Is your ego talking to you?  Are you noticing that you or others around you are defensive? What are you feeling defensive about?   I have observed that the defenses often show up when the stresses of life ignite the our desire to feel safe in our lives.

Lately the world seems to be in the midst of so many conflicting energies that it is hard to keep up with it, even if you want to.  I can max out – what about you- what do you do with the over-stimulated energies of life?   It can be very confusing and  upsetting if we do not have some healthy spiritual tools to work through our thoughts and feelings with.

What are the fences you have erected?

I was listening to the Sunday service yesterday and the minister and speaker, Guandev from the Ananda community, was addressing the topic of Ego- Friend or Foe.  His talk was inspiring and later I found myself thinking about writing this blog.

Parmahansa Yogananda said that “when we are enslaved by the ego, it is the Soul that is identified with the body.”  We are caught up in our likes and dislikes and it is like a ferris wheel that keeps going around in endless circles.

Our souls are stuck in this kind of limited awareness, it is caught up in bundles of self-definitions.  That is an absolute guarantee and ticket to the ferris wheel of life that will always separate you from your loved one, anyone who is different than we are, and all others including our true spiritual selves.

There are so many fences that we erect with the ego.  I am observing how many different kinds of obstacles we have in the way of unity and cooperation.

One is the “chicken wire fence,”  it pokes at the heart and soul of the others in our lives.  It also pokes at and injures us the most.  It creates distance and the experience of rejection because it immediately hurts and feels so badly that no one wants to be around it.  Who wants to feel poked at and hurt by just being around that kind of energy and personality.  It is a dangerous fence and certainly is a tool for distancing and a kind of personalized defense.  It works.  You will be left alone, often angry and stuck in the defensive self.  Does that leave you pointing a finger at someone else?  The answer is to look within.

When I see any fence going up between me and another person I do my best to take mine down unless it is actually unsafe to do so.  That is ours to determine.  Personally I use prayer, affirmation, meditation, chanting, yoga, exercise, and many tools of sacred practice that I have been using for over 30 years of dedicated practice.

Know that you are Loved!   Rev. Barb Walley