While walking on the path of spirituality, people often slip into the trap of spiritual ego. This distracts you from walking on your spiritual path. Your mind gets polluted, and you can’t connect with the higher powers.
If you feel something similar is happening to you, let’s get started…
What Is Spiritual Ego?
To understand spiritual ego, you must first understand what’s ego in general.
Every person has an ego, which is usually self-esteem. It makes you feel important, confident, persistent, and worthy and gives you a sense of self. However, too much ego can make a person arrogant.
Similarly, when a person becomes spiritually more advanced than others and feels superior, they feel spiritual ego. They think of themselves as better and different.
This leads them astray from enlightenment to a judgmental person. It boosts their arrogance even more.
Are you curious how you pick a spiritual ego? Let’s know more here…
How Is The Spiritual Ego Formed?
Suppose a person meditates and feels enlightened. Then, if they continuously talk about how wonderful the experience was, that’s because it serves their ego.
They practice spirituality to feel better than others and flare their ego. This is also known as spiritual materialism.
It leads to the birth of a spiritual ego when their entire identity revolves around “being spiritual.”
This again happens in different stages. So, let’s know those…
Stages Of Spiritual Ego
Nobody grows a spiritual ego overnight. It happens with different levels of extremities and depends on the person and their position in a spiritual journey. So, let’s learn about the stages here…
Novice Stage
This happens to those who are newly introduced to spirituality. Rather than learning more, they feel they’re better because they’ve found the perfect path to connect with the Divine.
They persuade others to join them on this journey. While that might sound great, the same path of spirituality may not work for two individuals. So, that’s counterproductive!
Yogi Stage
This applies to anyone who follows yoga, breathwork, meditation, and similar spiritual practices. Rather than quietly practicing it, they push others to practice it as well. If anyone refuses, they think they’re spiritually inferior.
Guru Stage
It refers to people who think they have already learned everything about spirituality. So, they must preach to everyone and support others’ journey to enlightenment.
They use manipulative tactics to make others think their way is the only and best path to achieve spirituality. They don’t care that different individuals have different spiritual needs.
Now, if you think you have a spiritual ego, let’s find the truth here…
Signs Of Spiritual Ego
Nobody knowingly falls into the trap of spiritual ego. If you believe it happened to you, you must get out of it, But before that, let’s ensure whether your suspicions are true…
1. You judge others for not being as spiritually advanced as you.
2. You try to convert others by imposing your views on them.
3. You follow toxic spirituality, i.e., ignore your inner voice and only follow others blindly.
4. You feel it’s your responsibility to save the world by leading them, i.e., have a messiah complex.
5. You think you’re a master of spirituality without spending years practicing it.
6. You feel you have special abilities like the Divine or God.
7. You are not honest with yourself and don’t reflect your thoughts and actions.
8. You over-analyze and discuss spirituality beyond the practical things.
9. You often brag about having a better spirituality level.
10. You post a lot about your spiritual journey on social media.
11. You want to hide your vulnerabilities by talking about spirituality.
12. You feel there’s only one way to attain spirituality.
13. You think you’ve learned everything.
14. You spend too much time seeking spirituality and stop interacting with others.
15. You’re so immersed in spirituality that you lose curiosity about the surrounding world.
16. You lack compassion for others and act selfishly.
17. You always get into debates and use your spiritual advancement to prove you’re right.
18. You pretend that your life is always positive, i.e., you practice spiritual bypassing.
19. You get frustrated when others don’t have spirituality-minded thoughts.
20. You pretend to hold some image of a spiritual person.
All of the above-mentioned signs create distance between you and the people around you. You also feel you’ve already achieved a lot, so it further slows down and leads you astray from your spiritual journey.
Wondering how spiritual ego can hurt you? Let’s get to know it…
The Link Between Spiritual Ego And Spiritual Narcissism
When you let your spiritual ego grow uncontrollably, you may attain spiritual narcissism. This is way more difficult to overcome than spiritual ego.
To understand this, let’s first explain narcissism – the mental disorder. In this, a person has no empathy for others and feels they’re the best.
Now, spiritual narcissism overpowers the strength of your spirit. You feel a strange urge to boast about your spirituality, become disconnected from reality, and look down on others.
Further, you don’t try to help others’ path of enlightenment. You only make fun of others instead. If you ever help others, it’s only an act to get attention and feel validated.
So, before you go down this path, it’s time to get rid of the ego. Let’s know that here…
How To Overcome Your Spiritual Ego?
If you notice signs of spiritual ego or even feel things have escalated to spiritual narcissism, don’t overthink the situation. Calm your nerves and get started…
1. Notice when your spiritual ego gets triggered
If you keep tabs on your triggers behind the spiritual ego, you can control yourself better. Especially notice how you interact with people who don’t have the same spiritual beliefs and thoughts. Consciously stop yourself from letting out your spiritual ego.
2. Clear your crown chakra
A balanced and open crown chakra connects you with divine energy and breaks the claws of spiritual ego.
So, unblock it with mindful chakra meditation. Imagine a lotus on your head – which symbolizes your chakra – guiding you in life.
This helps you let go of your spiritual ego and connects you to higher wisdom.
3. Overcome your fear
When you overcome your fear, you awaken spiritually and get rid of your spiritual ego. So, identify and understand your fears. Remind yourself that you’re safe and stronger than your fears.
4. Learn to forgive
You can also kill your spiritual ego if you forgive yourself for past mistakes and others. Let go of the pain. Remember, this isn’t about forgetting things. Instead, focus on the newer positive experiences.
5. Seek help from higher powers
Pray to higher powers to give you a sign of how they want you to approach the situation. Wait patiently for the signs and be alert not to miss them. Remember, if you ask for help, the answers will come!
6. Journal regularly
At the end of the day, write down your feelings in a journal. Introspect whether you tried to control yourself the entire day. And if your ego overpowered you, write how you’ll deal with it.
7. Connect with nature
Walk barefoot in natural settings, water plants in the vicinity, or detangle plants from weeds. You can also explore nature or try gardening. This will heal you a lot.
8. Interact with people
Take time to socialize, know people and their perspectives, and accept their differences. Don’t always talk about spirituality with them.
9. Practice compassion
Show kindness to yourself and others to boost positivity. Don’t judge others for being different or yourself for not feeling a certain way, as explained in some spirituality-related book.
10. Don’t learn spirituality from books
Read books, but don’t solely rely on them for the main source of spirituality. Look inwards, meditate, and you’ll get the answers.
But did you encounter someone else with a spiritual ego? Let’s learn to act the right way here…
How To Deal With People With Excess Spiritual Ego?
If you find a close one has a spiritual ego, here are a few things to follow:
1. Don’t cut them off from your life. Keep them in your life, and they will eventually overcome this phase.
2. Don’t please their ego or let them think they are right. Avoid acting passive if they matter to you.
3. Communicate openly, share your perspective, and get into healthy debates. Be patient because it won’t be easy. Take breaks away from them to nurture yourself.
A word from TheMindFool
If left unchecked, spiritual ego can cause major problems in your personal life and spiritual path. So, if you get signs of it within you (or others), don’t let it simmer.
Work on yourself (or the concerned person). It will be a tough experience. But with patience and perseverance, this can be dealt with in good time!
