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The Spiritual Ego
The Irony of Building a Spiritual Identity
A common pitfall for many of us in the beginning of spiritual practice, and even well along the way, is to fall into the trap of spiritual identity. We give birth to a new kind of ego, a spiritual ego.
Sometimes, you can see this physically represented through the various adornments we wear to show the world our new identity — whether it's beads, tattoos, the cross, certain clothes, or maybe we shave our head or change our name.
And to be clear, I think all these things can be useful. They can be reminders to practice, or they may even serve as simple tokens of gratitude to have found a new path in life, a path that brings more love, peace, and understanding to our being. Changing our name may help us to drop old, harmful patterns, giving us space to move into new, healthy patterns. I myself got a tattoo in Thailand after sitting a month-long meditation retreat. The artist was a local Buddhist who did traditional bamboo stick-and-poke tattoos. I hadn’t taken any pictures on that trip, and this person was filled with an extraordinary love — a fierce, strong, and protective love, like a mother — I thought it would be an excellent reminder of my time in Thailand.
But again, there’s a trap here. Spiritual life is not about gaining anything. It’s about letting go and…
