Ego Inflation

[Geof Nanto]

From my observation this is something that happens to almost everybody on a spiritual path. Practices bring very real power and often seemingly magical abilities. It's certainly something I've had to work through. I was enthralled by what I thought was my own power as a healer and teacher in years gone by. No one could tell me otherwise! 

 

Ego Inflation

 

When a person becomes so identified with a particular spiritual archetype that they fail to separate their own ego from the archetype we call this inflation. A preacher or teacher, feeling that their insights and passion come from beyond them becomes a prophet proclaiming the words of God, a religious leader may develop a messianic complex and identify as a guru or as an incarnation of a god.

 

Not all inflation is a bad thing! It can allow us to become more than our fragile selves. Every priest needs to become inflated with a priestly archetype to be effective, every healer needs to portray the confidence that the divine energy flows through them to be effective. These experiences of inflation, of course, are initiations of the soul – they send us off on some sort of divine quest. Inflation is common when we start on a spiritual path –  we seem to be infused with divine energy, meditating and praying are easy, spiritual experience floods our souls.

 

Inflation can be a wonderful and helpful experience but it is also dangerous. All religious traditions have techniques and ways of teaching their followers not to become inflated and these are important if we are to guard against dangers on the spiritual path. So Jesus can proclaim “Whoever wants to be my disciple me must take up his cross and follow me.” These allow the spiritual person to be in the presence of the holy and not to get carried away by it. Buddhists try to get disciples to focus on the impermanence of the self as an antidote to religious ego inflation.

 

One aspect of this inflation is the sense that one knows the truth which is hidden from others. This is a kind of gnosticism (gnosis = knowing). It is common when we start on a spiritual path to think that we have found “THE TRUTH” and that we are somehow above others who do not have that same insight. This comes about because of the excitement of the “AHA” moment when we realize a deep truth about life. The ego can seize upon that feeling a use it to feel superior or part of a select special group.

 

When we recognize the nature of inflation we can use it to expand ourselves. In the presence of an archetype we are temporarily inflated which means we expand as a person, we engage the divine and we feel deeply. But that is not our doing – it belongs to the archetypal realm and in the quiet of our minds we can deflate again and become our human searching selves again.

 

(From https://archetypalspirituality.org/archetypal-energy/inflation/ )
 

Edited September 19, 2017 by Yueya

[Spotless]

From my observation this is something that happens to almost everybody on a spiritual path. Practices bring very real power and often seemingly magical abilities. It's certainly something I've had to work through. I was enthralled by what I thought was my own power as a healer and teacher in years gone by. No one could tell me otherwise!

 

Ego Inflation

 

When a person becomes so identified with a particular spiritual archetype that they fail to separate their own ego from the archetype we call this inflation. A preacher or teacher, feeling that their insights and passion come from beyond them becomes a prophet proclaiming the words of God, a religious leader may develop a messianic complex and identify as a guru or as an incarnation of a god.

 

Not all inflation is a bad thing! It can allow us to become more than our fragile selves. Every priest needs to become inflated with a priestly archetype to be effective, every healer needs to portray the confidence that the divine energy flows through them to be effective. These experiences of inflation, of course, are initiations of the soul – they send us off on some sort of divine quest. Inflation is common when we start on a spiritual path – we seem to be infused with divine energy, meditating and praying are easy, spiritual experience floods our souls.

 

Inflation can be a wonderful and helpful experience but it is also dangerous. All religious traditions have techniques and ways of teaching their followers not to become inflated and these are important if we are to guard against dangers on the spiritual path. So Jesus can proclaim “Whoever wants to be my disciple me must take up his cross and follow me.” These allow the spiritual person to be in the presence of the holy and not to get carried away by it. Buddhists try to get disciples to focus on the impermanence of the self as an antidote to religious ego inflation.

 

One aspect of this inflation is the sense that one knows the truth which is hidden from others. This is a kind of gnosticism (gnosis = knowing). It is common when we start on a spiritual path to think that we have found “THE TRUTH” and that we are somehow above others who do not have that same insight. This comes about because of the excitement of the “AHA” moment when we realize a deep truth about life. The ego can seize upon that feeling a use it to feel superior or part of a select special group.

 

When we recognize the nature of inflation we can use it to expand ourselves. In the presence of an archetype we are temporarily inflated which means we expand as a person, we engage the divine and we feel deeply. But that is not our doing – it belongs to the archetypal realm and in the quiet of our minds we can deflate again and become our human searching selves again.

 

(From https://archetypalspirituality.org/archetypal-energy/inflation/ )

 

Another way to look at this phenomenon:

 

As we start on "a more spiritually oriented path - either deeply religious or beyond into actual seeking, in any case - our vibrations rise and our trance state raises to allow for a flood of influences which are too frightening to see so we are flooded in emotional trance and real mediumship though we do not know it.

 

This is all fairly low form yet considerably "divine" by comparison to our religious heritage / belief based conceptualization - we start to feel in ethereal ways that are conspicuously finer and we feel like conduits of a higher order - in a sense that is what we are channeling (though not necessarily of a higher order but in a way which is far lighter and more fluid and certain).

 

Trance can imply a great deal of false accomplishment - and this increases the very effect of more trance states and more belief in ones mastery. It is what I call the Rabbits Way - the Rabbit is very proud and sure and mercurial. It is extremely addictive.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Spotless

[vonkrankenhaus]

These issue are more now than in the past.

 

Ego is just a mechanism of the animal forms.

 

It allows for personal as opposed to collective responses within the environment.

 

In a crowd of people, one gets thirsty and reaches for water. Just that one, and not everyone.

 

The act of this correction or compensation is the end of it.

 

Then, ego function reduces back to not necessary.

 

To control people there must be "individuals".

 

These are created via overblowing this ego function to be happening all the time.

 

There are many ways that this is accomplished.

 

Modern system is all about it - consult any media or education to see how.

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

Edited January 22, 2017 by vonkrankenhaus