LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

How to be humble? As a musician and an artist I’ve been exploring how to perform my art in a way that allows me to fully self-express my work from a position of humility. Here are my observations on the journey…

To be humble is to do your best with a smile.

It’s to make yourself vulnerable as you share yourself with another.

It’s to share your art without holding back.

I hope you’ve witnessed a truly humble performance in your lifetime. The way it pulls at your heartstrings and invites you to melt into the present, knowing that this is it – the divine manifesting – right here, right NOW.

That is how I feel when I witness my favorite artists performing anyway.

Regardless, somehow I had adopted the twisted idea that being humble was more about being modest. That is, in the deluded sense that I should “dim my light”.

Don’t you be too good, clever or impressive now – you’ll make other people uncomfortable… seemed to be the implicit message.

It took me a while to figure it out, but I’ve decided that being humble is actually about shining your light REALLY bright. Full power. Burn baby burn.

After all, it is by being comfortable with oneself and our talents as individuals, that we are able to give others permission to develop their own talents and shine.

None of that “But who am I to be so shiny?” bullshit.

Whatever your talent, it is your gift to the world, and consequently, your responsibility to share it fully with others, as a reminder of the inherent divinity that lies within all of us.

Fear might try and restrain you, sure, but experience will tell you that fear is a liar with a convincing tongue.

What is it that holds us back from claiming our own personal power; from being the best version of ourselves we possibly could be?

If you are anything like me, you’ve probably found yourself tugging at the skirt of your ultimate-self-vision with frustration every once in a while. Habits seem too stubborn; addictions too intoxicating. Match that with some underlying beliefs of unworthiness, and you’ll be forever tugging at that skirt.

But lets examine the situation a little more closely; as while the transformation into the highest expression of our self, might seem daunting, we all live with the hope that it is possible. And it is possible. You’ve seen yourself change for the better before; you’ve seen others change for the better before. Change is always possible, so the question remains: what holds us back?

A large part of the human story is this idea that “humanity is flawed”. That humans are incompetent in handling power. That we are not worthy, nor good enough to deal with the responsibilities that power entails.

This message has been perpetuated throughout our culture for thousands of years, through centuries of mythology. You needn’t look hard for examples – Adam and Eve’s original sin – Man’s “fall from grace” is perhaps the most prominent evidence of this brainwashing in action. This has led to a deeply embedded sub-conscious fear of power – reinforced by an insecurity of unworthiness.

Yet, we continue to seek our power; in fact we crave it because it is our birthright. Were you not born to rein over your own body, inspiring it to express your highest vision of self?

In light of this, it seems that whenever we get close to the edge of our own personal power, it scares the shit out of us, and so we run, putting as much space between it and ourselves as possible.

The mere idea that we could change instantaneously puts us up there with “the gods” and though our western culture might appear to contradict this theory as our governments struggles to own this god-like power, we perceive the responsibilities of “gods” as far too much for ourselves to handle. “Humanity is flawed after all,” whispers mother culture, and so, we fall back into old habits, sub-consciously self-sabotaging our dreams, trying less than our best in order to fit in and save face.

The truth is, we are powerful expressions of the divine. After all, were we not made in the image of the divine creator? All it takes to be who we want to be is a change of mind. Yet, this personal power is scary, because with the capacity to change our minds at will, we become unstoppable as we move through the flow of life, learning and transforming ourselves for the better.

Unfortunately, because we don’t trust ourselves with power (and we certainly don’t trust others of our kind with it) our subconscious will do anything to keep us from changing quickly and sustainably. And so the cycle begins, where we bring ourselves down to the level of those around us – for fear of becoming a prosecuted scapegoat (like Jesus). We also pull others around us down with our lack of confidence in their ability to handle power responsibly.

Considering how many times I have been disappointed by examples of humans who have used power irresponsibly, I will admit that this isn’t a completely unwarranted fear. However, it is important to distinguish that these painful cases are ALWAYS instances where humans have attempted to claim power over others. This is the power of domination that dominates our culture as leaders attempt to enforce their vision and their unique perspective onto others.

This never works, of course, as the point of being human is to experience a unique perspective and to make choices related to one’s own individual paradigm. There is no such thing as an answer that is fitting for all, which is why it is so important that we learn to govern ourselves with confidence and dedication in using our bodies to express ourselves authentically. After all, do you not trust yourself to be the captain of your own soul?

So let me be clear, when I talk about “claiming your own personal power”, I’m actually talking about embracing domination’s better looking sister – the power of dominion (power with others).

