, Animal, Human, Jealous Gods, and Gods, known as the six realms. Each corresponds to a neurotic state of mind, an emotion (see the video at the end for a rough idea).

 Enlightened ego deals with the realms of ‘gods’ or ‘jealous gods’ where pride and jealousy are dominant.

 There are two truths: relative and ultimate truth. One is the truth of our relative, impermanent human existence, known samsara in sanskrit (the vicious cycle of existence that is driven by our emotions). The other, nirvana, is our true, ultimate nature which is non-dual. The vital point is that these are seen as a unity, and not separate. By virtue of one, the other is known. The two ends of the stick!

 With this understanding of the two truths, this impermanent life can be very workable, uncovering our ultimate nature by the removal of layers of neuroses acquired through incalculable incarnations. This work is beyond mere repetition of words, and lies in actual experience.

 Our ultimate being is pure awareness, or we could use the words ‘pure perception’. Pure perception is not the same as perception. All creatures use perception: it’s part of our primitive brain…fight, flight or freeze. Every creature perceives in the mind through the senses. We then refer to memory, judge the situation and react. That is a precise description of samsaric existence, where we are caught up in the vicious cycle of reactions. Because of this, we lack true compassion and empathy.

 We can fall into the trap of separating the two truths, downgrading our relative side (duality) and leaping onto ultimate truth alone (non-duality). When we claim that we are pure awareness, we mistake clarity of mind for clarity of essence. It is true that we are non-duality, but first we have to recognise our dualistic complexity, as there is still work to be done. It’s a little like a professional pianist telling a beginner to “just play” – this merely leaves the beginner feeling guilty and worthless, not knowing where to begin. Or an art teacher telling us to just make marks… These are personal agendas which are spreading throughout all walks of life.

 I have witnessed a video guru just repeat to someone who is in distress, “It is, as it is!”And, to every question she asked, he merely said, “It is, as it is!” Very ‘clever’ and very un-empathetic. Crazy wisdom has to given to the right person, by the right person, at the right time, or bad karma may be the product.

 Our problem is that we believe the stick to be real. The stick is our concepts by the way! We have to set fire to the stick in order to destroy both ends (all fixations) …and it will hurt! In that hurt will be the memory of empathy and compassion for others. We set fire to the stick through recognition…even emptiness.

 “The devil’s best trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist”!

The Buddha said, “Test my teachings as you would pure gold. Don’t take my word for it!”
My teachers also said, “Test the teachers too!”

(It’s not a great video, but gives an idea of the psychology we go through throughout the day. Sometimes we get so fixated we become stuck in one realm for life.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmwQRe5xrvM