I’ve been pondering lately a phrase that seems harmless, even compassionate: “We live in an age of widespread materialism and ego-identification.” But who is this we? And when I say it, what is the I behind the we really doing? Is it humbly pointing out a truth? Or is it—ever so subtly—elevating itself above others who are supposedly still caught in the illusions of the world?
This reflection has stirred something deep in me. Because I am on a spiritual path—devoted, sincere, committed. But the danger, as countless sages have warned, lies not in the obvious snares of materialism or sensuality, but in the hidden traps that arise after one has begun to awaken. None more insidious than the spiritual ego.
“The mind will tempt you, even with thoughts of God.”
– Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
It’s as if the ego—having been seen through in its grosser forms—simply dons a new costume: one of spiritual insight, superiority, or mission.
I think about all the times I’ve spoken of “us” and “them.” Us: the seekers, the conscious, the aware. Them: the sleepers, the materialists, the ego-bound. But what if that dualism is just another expression of the very ego I claim to be transcending?
“To be great in God’s eyes is to be humble in your own. The greatest saints are those who never consider themselves saints.”
– Paramahansa Yogananda
Even as I meditate and chant and pray, there’s a whisper of satisfaction, a quiet pride: “I am doing the Work. I am walking the Path.” But who is that “I”?
“The ego is a ghost with no real form; it lives only because you believe in it.”
– Adi Shankara
If I take that seriously—and I must—then even my spiritual identity is suspect. My idea of myself as a seeker, a student, a mystic-in-training… all of it must be held up to the light. Is it true, or is it a mask?
“The ‘I’ disappeared in the light of the One. What now is there to name, to claim, to speak?”
– Lalleshwari (Lal Ded)
Yet here I am writing this, trying to speak. Still claiming, even in the act of disowning. And so I must ask: Am I writing this post to serve truth… or to serve an image of myself as someone who sees the truth?
“Don’t put me on a pedestal. I am not what you think I am. I am not even what I think I am.”
– Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
This shows me the work ahead—not of ascending higher, but of dissolving more completely. To dissolve even the one who wants to dissolve.
“Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire.”
– Sri Yukteswar
And isn’t that just as true of spiritual attachment? The desire to be seen as awake? As aware? As pure?
So, for now, I step back from we, and I sit with I. I watch it. I question it. I love it even as I surrender it. Because beyond I and we, beyond self and other, beyond teacher and student, there is only the One. Not as a concept. Not as a belief. But as the living silence into which all identity dissolves.
Dear reader, I invite you to join me—not as a fellow “awake” one, but simply as a presence—one who sees how deeply the spiritual ego can run. The next time you speak about your path, or our collective awakening, ask yourself gently: Who is speaking? And then pause. Feel into the space before the words, the silence behind the thoughts. Let us not rush to transcend the ego only to feed it in subtler ways. Let us instead keep walking together, not ahead or behind, but side by side—in love, in truth, in radical self-honesty.
Let us dissolve, joyfully.
Did this post resonate with you? Please let me know.