While the power of domination thrives on the concept of limitation; that “the more I have, the less you get”, the power of dominion, celebrates the power we have when we step up to the challenge of expressing ourselves in all our glory. This is the power that allows us to inspire one another to live a life of liberated authenticity. This is the power that allows you to not only touch your dreams, but experience them in reality. This is the power that generates sustainable success.

So I’m practicing embracing it without fear; to make the choice to change my mind and kick the habits that keep me from expressing who I really am.

And so I remind myself to stop trying - instead, to choose something and be it.

My body is a blank canvas.

Language is the paint and my mind is the artist.

Animals, plants and objects may be art but language is not their medium.

They are more like sculptures, as my words have no effect on them.

In contrast, language has the power to influence my own form dramatically.

I am who I think I am (or perhaps even more accurately at times, who I fear I am) as my words and actions manifest my thoughts.

In lieu of this, I’ve been thinking about how my own self-doubt is the only thing that separates me from those who I feel inferior to, or inspired by.

Sadly, I tend to augment my own self-doubt with the language I use to define my perspective.

It has been said that life mimics art just as art mimics life. In every moment, conscious or dreaming, we’re telling ourselves a story, and the stories we tell ourselves develop our character. In short, we’re writing our reality and it all starts with the language we use.

Delving a little deeper, I’ve observed how commonly we refer to ourselves in the third person when speaking of our own thoughts and feelings (I’m doing it right now in fact).

It’s a curious thing…

In NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), psychologists explain the importance of using “I statements” when expressing oneself. That is, using I instead of we. For example, I should say: “I’ve observed how I commonly refer to myself in the third person when speaking of my own thoughts and feelings”.

I statements force the speaker to take responsibility for their own perspective rather than attempting to suppress and disguise it as a collective issue or agreement. This negligence of responsibility inhibits real change in the name of fearless self-development as we program ourselves to think that our issues are not really ours (when they are). After all, change starts with the individual.

Granted, there are collective issues and agreements that pervade our reality, where it is entirely acceptable to speak in third. However, let us consider how speaking in third person limits the human experience.

When I take responsibility for myself through conscious speech (using I statements) I liberate my being as I validate my own personal point of view. In contrast, when speaking in third person, I neglect to own my thoughts and feelings, sending the sub-conscious message that its not really my problem, and, more destructively, that I do not have the right to feel these things as an individual.

Using I statements also prevents the speaker from imposing their reality on to the listener. I’m sure you’ve heard people describing their own unique experiences with travel, yoga, skydiving, Entheogens, or whatever else, as if their experience was definitive. They might say: “You’ll love it, it’s so amazing, when you get there, this happens and then this happens and it feels like this…” etc.

This is my issue with religious fanatics as texts such as the Bible are really just stories of other people’s experiences with source. By passing them on with the seriousness that we do, we prevent one another from being present and experiencing our own sacred stories of life, source and reality.

Sure there is truth and wisdom in each story – but rather than taking them on as gospel, its important to recognise that there is no definitive guide to life’s mystery outside of one’s own mind.

Personally, I think story telling is a good, natural and beautiful aspect of being human. However, to be responsible speakers and storytellers we need to be clear (for our own sake and others) that our personal experiences are uniquely ours. We may find others who have similar experiences, but that is still no cause to attempt to portray them as a definitive example of what it means to be alive and kicking.

Now, I realise I am being somewhat hypocritical with the tense I have written part of this article in. Granted, third person is a hard habit to break and I am still exploring how to incorporate it into my writing. However, “babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk” and so I am still working on it as I invite you to join me.

“I am the Lizard King, I can do anything!”  - Jim Morrison

Religious myths, such as those studied in the “holy” books of the world’s cultures, are at the end of the day, just stories of other’s experiences with source. Stories, that have been passed on like chinese whispers throughout time immemorial.

Consider how words and culture (the stories we are collectively told and often which become the stories which we tell ourselves) prevent us from being present and experiencing our own interaction with life, source and reality.

Just as a dream only has a message for the dreamer, all stories are so drenched in symbolism that it’s true meaning can only be interpreted by the writer.

This isn’t to say that such stories can’t serve to inspire and serve in our own relationship with life. We are a storytelling race after all, and the stories we weave and share are wonderful. However, I would regret allowing a story to blind me from the magic of my own experiences.

On the Illuminati, “reptiles” and other conspiracy theories:

Understand that they are always looking for players. Anyone can tell a good story, but the question is, can they kick the ball at the end of the day?

Theirs might be an interesting story – it might even be a true story, but it is also an ancient and old story and the more we re-tell it, the more it binds us to such a reality – driven by fear and a hunger for power.

A story only holds true if you believe in it.

It’s your choice to engage in such myths or write a new one.

