About ego, psyche and spiritual consciousness: Expanding the mind without understanding

What is (spiritual) consciousness and where does it originate? Both religion and science are still trying to answer these questions today. Rarely do we pause for a moment and realize the fact that we can consciously perceive our own consciousness. But even if many of us spend our lives very carelessly, we still have a consciousness. You don't necessarily have to be spiritual to recognize this truth. However, developing a spiritual awareness of yourself and your life means consciously immersing yourself in this awareness on a journey of exploration.

And what exactly is spirituality? In the broadest sense, spirituality is the search for the self. However, it is not about what we often understand as 'self' nowadays, namely our own body and mind. When we say "I", we normally refer to the person and personality we know ourselves to be - this self does not need to be found. However, many people reach a point in their lives where they can intuitively sense that this is not all there is and the search for their true self, their own spirituality, their inner life, begins. A spiritual awareness arises and leads people on what is probably the most exciting journey in this life: the journey back to themselves.

Spiritual awakening is the moment or process in which a person becomes aware of the fact that they are not the person, but the consciousness behind the person. This can be a gradual, step-by-step process as well as a sudden awakening. This spiritual awakening can be triggered by a life-changing event, such as an accident or a diagnosis of illness. Of course, this does not mean that everyone who has had difficult experiences in their life is automatically spiritual or "woke". However, there is basically a very strong tendency: there seems to be a direct correlation between personal suffering and spiritual awakening. This is probably because the greater the pain, the more intense the search for healing or a way out of the current situation. You begin to question yourself and your environment.

The process or moment of spiritual awakening is very different for many people and is difficult to categorize into different phases. However, most people go through the following phases at least once:

• Awakening: This is where you become aware of the fact that you are more than just your body and mind. You start to question what this "more" is and explore your own consciousness. You begin to understand that you are not a separate being in a hostile universe, but connected to everything around you. The victim mentality is slowly discarded and creative leadership is taken over in your own life.
  
• Dark Night of the Soul: After their awakening, many people go through a period in which their newfound spiritual awareness brings old beliefs to the surface so that they can be dissolved. This network of thoughts and emotions, usually formed in childhood, shows us where we have limited ourselves up to now. These beliefs have been with us all along and we have unconsciously let them guide us through life, but now we can consciously look at them for the first time. Sometimes it feels as if a veil has been lifted and we can suddenly put past situations into a completely new perspective. However, this phase can be associated with very strong, negative or painful emotions, as old emotions linked to the beliefs are experienced again.
  
• Activating our own creative power: In this phase, we begin to understand how much influence we have over our lives and start to actively shape them. We understand that we are the spiritual consciousness behind everything and that it is this consciousness that shapes our entire life. We understand that we can be who we want to be.

Spiritual transformation is rarely a linear process and you usually go through these phases several times in your life. Often the dark phases in particular are very strongly rejected until you understand that it is precisely this stage of spiritual transformation that offers an incredible opportunity to let go of the things that are not good for you - and this applies not only to the world of matter, but also to thoughts and emotions. It is a time of purification and coming home to yourself.

If you are asking yourself this question, chances are that you are already in the midst of it. Basically, however, spiritual awareness develops on its own path - and cannot be forced. We have compiled a list of a few things below that can help you on your journey to yourself:

• Self-reflection: To find out who you really are, you need to question everything you think you know about yourself
• Look for role models: Podcasts, YouTube channels and books by people you admire will help you to think outside the box
• Get help: you don't have to do everything alone - psychological counseling can be a good sparring partner
• Connect with like-minded people: Having people in your life who are currently on the same path makes the journey easier
• Meditate: Meditation allows you to take a closer look at yourself and perhaps hear a lot of things that you don't notice in the hustle and bustle of everyday life

One of the greatest catalysts for developing spiritual awareness is a partnership. Due to the close bond with our partner, this special relationship serves to mirror our own beliefs more closely. This can be very difficult and exhausting at times, but at the same time it also offers the opportunity to take a closer look. As the biggest mirror we have in life, our partnership shows us exactly where we can still work on ourselves.

In principle, it is possible to use various tools to expand our consciousness, but we should also remain aware of the fact that the development of spiritual awareness often goes its own way and we are constantly confronted with surprises. One of the reasons for this is that we see the process of becoming spiritually aware mainly from the limited perspective of our ego and the bigger picture remains hidden from us. We can also ask ourselves why we are in such a hurry to expand our spiritual awareness. It is one of the civilization diseases of our time that we always want to do everything faster and better - but this is precisely the opposite intention of promoting our spiritual awareness. This is not about self-optimization, but about self-discovery, and in an effort to develop a higher consciousness for oneself and one's environment, these ways of thinking must be discarded sooner or later.

Nevertheless, it will always happen that we allow ourselves to be guided by our ego instead of listening to our Higher Self - the more conscious we become, the sooner we will notice this. What is the ego? Spiritually speaking, the ego is the person we identify with and everything that goes with it. Our name, our body, our thoughts and emotions. The Higher Self, on the other hand, is the part of us that has never lost access to higher levels of consciousness and guides us through synchronizations, experiences and intuition. The Higher Self is often referred to as the soul or Divine Self. And although the importance of the Higher Self and the differentiation from the ego is particularly important in the initial phases of our spiritual development, it is equally important to recognize that at a certain point, even this subdivision becomes irrelevant. Ultimately, everything is one and this division into different categories does not take place on all levels of consciousness.

It is possible to dissolve the ego, but probably not in the way you think. Like everything, the ego has a very specific purpose. Only through your ego do you have the opportunity to experience the world as it is. The ego limits you to a single level of consciousness - what we call reality. To dissolve it would mean no longer being able to perceive the world as you know it. However, that is not your original intention. You are here to get to know and rediscover yourself from this perspective. It is also not necessary to dissolve the ego in order to expand your spiritual awareness. On the contrary: the realization is that your ego does not really limit you. You are the ego - and at the same time everything that is. Isn't that much more exciting than assuming that you have to get rid of something? The ego is just as much a part of you as your higher self, it is all you. Making a judgment would mean not accepting parts of yourself. Does that sound like spiritual awareness?

By the way: there is also a collective spiritual consciousness, or ego. This term refers to the collective consensus that exists on many topics. For example: eating vegetables is healthy. This is a collective belief that everyone in this space-time dimension has agreed on.

Indeed, taking psychedelics (whether LSD, mushrooms, ayahuasca or others) has interesting effects on our spiritual consciousness. Through hallucinogens, a temporary "ego death" can be achieved, helping us to expand our spiritual awareness and gain insight into higher levels of spiritual consciousness. This ego death can be quite terrifying as you leave everything you know behind. It's important to note that the ego doesn't actually die, you just have access to levels of consciousness at this moment that you can't otherwise perceive through the lens of your ego. This can help you gain a broader understanding of who you really are.

Caution: When using psychedelics, a distinction must be made between highdosing and microdosing - the latter is more helpful for more energy in everyday life than for spiritual expansion of consciousness. Self-experimentation should always take place with the necessary preparation.

Does it all sound very complex? It is - and at the same time it is not. On this journey, you often have to leave logic behind and embrace the paradox. Developing your own spiritual awareness is a personal and individual process and the best teacher for you is yourself. You know where you are going and even if it sometimes seems as if you have forgotten it, this knowledge is within you. All the gurus and spiritual teachers who may have already helped you on your path or will help you in the future can only do one thing: Show you the way back to your own knowledge and spiritual awareness.