11. Hiding out in a spiritual identity.

Perhaps you have grown beyond your earlier life programming, having been exposed to the Path and these very powerful teachings. Maybe you have let go of some karma, and you are now more centered than you have ever been before. People around you notice this, and start to see you as spiritual, as evolved, as special, etc… And your ego loves this and clings to it. It gets all this approval, admiration and attention, (which it may never have had before) and it is SO tempting to just hang out here, rather than continue to let go, remaining humble, and using your life as an offering of Love and service to all. The person acquires a spiritual identity. A ‘healer’, a ‘teacher’, a ‘spiritual person’, etc… and it gets secret juice from this position. You start to get the love you always craved, and you mistake its source as being the approval of others (rather than your own approval of self). The problem with any identity, is that it requires effort to keep it going, creating constant anxiety. This is exhausting and draining, and stifles further growth. Being ‘special’, or ‘spiritual’, are just more ways in which the mind separates itself from the One, and always leads to feeling isolated and separate from Grace.