A lot of people tend to view the world through the narrow filters of “right” and “wrong”.

I just see a bunch of wounded animals trying their best to heal themselves and get along.

Is the world of a predatory or benevolent nature?

Are we right to fear the unknown?

We certainly see nature display a predatory theme as death claims life with reckless abandon.

However, this is not the opposite to benevolence. For nature knows the importance of harmony and balance far better than we do, offering ecstasy in each little death.

Silently, she encourages us to take what we need and leave the rest alone, for it is out of need (not greed) that we may take without consequence.

But driven by greed, our society has been conditioned to take more than we need.

And so we find ourselves addicted to consumption; to having and devouring as much as we can in our lifetime.

This is our reaction in an effort to reclaim ourselves; to fill the gaping hole that has wounded our soul as we consume ourselves,

bite by bite,

   moment by moment,

  slowly from the inside out.

I can’t get this parable out of my head, so I wanted to share it with you. It is an excerpt from A book by Daniel Quinn – My Ishmael (1997).

You can click on the images to enlarge. Please comment to discuss.

I think the concept of “rights” (human rights, animal rights etc.) is an interesting choice to believe in.

It’s worth considering before you subscribe to this point of view, that the moment you adopt the perception that one has certain “rights”, you also agree that there are other things that you do not have a “right” to pursue.

Interestingly I have found though my own exploration of humanity that, more often then not, those who hold a “superiority complex” in one area of their lives, also hold an “inferiority complex” in some other aspect of their lives (myself included).

You see, the moment we divide ourselves with judgments of “that which we are” and “that which we are not”, we instantly become both.

This is why what we tend to dislike about others is often a confronting reflection of ourselves – though we may choose to deny it.

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,

“You owe Me.”
Look what happens
 with a love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.
—Hafiz

Recently I have been following the work of Charles Eisenstein in his exploration of what he calls “Sacred Economics”. In his book, he explores our historical relationship to money, it’s original purpose and the now warped addiction we have to paper, metal and plastic in this “Age of Separation”.

There are three points he makes that I would like to summarise here, as these insights have really inspired me to adopt a healthier relationship with the universe…

1. We are all born helpless infants; creatures of pure need with little resources to recipricate, yet we are fed, protected, clothed, held and soothed, without having done anything to “deserve it”. This experience, common to everyone who has made it past childhood, informs some of our deepest spiritual intuitions. Our lives are given us; therefore, our default state is gratitude. This is the truth of our existence.

“No wonder ancient religious thinkers said that God made the world, and no wonder they said God gave the world to us. The first is an expression of humility, the second of gratitude. Sadly, later theologians twisted this realization to mean, “God gave us the world to exploit, to master, to dominate.” Such an interpretation is contrary to the spirit of the original realization. Humility knows that this Gift is beyond our ability to master. Gratitude knows that we honor, or dishonor, the giver of a gift by how we use it.”

2. Everything that is sold today was originally a part of the commons – included in the package of life, for all of us to enjoy. As our society has progressed into this Age of Separation however, elements of our communal wealth have been, in effect, stolen to create the commodities traded throughout the world today. You can trace all the materials used for a thing, back to its natural source. This idea of property has perpetuated the ego’s attachment to “mine” and “yours” as we divide our world into increasingly smaller fragments. This is a wound we all feel subconsciously and is perhaps most obvious in the example of property. No longer do we have the luxury to enjoy nature’s beauty like the free animals we were born to be, as our land has been divided and christened with signs proclaiming “PRIVATE PROPERTY – KEEP OUT”.

Take a walk through the country and all humans are bound by the laws of trespassing to stick to the dusty main road while a swallow may carelessly explore whatever territory it wishes.

3. “The urge to own grows in natural response to an alienating ideology that severs felt connections and leaves us alone in the universe. When we exclude world from self, the tiny, lonely identity that remains has a voracious need to claim as much as possible of that lost beingness for its own. “If all the world, all of life and earth, is no longer me, I can at least compensate by making it mine.” Other separate selves do the same, so we live in a world of competition and omnipresent anxiety. It is built into our self-definition. This is the deficit of being, the deficit of soul, into which we are born. And, because there is no apparent limit to what money can buy, our desire for money tends to be unlimited as well.”

I encourage you to indulge your mind in the brilliance of his writing, on a subject that is important for all of us to understand.

You can read Sacred Economics online for free here.

The Toltecs are a fascinating culture to study. Preceding the Aztecs (and often revered by the Aztecs as the wise forefathers), the Toltecs reigned in Southern Mexico around 900AD.

They were known as “artists of life” as their teachings were ultimately directed towards attaining personal freedom and happiness through self-awareness, intent and conscious choice.

