by Frank M. Wanderer

December 25, 2015

from PowerOfConsciousness Website

Spanish version

 

 

From the book

'The Biggest Obstacle to Enlightenment: How to Escape from the Prison of Mind Games?'

by Frank M. Wanderer

Frank M. Wanderer Ph.D is a professor of psychology, a consciousness researcher and writer. Frank is the author of the books "The Revolution of Consciousness: Deconditioning the Programmed Mind ", and several books on consciousness.

With a lifelong interest in the mystery of human existence, Frank’s work is to help others wake up from identification with our personal history and the illusory world of the forms and shapes, and to find our identity in what he calls "the Miracle", the mystery of the Consciousness.

 

 

 

 

 

 


The question could emerge in many of us, whether the spiritual Ego is a supporter or an obstructer of the spiritual development.

 

Can it meddle in the process of spiritual development, and if yes, then how does it do it? According to us, the spiritual Ego can interfere with innumerable tricks in the life of the spiritual seeker. These spiritual tricks are manifested in various spiritual mind games.

 

Some of the most important ones are discussed below.
 

 

 


The Self-Developing Mind Game

The Ego-dominated mind says:

"Look for truth! Develop your personality to make it the most sophisticated possible! Be spiritual!"

The Ego-dominated mind keeps coming up with new and new programs:

"Do this! Do that! Then all your problems will be solved."

You try to obey, but in the meanwhile you are wasting your entire life.

Personality development is one of the most dangerous traps on our Journey along the road. The more energy we invest into, for instance, the decoration of our spiritual mask, the more powerfully we will identify with it, and insist on it so desperately that we will be eventually unable to abandon it!

In this way, self-development only polishes the Ego shinier and more impressive.

 

In reality, it is the Ego that instigates the individual’s start a spiritual Journey on the road. It is a defensive mechanism of the mind! It diverts our attention from the possibility of a real internal change by adding an attractive new mask to our collection!

Be aware that Truth is already there in you, here and now in the present moment!

 

Search will only take truth farther away from you, as it either keeps seeking in the future, or presents old obsolete truths of the past to you.
 

 

 


The "I Want to Reach Enlightenment" - Mind Game

Nowadays we often hear about enlightenment, so the desire to reach arises in many.

 

 

 

 

We must, though, ask ourselves the question:

who is it that wants to reach enlightenment?

It is, obviously, the Ego!

 

The Ego, that has so far longed for power and money, now fell in love with an another idea:

Enlightenment.

It wants to be enlightened, intends to extend its power in that direction.

The desire to be enlightened arises in it, but that desire and want are exactly what take it away from enlightenment.

It is only possible to desire for something that is outside the Self of the individual, we therefore seek enlightenment outside ourselves, but we shall never find it there. Enlightenment is the innermost core of our Self, we are originally enlightened!

As the inner Self is already perfect, there is nothing to be added to it! What can we do then? As Egos, we must forget about enlightenment, as we are not enlightened as Egos!

 

We must deal with what we are: the Ego.

In the course our Journey we must understand the Ego, one layer after the other. It is only possible if we, as mature Egos, do not identify with ourselves, we give up ourselves.

As a result of our observations, we always find new and new layers of the Ego, we become more and more conscious of it, and we are able to shed the layers that have been identified. In this way we realize that desire is just one layer of the Ego. After we reveal the entire Ego, the moment will come when there is nothing left of it.

That is the moment of enlightenment!

 

Enlightening means that we are in harmony with the Existence, so also with the the present moment.
 

 

 


The "I Want Peace and Tranquility" - Mind Game

It is the Ego-dominated mind that longs for peace and tranquility. It wants to be peaceful and powerful so that its inner quiet can open a gate for the Formless.
 

 

 


The mind nurtures the unconscious hope that in the Formless it will be able to continue to exist somehow.

 

That is why so many seekers seek spiritual experience during their Journey.

In reality, however, inner quiet and Ego, unity and Ego are incompatible with each other. Where one is present, the other cannot exist.

The Ego-dominated mind is capable of creating some inner quiet and tranquility, a dead emptiness and, with the effort of the willpower, it is possible to sustain it for a while. But it is not the quiet of the pulsating alive internal silence, peace and tranquility saturated with the joy of Existence.

 

Only a mere image of that kind of peace, created and attempted to be implemented by the mind.

We are only able to recognize the quiet of the union, already present in human beings (as this is their real Self), if we are able to give up the expectations, desires, hopes etc. of our Ego-dominated mind.
 

 

 


Eliminating Mind Games

Consciousness is an indispensable condition for us to recognize the Ego and reach Awakening on our Journey.

 

 

 

 

Otherwise it is not possible to observe ourselves.

 

The witnessing, observing Presence should always be there.

The mind will never understand anything that reaches beyond it. But it tries. In this way, though, it will explain everything from the separate aspect that it currently occupies in the time-space continuity.

When one is able to reach beyond that separate focus point and identification with the mind, that the person will also recognize this conditioned state and will also be able to reach beyond that, too.

 

In that case, the individual will not identify with the mind, but increasingly with the Consciousness (Witnessing Presence).

 

The Presence will gain dominance over the mind to an increasing extent, and will be expressed through the mind.