Vitalist Spirituality: Cultivation of the Ego

      

By Alecia Windfelder

There is probably not a more misunderstood and vilified concept, besides “dark”, in spirituality than the ego. Many spiritualities have you attempting to destroy your ego, touting it as a false self, and the opposite of “soul” and “spirit”. I find this idea to be dehumanizing as well as dangerous. In Vitalist Spirituality, the practitioner strives to cultivate and nurture the ego. To cultivate one’s ego, one must first understand what the ego is. Put quite simply, it is your very sense of self. Yet it involves more. It includes your ability to differentiate between you and everyone and everything else around you. It is your sense of self-esteem and self-importance. It is the part of your mind that mediates between the conscious, subconscious and unconscious minds, and enables you to test and understand reality. It is not a bad thing nor a word that should be synonymous with arrogance. Without your ego, ‘you’ do not exist, your soul or psyche has no conscious awareness whatsoever. Why would anyone wish to destroy the ego? The ego is a necessity in Vitalist Spirituality. A bloated sense of self-importance, narcissism and arrogance belong to an unhealthy ego. A healthy ego is the intended goal, not destruction of the ego. With a healthy ego, you have a functioning non corporeal self and personality with which to travel from incarnation to incarnation. What would be the point of attaining enlightenment if only to obliterate your very self? There would be nobody there to reincarnate. A healthy ego has a defined sense of self, a worthwhile personality, defined boundaries between itself and everything else, the ability to absorb new information, reject falseness and is free of delusions. To begin cultivating and nurturing your ego you must come to learn your true self and how to build virtuous traits and eliminate all mental hindrances. This might seem like an impossibly complex task, but it is actually simple, albeit time consuming. The first step is to find your baseline personality. Spiritually, we are each gifted with a natural, baseline personality, a starting point, that can be cultivated into a unique spiritual self, or psyche. The easiest way to find this is to think about who you are when unstressed and unfettered by life’s demands. This personality is who you become when you do not feel pressured to be what society tells you to be. Some personalities are naturally inquisitive, others nurturing, some like to create, others prefer to lead. Who are you, really? How do you really want to be without being pushed into becoming a model citizen of whatever community you are currently a part of, without consideration of the approval of your peers? Take time to be alone with yourself and explore You, the real and genuine you. You might just surprise yourself. Once you understand your basic self, you need to know what attributes to build, and which to work to eliminate. To be a citizen of the universe, one that is able to reincarnate through the Vital Force, you must be beneficial to the greater good, someone who improves the world in which you live. It isn’t necessary to be a great leader or teacher. Good followers, learners, creators and nurturers are just as valuable. Sometimes just being can have as great of an impact on the world as rallying others to make change. There are a great many virtues based on multitudes of spiritual paths, so many that virtue becomes a meaningless concept. For the purposes of Vitalism and working in harmony with the Vital Force, I have found that the Eight Virtues of Bushido are the most basic and worthwhile to start with. These Virtues come from the Samurai code of ancient Japan, and stem from the most noble values of Buddhism and Confucianism. I see no reason to revise these as they are perfect just as they are. The Eight Virtues of Bushido         Rectitude         Rectitude is a sense of righteousness, justice, fairness and morality. Once the true         spiritual morality of the Vital Force is learned, it will be necessary to uphold and live it.         There will be situations where you might be tempted to bend your morality, and give into         karmically immoral behavior, or overlook a wrong which you might do something about.         Your moral rectitude will keep you from swaying off your path, looking away, and earning         bad karma.        Courage        Courage is not the absence of fear, but instead the ability to overcome and face your        fears. Courage means having the inner fortitude to stand up for what you believe, what is        right and to defend those weaker than yourself. The world is filled with evil and        frightening things, so fostering a sense of courage will make you ready to face them.        Compassion        Compassion means having sympathy and concern for the misfortunes of others and for        yourself. Indifference to the suffering of yourself and others will cause you to turn away        from wrongs that must be righted, and accrue negative karma. It truly is better to care        too much than too little.        Respect        Respect means regard and courtesy for the rights, feelings and needs of others and        yourself. It is not acceptable to be disrespectful and rude to the people around you, and        to trample on their feelings, or your own. Respect means being polite and courteous to        others, and refusing to accept disrespect and abuse from others. It also means to        understand and comply with the workings of the Vital Force, rather than be rebellious        against that which can not be changed.        Integrity        To have integrity means to be sincere and true, to be the same when you are alone as        when you are with others. To have integrity you are free of hypocrisy. People without        integrity are nice to your face, and speak badly of you behind your back. They preach        morality and when nobody's looking, break the moral code they claim to uphold. You        can’t lie to the energy of the VItal Force, as it runs through every part of you and        connects you to everyone and everything else. Be true to yourself, or you might just        attract unpleasant situations that will remind you how dishonest you are being.        Honor        Honor means to be honest, trustworthy and worthy of the respect and admiration of        others. Honor means that you fulfill your obligations and promises, that you don’t say        things that you don’t mean and that you do not betray trust given to you. It means that        you follow the correct way, not just pretend and give it lip service.        Loyalty        Loyalty is allegiance and devotion. People who are loyal to not betray what they believe        in and stand for, or those they love. A strong sense of loyalty will prevent you from        straying from your spiritual path and betraying the Vital Force.        