It is necessary, living in our day-to-day world, to learn to speak up for our self, take our own part, not be a doormat. However, once we have learned how...or, more to the point, that we actually can...our need for still more spiritual growth leads us to a new way of thinking. Ah, then we get a clue that freedom from self begins with giving over, giving up, giving in.
It is hard enough to learn to do the egoless thing...give over, give up, give in...but once we learn, as in once we do that very thing (and usually after arm-wrestling with God about our need to do it), we then must contend with our ego after the fact.
Our ego will ever want to take all credit, tell the whole world, how spiritual it is and has been. No. Our just walking-around directions state that when we feel our toes have been stepped on, seemingly without provocation, invariably we find we've made a decision based on self that later placed us in a position to be hurt.
We have not gone above and beyond to a whole new spiritual plane...we've followed basic directions in order to live a relatively happy, joyous and free life. Which, in order to live there, puts us in a whole new spiritual place.
I was pleased this morning, after I wrote the above, to read Fr Richard Rohr's "Daily Meditation," in which he, a lot more clearly and concisely, spells out and then names this procedure:
Clear-headed dualistic thinking must precede any further movement into nondual responses, especially about issues that people want to avoid. We cannot make a nonstop flight to nondual thinking or we just get fuzzy thinking. First use your well-trained and good mind, and then find your response in a holistic (body, mind, soul, and heart) response. This is the heart of spirituality.
Thank you.
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