This happened during a time of some financial scarcity in my life. I needed money but I was still deep in the spiritual bullshit world at the time and used to believe Ooooh money evil, me no need.
I was sitting meditating on whether it is selfish to think about my own well being (particularity increasing the number of money in my account, so I could pull a Scrooge McDuck), rather than helping the poor etc.
And that’s when the Inner Teacher spoke, quite clearly and emphatically:
The Universe wants each one of us to be the BEST human we can – physically, mentally and spiritually. The ego, on the other hand, wants to build hospitals and save the poor.
Beware the ego trying to become bigger or more spiritual than it is by pretending to “save” the world
Now I know this is a type of Spiritual Narcissicm.
And this solved a particular problem for me. The most egoistical (spiritually speaking) and angry people I’ve seen and met are all We need to save the world types.
I always thought to myself: Gee, you might want to save the world, but do you have to be such assholes about it?
Why the Ego can’t Save the World, even though it totally wants to
Question I know I will be asked: Why are you trying to suggest we shouldn’t save the world? You an anti-poor Republican or something?
My reply: On the contrary, I do want you to save the world.
But we can’t save anyone while we are stuck in ignorance ourselves. It’s like a man stuck in the mud screaming “Don’t worry chappies, I’ll get you all out of here!”
You cannot save the world while you yourself are stuck in ignorance and suffering.
The problem with the ego is: it thinks it knows how to save the world. It thinks it has all the answers. Yet all it has is some idiotic ideas of how to help others, even as it itself is miserable.
You can best help others if you are in a state of grace, your mind is calm and peaceful.
What I mean is: The best way to help others is to fix your own shit first
As my man Jordan Peterson said “Clean your own room before you try to change the world.”
What he meant was: If you can’t even manage your own personal space and bring some order to it, how do you even hope to fix the chaotic wider world?
From a spiritual point of view, the best thing any of us can do is awaken ourselves.
The ego thinks: People suffer because they don’t have enough money / health / Rolls Royces. Yet, go to the poorest village in India or Africa, and you will find people happier than the millionaires in New York.
People suffer because of their addiction to thinking.
The Inner Teacher says: 90% of your problems would vanish if you could just shut up your mind for a few seconds, and rest in the Silence
One who has silences his own mind is better positioned to help heal others. Most people don’t even know that they have the option to not listen or believe the chattering in their mind. Most people believe they are the money chattering in their brain.
You can read all the spiritual books, listen to all the lectures you want, sit with a straight back chanting Aum for years; and yet, a minute of Silence is worth 10 years of meditation.
You want to help others? Help yourself first. Calm your own passions, heal your own pain. Become worthy to be a vessel for the Divine Intelligence. And only then can Universe use you to help others.