What is an Ego Trap? | The Enlightened Masquerade

With the prominence of the new age spiritual movement there are millions of people around the world taking responsibility for the state of our collective existence and going deeper within themselves in search of truth and wisdom. It's truly incredible to see such a large number of individuals rejecting antiquated individualistic social institutions in favor of deriving guidance from multiple wisdom traditions in recognition of the interdependence and connectivity of all living things. Unfortunately, problems occur as the movement becomes popularized and just as we've seen with religion time and time again, an ideology that teaches love and peace becomes less about meaning and more about conforming to a trend. This is the slippery slope of an ego trap. 



We've all met that religious fanatic on a mission to prove that they are holier than thou and that our soul is doomed because our perspective is different than theirs. Maybe you've been that person at some point in your life. Hey, don't feel bad; we've all got an ego, but the important thing is that we recognize how this is contrary to the values that we are so passionate about forcing onto others. So some of you may still be asking, "what is an ego trap." Let's look at a few examples. 

• If you think that you have reached enlightenment, but you look down others as being less enlightened, you have fallen into an ego trap. The ego has identified itself as an enlightened spirit making it superior to others. What was once seeking the spirit has merely molded the ego into spirit and now the ego masquerades around pointing fingers at others. 
• If you actively contribute to environmental restoration or fighting for human/animal rights as a spiritual moral duty but feel contemptuous towards those who do not, you've fallen into an ego trap.
• If you think that it is more spiritual to go vegan, meditate, buy organic, wear healing crystals, read spiritual books, etc but you judge those who don't as being less spiritual, you're in an ego trap. 

It's so important to be aware of the tendency to develop feelings of superiority when seeking wisdom. Consider the crusades. According to the new testament in the bible, Christ taught love and peace; so how did so many people justify killing thousands in his name? They fell into an ego trap. Their collective ego took the shape of "God's warriors" and look at the violence that resulted.

Spirituality is a personal experience and while we can all receive guidance from others, it should never become our ambition to force our faith onto anyone. We cannot claim objective knowledge and so we should never assume that someone is on the wrong path just because they are not on ours. There was a time when I didn't know what I know today, and the future will continue to reveal my ignorance. Stay humble and remember that it's pretty hard to love someone when you're judging them, and in the end isn't love what spirituality is really all about? 

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