Self-control        The only thing any of us can truly control is ourselves. Self-control begins in the mind,        through strengthening our mind’s ability to think correctly and consider situations before        reacting. We might not be truly able to control our emotions, but we can control how we        react to our emotions. While we can’t control the circumstances of the outside world, we        can control how we behave in response to these circumstances. Nobody really likes to look at their own faults, but it is a necessity to spiritual growth. Every one of the above virtues has a diametric opposite to overcome, and is a great place to begin. But there are more. Thanks to Dante’s Inferno, we have a nice, concise list of to begin your self-improvement. Although they are called the Seven Deadly Sins, I do not call them sins, because in and of themselves, they are not spiritual crimes. I prefer to refer to them as hindrances because in not overcoming them, they will impede your growth and can potentially cause you to break karmic law. It is ironic that they come from a work of religious fiction, but it is hard to deny their validity. The only one Dante missed was delusion, which is important enough to include, and makes it an even eight to correspond to the eight virtues. I like to keep things balanced. The Eight Deadly Hindrances      Arrogance      Arrogance is false pride, the idea that you are better than you really are. Nobody likes a      conceited fool who treats others badly, and brags of their own superiority. Arrogance is      defeated by being honest with yourself and realizing your own faults. It is fine to love      yourself, and be proud of your accomplishments; you should have healthy self-esteem.      But when a person is arrogant, their pride is empty and meaningless, and usually it is an      attempt to hide their own lack of self worth.      Envy      Envy, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a feeling of discontented or resentful      longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. Envy is a very      mentally unhealthy state, and is a complete waste of spiritual energy. It is better to      channel that energy and change it to admiration of those you are envious of, and to      learn to be grateful and value what you do have.      Wrath      Wrath is intense anger that expresses itself as a desire to take revenge on or punish      someone. Vengeance is rarely a good idea when dealing with the energy of the Vital      Force, because karma will eventually strike the guilty party. Learn to channel your anger      constructively, and avoid trying to punish needlessly. Punishing others leads to      vindictiveness and cruelty which will bring bad karma back on yourself.      Greed      Greed is the selfish and excessive desire to have more than one really needs, and a      refusal to share with others. It is good to enjoy the good things in life, but you must learn      to keep it in perspective. How much do you really need to be comfortable and happy? Is      your life consumed with gaining more and more, even at the expense of others? Do you      refuse to share with those in need even if it doesn’t deprive you of anything? Learn to be      content with having enough, and learn to find pleasure in giving to others who have less      than yourself, and are deserving of more.      Lust      Lust in this context is an intense desire that controls the person. It is a good idea to gain      control of your desires, and bring them into balance. People driven by lust use and hurt      others in their quest for what they desire. Overconcern with sex, power, and control will      only harm you as well as others. Generally, desires like these are a cover for deeper      needs that have not been fulfilled.      Gluttony      Gluttony is overindulgence and excess, not necessarily just for food. Overindulgence in      anything is unhealthy and will unbalance your life. Learn temperance to overcome this      harmful trait.      Sloth      Sloth means reluctance to make an effort. Overcoming laziness can be difficult because      there is often a root cause behind it. Take a good look at your entire life- are you      physically unwell and ignoring it, or perhaps you are depressed or miserable and it is      time to make a change. Finding and correcting the cause of what makes you feel like not      doing what you need to do is really the only way to overcome this harmful state of mind.      Delusion      Delusions are beliefs held to be true that are based in complete fantasy. Delusions cloud      judgment and lead people down destructive paths. The energy of the Vital Force      responds to truth, facts, and honesty, not to fantasies and wishful thinking. Believing in      something won’t make it so. The Otherworld of the Vital Force is more wondrous than      you might expect, and shedding off your deluded fantasies can help you to see what is      really there. Expect to be surprised It is not necessary, or even possible, to make a sudden change overnight. After taking a personal inventory of your current nature, work with just one Virtue or Hindrance at a time. Begin with one that appeals most to you, or one that would benefit your life most to change. Meditate to work on the inner change and make a conscious effort to change your behavior in the mundane world. When you have had success with that one, move on to the next. You might just notice that changing one aspect of yourself causes the rest to start falling into place, naturally. It might be a temptation to skip the self-improvement aspect of this path, but it is not advisable. Aside from what I already explained about becoming worthy of reincarnation, there is more. In meditation, the energy of the Vital Force responds more positively toward self improvement and healing than it does to a person seeking wealth, psychic powers, or authority (think of these things as rewards for doing right in other ways). Any sort of hindrance to your health, well-being, and self improvement is more likely to be removed if you are trying to make yourself a better person. In changing yourself, you can loosen and destroy harmful aspects of our society that prevent people from being good. Anything that has caused you to become dysfunctional is also causing dysfunction in others. In changing yourself you can change the world. The path of the Vital Force is one of self-discovery and transformation. You are not alone in this; the Vital Force will assist you in giving you the power to change just by putting in your own effort. It all begins in meditation. May The Force be with you. Bio: Alecia Windfelder has an bachelor’s degree in metaphysics and has been studying metaphysics, spiritualities, and occult practices since her preteen years. She is currently working on her master’s degree and ultimately on her doctorate. There has been no other way to go for her, since ghosts and clairvoyant experiences throughout her life proved there was more to life than the mundane world. Vitalist spirituality is her own practice, created for herself, after years of studying countless religions and spiritual practices in an attempt to make sense of and strengthen abilities she was taught do not exist. She says, “Sharing this spirituality with others seems necessary after seeing so many other Universal energy believers attacked and belittled for their beliefs, as well as seekers who have not been given the option of exploring a ‘third option’ in spirituality.” Image & License: www.depositphotos.com # 284251538 Date: Feb 26, 2023