A Declaration of Integrity

I have always been very up front about the demanding nature of the path that I teach. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve ever given a teaching, to a small or large gathering, in public or in private, where I have not implicitly or explicitly repeated this mantra, over and over again: “If you really want to do this, it’s going to take everything you’ve got, and more . . .” Why do I say this? Because I know it’s true. That’s what it has taken and continues to take for me, every single day, to live this extraordinary life. And I believe that for anyone who is truly serious about the evolution of consciousness and making a real difference in this world, it will take the same. It’s neither a game nor a part-time endeavor. That’s why the first tenet of my teaching, which lays the foundation for absolutely everything else, is called Clarity of Intention, and it states that in order to succeed, the desire to evolve has to become more important than anything else.

To some, this may sound extreme. But it’s simply the nature of what I teach and who I am. And to those who see themselves as being truly serious about the spiritual endeavor, it’s exactly what is so compelling about me as a teacher and the path that I teach. It’s definitely not for everybody—that’s been true from the very beginning and it’s also never been a secret. The path that I call Radical Transformative Impersonal Evolutionary Enlightenment or, simply, Evolutionary Enlightenment, is a complete path, in that it offers a total engagement with the spiritual life in a postmodern context. That’s not to say that there aren’t many ways for people to engage with and benefit from this teaching in the context of the lives they are already living—indeed, I have a whole international network of students who are doing just that. But what is interesting is that this teaching has from the very beginning inspired some to leave behind their former lives so that they could wholeheartedly pursue the thrilling potential of the higher vision that they had seen. As a matter of fact, in the early days I was often amazed to see how many people seemed to feel compelled to take that step, even though way back then it was not something I had planned or expected.

The inherently all-consuming nature of the spiritual/evolutionary impulse itself is one of the things that has been grossly misrepresented by those who seek to undermine me and the potential of the bold experiment my students and I are engaged in. It’s often portrayed as if a life of total engagement is somehow being forced upon individuals, rather than being a freely chosen, truly higher aspiration. But of course, the radical and revolutionary nature of my vision has always been perceived as a threat to the status quo of our postmodern, egalitarian, pluralistic culture where the passing whims and desires of the individual, enlightened or not, are always held more sacred than any higher context, calling, or purpose.

One of the most powerful transformative experiences people have with this teaching is the discovery of a profound sense of purpose. That deepest of revelations—that it means something to exist—frees us from the deadliest existential sickness of modernity and the postmodern revolution: nihilism, the often not-so-conscious fear at the core of our being that existence is meaningless. After all, what could give the alienated self a greater sense of purpose than being a vehicle for the evolution of consciousness itself, which is what this teaching is all about? But of course, to be in a position to authentically and consciously participate in the evolution of consciousness, in the creation of a spiritual revolution, an enormous price has to be paid.

Being deeply inspired by the idea of creating a spiritual revolution is one thing. Being prepared to follow through on what that actually means is another thing altogether. There’s something very romantic about the idea of being a revolutionary, and for postmodern narcissists, which most of us are, it can be an irresistibly compelling self-image. But whether there is any substance behind that image is a different story. Historically, when human beings have created real revolutions, overthrowing the old in order to create the new, they have been willing to die for their ideals. For one who is not a real revolutionary, however, but has become identified with the idea of being one, the dawning recognition that one is not really prepared to pay the price—which in this case means ego-transcendence—can be deeply shattering to the image of oneself as a strong and courageous individual who is devoted to a higher purpose. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen. Ironically, it is the ultimate humiliation for the ego to come face to face with its own unwillingness to transcend itself. It is this simple but tragic predicament that has been at the core of some of my former students’ unabated resentment and narcissistic rage.

The fundamental obstacle to any authentic teaching of enlightenment, past or present, is the ego, or the sense of an individual self that always sees itself as inherently separate from all of life, from the very process that produced it. And the contemporary expression of this perennial foe of radical transformation is more powerful and sophisticated than ever before. As a result of the evolution of our own culture, the serious spiritual aspirant today must do battle with the highly developed, super-individuated, cynical, extremely narcissistic, “nobody-tells-me-what-to-do” postmodern self-sense that is the product of the latter half of the twentieth century. And authentically evolving beyond the powerful grip of that false self is no joke! I think too many of us may underestimate what it actually takes to transcend its allure to such a degree as to be able to manifest a meaningful, measurable, and authentic degree of freedom and autonomy in relationship to it.

