Brave New Kitty

I agree with the basic premise–that we are already Whole–one hundred percent. But I think there’s some confusion in the world of personal growth, particularly in those areas that emphasize a spiritual path toward wholeness, as opposed to Wholeness. The lower-case wholeness refers to ego (or self, if you prefer) soothing, healing, and development, while Wholeness is about ego-transcendence–achieving enlightenment. They are equally important (I know many would argue with that), but very different processes. When the gist is that thoughts about your inherent Wholeness can allow you to bypass ego soothing/healing/development altogether, serious problems can ensue.

We are all already Whole, all already aware, all already enlightened. I’ve had those sublime moments of awareness myself, and they have changed me and how I look at the world much, much, much for the better. But as far as finding comfort for my wounds, my question about this sublime awareness is, “So what?” Because finding comfort from such an awareness is temporary at best, illusory at worst, and chasing after it in order to feel better largely sidesteps the ego healing process, a process absolutely essential to a person’s sense of well being. (It also misses the point about the awareness itself almost entirely, but that is mostly another topic.)

The awareness we’re both talking about is that of nonduality, the belief that everything in the Universe is one Entity. Success Consciousness.com describes it like this:

“The philosophy of Nonduality, or as it is called in India, Advaita-Vedanta, says that there is just One Spirit in the Universe, and that everything, living or inanimate, is an inseparable and indivisible part of this One Spirit. Nonduality further says that it is only illusion, caused by the mind and the play of the senses, which makes us regard the world and everything in it as real and separate from us.”

The illusion of separation is called, then, duality, and it is the world the vast majority of us experience a vast majority of the time (permanent enlightenment occurring in less than one percent of the population). In the dualistic world, our default outlook is one of separation–separation of self from others, separation of mind from body, separation of ego from Wholeness. We live this way because, in a very real sense, we’ve forgotten our True Nature. But the True Nature is always present–so present and so much a part of us (or really, we of it) that it’s like trying to see air, which is why it can be difficult to access, particularly with a thinking, worrying mind. When one has a “peek” experience into nondual awareness (which can occur spontaneously in moments when the mind is off guard, or through sustained effort like meditation or some other practice), there is a sense of sublime serenity and confidence in the rightness of the experience. Unfortunately, these peek experiences are fleeting, and without some formal effort at sustaining them, they fade away into the practical demands of the dualistic world.

So yes, we are already Whole. But what does this really mean? If you take the logic to its fullest conclusion, it means that you don’t have to do anything. You don’t need to meditate or try to quiet your thoughts. No action is required to become Whole because you already are; further, no action can make you whole, because you already are. Conversely, any action you choose to take makes no difference whatsoever. There is nothing you can do or not do in this dualistic world that affects your True Nature in any way.

Remember also that this Wholeness extends beyond human beings. Everything in the Universe is a perfect manifestation of this Wholeness, pristine and exactly as it should be right now. This includes not only nature and music and art, but also toxic waste dumps, the AIDS virus, genocide, global warming, slavery, suicide, abusive parents, everything. If you accept the premise of being already Whole, then you must apply it everywhere, to everything, as that is the basic definition of nonduality (as I understand it). You, me, and the entire Universe are whole and perfect in every way, always and forever. I believe this to be absolutely true.

And yet, doesn’t it seem absurd to say there is no need to work for social change, no need to search for a cure for AIDS, no need to take better care of our planet, no need to address abusive parenting, no need to try to improve the human quality of life or help to ease suffering in any way? In the absolute sense, this is the exactly the case, which is probably why one stereotypical image of an enlightened guru is someone who lives alone in a cave–such a person has decided there is no point in making any other effort. And he is right, and such a decision is just fine from a nondual point of view.

However, most people who achieve permanent enlightenment make the effort to teach. Even though they understand the inherent Wholeness of everything just as it is, they choose to help others have that same understanding. Many of them also have opinions about social justice, politics, the environment, and most of the other ten thousand things in the world of conditions. This is because in the dualistic world, some forms of wholeness are better than others. I don’t fully understand why, but paradoxical as it sounds, taking action toward “better” wholeness is the best decision for most of us most of the time.

Since our ego–our conditioned self–is part of the dualistic world, it requires care, nurturing, and a movement toward “better” wholeness. And the belief that we are already Whole has very little to do with that process. Yes, this thought may provide comfort, but such comfort does little to help the healing process. According to Chogyam Trungpa, a great Tibetan master, relying on the belief of Wholeness to comfort our ego is a form of spiritual materialism, which he wrote about in his classic book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Shambhala Library). It is described as follows:

“Spiritual materialism is the belief that a certain temporary state of mind is a refuge from suffering. An example would be using meditation practices to create a peaceful state of mind, or using drugs or alcohol to remain in a numbed out or a blissful state. …these states are temporary and merely heighten the suffering when they cease. So attempting to maintain a particular emotional state of mind as a refuge from suffering, or constantly pursuing particular emotional states of mind like being in love, will actually lead to more long term suffering.”

It might shock you to think that spiritual practice is not about feeling better, but in its purest form, it isn’t. If the goal is Enlightenment, then spiritual practice is simply, clearly, and exclusively about understanding the true nature of the Universe. Yes, such practice may eventually allow you to transcend your ego, but transcendence is not discounting or diminishing, as a lot of people seem to believe. Transcendence is something else altogether; it can only occur from permanent enlightenment, and until that occurs, the ego plays the lead role in our lives. So the ego is important. Understanding it to the best of our ability is important. And soothing it–feeling better–is important, too; it just isn’t really the point of spiritual practice.

People want to believe that such “spiritual soothing” works because it is vastly simpler and less demanding than all the messy, painful, unpleasant work required to put the pieces of a wounded self/ego back together. They want to believe that the ego doesn’t matter so they can focus on easier problems. But–once again–the ego does matter. Its wholeness determines much about how our lives will play out. A clear spiritual path can certainly help with healing, but it is not the path, nor can it be. Healing the ego is a psychological process, and there are no shortcuts for it, spiritual or otherwise. Intellectual reminders of Wholeness might sometimes be helpful, but more typically, they’re diversions from the real work. And while seeking temporary relief, real issues continue to fester away inside of us.

(Ken Wilber, the great writer and philosopher, does a much better job than I can of describing the ego’s importance here, and also in any number of his books, which I recommend highly to anybody interested in pursuing this topic.)

So yes, we are already Whole. Absolutely and incontrovertibly. And I enjoy being reminded of that. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be working toward ever greater understanding, in the world and in ourselves. Our Wholeness doesn’t depend on it, but our wholeness does.