"Ego is… if you want to have altered states of consciousness,
most people are already in one of the more wild altered states
of consciousness. It's called egoic state of consciousness.
It's a wildly altered state of consciousness.
It gets you to perceive things that aren't there.
It gets you to see enemies where there aren't any.
It gets you to see dualities where there aren't any.
It gets you to have things like a self-image
when there isn't a 'self' there to the begin with.
It gets you to have certain thoughts about yourself
when in actuality the only thing that could be called a 'self' at all
is simply the thought you have about it.
most people are already in one of the more wild altered states
of consciousness. It's called egoic state of consciousness.
It's a wildly altered state of consciousness.
It gets you to perceive things that aren't there.
It gets you to see enemies where there aren't any.
It gets you to see dualities where there aren't any.
It gets you to have things like a self-image
when there isn't a 'self' there to the begin with.
It gets you to have certain thoughts about yourself
when in actuality the only thing that could be called a 'self' at all
is simply the thought you have about it.
So if you want altered state of consciousness I'd stick with ego.
It's about as advanced as you are going to get. It is existence, you know, doing its damnedest, its best job at altering consciousness.
And yet in spirituality somehow, spirituality got associated with altered states of consciousness. You can alter your state of consciousness.
Lots of the types of spirituality the people practice,
they'll alter your state of consciousness.
You can chant God's name for four or five hours,
you'll notice your consciousness starts to alter, change.
You'll feel different, things will look different.
All sorts of things you can do to alter your state of consciousness.
But the funny thing is, enlightenment has nothing to do with any of that. Enlightenment is the unaltered state of consciousness.
Consciousness needs no alteration to see that everything is One.
Since everything IS One you don't need the altered state of consciousness to perceive that everything is One.
You need the altered state of consciousness to perceive
that everything is actually more than One,
like two or three or four or five or ten or a thousand."
~ Adyashanti
It's about as advanced as you are going to get. It is existence, you know, doing its damnedest, its best job at altering consciousness.
And yet in spirituality somehow, spirituality got associated with altered states of consciousness. You can alter your state of consciousness.
Lots of the types of spirituality the people practice,
they'll alter your state of consciousness.
You can chant God's name for four or five hours,
you'll notice your consciousness starts to alter, change.
You'll feel different, things will look different.
All sorts of things you can do to alter your state of consciousness.
But the funny thing is, enlightenment has nothing to do with any of that. Enlightenment is the unaltered state of consciousness.
Consciousness needs no alteration to see that everything is One.
Since everything IS One you don't need the altered state of consciousness to perceive that everything is One.
You need the altered state of consciousness to perceive
that everything is actually more than One,
like two or three or four or five or ten or a thousand."
~ Adyashanti