I know there are those who are convinced that seeing ego as a problem is an outdated perspective that only adds fuel to the fire, and that simply “accepting” and “making space” for it is the more “enlightened” approach. But I beg to differ. It may sound good in theory, but the ability to recognize ego for what it is, in all its gross and often very subtle manifestations, to “accept” it and simultaneously not act out of it, requires a level of self-mastery that, to be brutally honest, is attained by very few. I have found that for most, transcending what would traditionally be called our “lower impulses” may require the willingness to struggle as if our life depended on it. Because if we want to evolve beyond ego in a way that is truly going to make a difference, it literally does.

It is for this reason that I am not and never have been the kind of teacher who will tell people, “You’re wonderful just as you already are,” because unless they have been born saints (after all, such things are possible), it simply isn’t likely to be the case, and there’s no doubt that they, as we all do, have a long way to go. And for extreme narcissists, facing this simple fact seems to be quite a challenge. As ridiculous as it sounds, for the postmodern seeker, the most shocking revelation is that they are not necessarily the inherently wonderful, decent, good, caring, well-intentioned soul (with maybe just a few minor flaws to shake off) that they had always secretly believed themselves to be. In fact, the gap between where we’re actually at and where we should be aspiring to reach if we’re serious about evolving in a profound way is usually far wider than we would care to imagine. Authentically endeavoring to face that gap directly is where most people balk.

In traditional, Eastern, premodern enlightenment, the ego was an obstacle because as long as one was hypnotized by its endless fears and desires, it was impossible to let go of compulsive identification with the mind and time and experience the bliss of Being. These days, the modern Western counterparts of those traditions, if they see the ego as a problem at all, do so only because it is the source of psychological pain and fear. But what I’m teaching is, dare I say it, a new kind of enlightenment, in which the goal is not only an individual attainment, but more importantly, a collective emergence that has tremendous evolutionary significance for us all. And therefore, I say the ego’s a problem for a much bigger reason: because the degree to which we are identified with it is the degree to which we inhibit our own potential to consciously participate in the evolutionary process. When the goal is to create a new stage of development in time and through the mind, ego is no longer just a personal psychological problem. It’s the one and only obstacle to the emergence of a new and glorious future. The creation of that future is what this teaching is dedicated to.

The whole idea is the cultivation of a new world in which human beings are able to meet each other in a shared, intersubjective, egoless field beyond fear and self-concern. A field where the very ground of human relationship is union, or what is traditionally called nonduality—the Oneness inherent in all of life that is discovered in spiritual revelation. In that infinitely compelling vision, one glimpses a completely new order of human potential, ecstatically experienced as unbearable positivity and the inspired passion to create, in time, in relationship, the manifest expression of the very glory one is being overwhelmed by.

The creation of such a future is entirely dependent upon cultivating a network of relationships with other individuals who are also freely choosing to embrace such an awesome task. And therefore, in this evolutionary context, one’s relationship to ego would have to become deadly serious, awake, mindful, and heroic. Keeping one’s ego in check for the sake of such a high and noble endeavor is extremely demanding, to say the least. But what a payoff! If there was ever any reason to transcend the fears and petty concerns of the narcissistic ego, this has surely got to be it—the utopian ideal of creating heaven on earth. And for those who are truly inspired and committed to the highest spiritual ideals, as outrageous as it sounds, why not at least try?

The most inspired spiritual luminaries and their followers throughout history have almost always, in one form or another, been trying to create heaven on earth. Of course, I am also aware that some of the most deranged, deluded, and dangerous megalomaniacs in our spiritual and social history have persuasively proclaimed utopian idealism and wreaked havoc in its name. For every Buddha, there’s been a Jim Jones; for every Martin Luther King, Jr., there has been a Hitler; and I’m sure that will remain the case well into the distant future. But unlike so many of my contemporaries, I have never used this as an excuse to dampen my spiritual fire and my passion for and commitment to what, against all odds, I know is actually possible. I’m talking about a truly committed engagement with the fullest expression of the spiritual impulse—taking the risk of reaching for the highest, alone and together, to see how far we can take this.