15: The Shadow Self

Eckhart Tolle, who I consider to be one of the world's greatest spiritual teachers once described the normal human state of consciousness as insanity. I thought this was somewhat dramatic but after listening to how he justified the statement and by drawing parallels not only through my own experiences but with the behaviours I observed in others, I realised that what he had said was entirely correct...

The Voice in the Head
Everybody has a voice in their head. We have all accepted that we are, every waking moment of our lives, experiencing the internal dialogue of the mind playing itself out in response to elements of our reality, both real and imagined. Our deepest opinions, judgements, desires and decisions seemingly flow through our conscious awareness, silent and unopposed, no matter how controversial or socially unacceptable the context may be. All the while, the people in our lives wander by completely oblivious to the silent conversations we continue to have with ourselves and vice versa.

It is seemingly the perfect vessel for the freedom to express our innermost emotional thought processes. How though can 'we' have a conversation with 'ourselves'? Surely this indicates some form of duality does it not? What if I told you that the voice in your head wasn't necessarily you at all? What if I told you that the voice was actually that of an imposter, a parasite of sorts and one that utilises the light of your consciousness awareness and inverts that energy into channels of its own choosing?

A mad suggestion you say? 

A Simple Test
If you really are the controller of your thoughts, then you should be able to stop thinking and remain blank for as long as you desire, right? Try it now. Cease all of your mind activity and see how long you can last before you suddenly become aware that you are thinking again. The thought that arises will be random and could be anything, not necessarily something you care about or even consider important. Nevertheless, it is there in a mind that you intended to remain clear. Why is it there if you are in control? Simply put, you are not in control and you didn't put the thought there. You are not the voice in your head.

The voice is known as the egoic mind or shadow self, a master of disguise and an entity that has plagued mankind since the earliest days of our evolution as thinking beings. The logical thinking mind developed in humans to serve us much like the opposable thumb. It was a tool to be used to plan, create, think and build. The egoic mind however is somewhat different from this as it is
emotionally charged. It came into form as humans wrongly mistook the voice in their heads for who they were and consequently invested their identity there. The ego's main objective is to draw your attention away from the present moment and project it into either the past or the future. The effects are prevalent all across the world today. Dwelling in the past causes depression. Dwelling in the future causes anxiety.

'Ego is the immediate dictate of human consciousness.' - Max Planck

The ego will manifest as the dread you feel about taking that taking that job interview tomorrow, the feeling of regret about letting someone down yesterday. It is the cause of an 'us and them' mentality, the entity behind the tightness you feel about not knowing how you will meet your bills next month. None of these things matter because they are not in the 'now' which is the only point where your life actually is. You cannot solve problems in the future and you cannot fix the actions of the past but the ego will use every trick in the book to ensure that your mind remains occupied with these issues.

'99.9% of all your problems are imagined thought projections that you will never have to face.' - Tristan May

Despite the fact that the ego is the cause of all human suffering, no-one has been able to rid themselves of it entirely. There are however, things that you can do to bring yourself a greater sense of inner peace. Try to become mindful of your thought processes. Start observing what arises and see if you can become aware of the ego's attempts to use your thought processes in detrimental ways. The real key to a sense of inner peace is to bring yourself into the present moment. This is the one place the ego cannot exist. By becoming consciously aware of your present environment and recognising the beauty in the physical world around you, you will be responsible for beginning a process in yourself and in humanity as a collective that will lead to new levels of conscious understanding and a deeper spiritual awareness.

- Tristan May