They taught their students to explore themselves fearlessly, to know and accept themselves and to author their own life. In two words they taught “Self Actualization”.

Their philosophy is based on two key concepts:

The first is to take responsibility for all of ones experiences in life.

Many of us tend to view (consciously or not) responsibility in a negative light – that we are “at fault” if something goes wrong, and that can be scary. However response-ability is really simply about being able to respond to life to the best of your ability. After all, you can only really be held responsible for the choices you make.

The second fundamental teaching is in realizing that we don’t really see life at all; what we actually see is our own filter system, composed of our conditioned beliefs, expectations, agreements, and assumptions.

In this way, the Toltecs viewed the universe as a complex energy system and sought to perceive things by their true energetic form, recognizing that all energy has consciousness – neither “good”/ “bad” / “positive” or “negative”. Sacred or profane; it’s all the same. Everything is neutral. With this awareness they adopted the power to influence and change their lives to serve and reflect their own divine dreams as they came to understand – and work with - the mechanism of their own filter system.

Related Posts:

• The Four Agreements
• Recapitulation: The Art of Letting Go

So, the Mexican Toltecs have this practice called recapitulation. It involves reviewing the experiences throughout one’s life in order to liberate one’s self from the bind of the ego.

They do this by reliving their interactions with others, breathing rhythmically, and fanning their heads from left to right.

With each exhale, any remaining negative energy is released. With each inhale they reclaim any of their own energy left behind during the event.

Meanwhile, the mind examines the situation – the motives of all involved and the emotions that were provoked as a result of the interaction. This provides insight and the opportunity for a more evolved understanding of one’s self, illuminating the works of the ego and allowing one to detach from the expectations and limitations that have resulted from past experiences.

Since I’ve been practicing this kind of meditation I’ve found it to be a kind of euphoric communion with my higher self. It’s also allowed me to explore how past events have led me to react and ‘protect’ myself from reliving the pain of old wounds. This then got me thinking about the stories we tell ourselves of ‘who we are’ based on our past.

Perhaps you’ve experienced a time, where you’ve just found yourself triggered.

You’re cruising along, in a reasonably good mood and then BAM!! someone says something that just throws you off.

You might have been bullied in primary school and a seemingly playful remark hits a soft spot.

Or, you get a call from a parent that for one reason or another pushes your buttons, leaving you agitated and confused.

It might even be as subtle as the way someone touches you or says your name.

Whatever it is, it triggers you and suddenly you find yourself reacting unconsciously and it’s only later that you wonder what caused you to act in such a primal way. These are the energetic blockages that recapitulation seeks to prevent and undo.

In contemplation of this, it’s been interesting to discover how many eastern cultures encourage one to disidentify from their past.

In India, for example, the Yogis are known to renounce all association to their own personal history. They generally don’t ever speak of the stories of their past openly to others, or if they do so, it is often in the form of an unclaimed parable. In this way their experiences stay personal within them, but also merge with the collective experience of humanity outside of them.

It is said that this practice allows them to live more fully in the present – watching life flow by with non-attachment, like water downstream.

While experience can be a very effective teacher, perhaps the real gift of experience comes once we are able to learn the lesson and then let go of the story with non-attachment.

After all, it is through letting go that we release ourselves from the bind of the ego as by clinging to these stories we tend to separate ourselves from others – saying “look what I did” or “look at what was done to me”. If we are not conscious, we may even subconsciously manipulate these stories in an attempt to establish credibility and power over others.

Ever found yourself replaying a particular interaction in your head over and over?

You might have tried to consciously move on, but for one reason or another your mind just isn’t ready to drop it. Often this is because there is a lesson to be learned or an insight to be gained.

Recapitulation invites one to get to know themselves – the good, the bad and the ugly. Taking this one step further, it helps one to realize the big picture and rise above their everyday egoic pursuits.

It teaches the user to be aware of themselves, without defining themselves by the stories of their past. Because when we define ourselves by our past we sell ourselves short, limiting our potential to grow and to conquer.

Let go of these stories and you unlock the gate to your soul, leaving the future wide open for you to claim your own version of world domination.

“Pain is frightening when it shows its real face, but it’s seductive when it comes disguised as sacrifice or self denial.

If you think you can live without suffering, that’s a great step forward, but don’t imagine that other people will understand you. True, no one wants to suffer and yet nearly everyone seeks out pain and sacrifice, and then they feel justified, pure, deserving of the respect of their children, husbands, neighbours, god.

Does a wife want to show her husband how happy she is? No, she wants him to see how devoted she is, how she suffers in order to make him happy.”

(Paulo Coelho: Eleven Minutes pg.203)