MyLifeYoga

Liberation is the release of our consciousness from the clutches of the ego. Many of us feel that we have to renounce the world and become monks to achieve liberation. After all meditation and spiritual practice need a lot of time and effort. But is this right? When is renunciation of the world appropriate? This article explores.

When does renunciation turn into fleeing? If we remain firmly entrenched in our egos and try to adapt the life of an ascetic then that is fleeing. There is no spiritual upliftment in giving up the world because it is too much trouble. Before renunciation can become external it has to be internal first. We should have reached some level of internal renunciation and spiritual maturity before we can embrace the life of an ascetic. If we are not there yet and we choose to renounce the world it may turn into a form of escapism.

Just because a person is on a spiritual path does not mean that she can elude problems. We all have to face our shares of problems, but a person on a spiritual path faces them in a different way than somebody who is engrossed in the ego. For a person engrossed in the ego a problem becomes a melodrama. Turning a problem into drama is the ego’s way to keep us engrossed in its concerns. The ego knows that as long as we identify ourselves with its problems it is safe. The spiritual person on the other hand does not see life-problems as mega issues. Drama is reduced and problems are faced with equanimity. For a person on a spiritual path there is differentiation between the ego and the Self. There is no need to make the ego’s problems our own. A problem can now be seen as an opportunity to learn to differentiate ourselves from our ego. The separation of ourselves from the ego provides us with a context to view problems and this takes away much of the emotional sting.

Our first steps into liberation and a deeper spiritual journey begins when we stand our ground and learn to face up to our problems. This happens because facing them teaches us a deep spiritual insight: We are not our egos.

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Money CAN buy happiness! But hold on, it is not in the way you and I think. Watch this video and find out. Be prepared to be surprised and learn some valuable lessons. These lessons show us not only how we can be more happy but also how we can make our life worthy of living and the world a better place.

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When Hitler annexed Austria and war seemed imminent, I quit my job as instructor of a flying club in Lyons, France, and started for home in Poland. My plane developed engine trouble and I had to land at Vienna and stay there overnight to have it repaired. The following morning, just as I stepped out of my hotel to buy a few souvenirs before checking out, a man who came running past the door bumped into me and sent me reeling. Outraged, I grabbed him and was about to give him a piece of my mind when I saw his face was white with fear. Panting heavily, he tried to wrench himself from my grip and said, “Gestapo—Gestapo!” I know only a little German but understood he was running from the dreaded German secret police.

I rushed him into the lobby and upstairs to my room, pointed to the foot of my bed and motioned him to lie down. I covered his slender, jackknifed body with artfully draped blankets so that the tousled bed looked empty. Then I pulled off my jacket, tie and collar so I could pretend I’d just got up if the Gestapo men came. In a few minutes, they did. They examined my passport, returned it and shouted questions, to which I replied: “Ich verstehe es nicht-I don’t understand it,” a phrase I knew by heart. They left without searching the room. Continue reading →