Transcending the Desires of the Ego

In this article, I will discuss why following a spiritual path involves overcoming the desires of the ego.

My comments will be based on the teachings of Master Maitreya:

« We have for a very long time presented the path in a different light, namely that it is not mechanical, because the decisive factor for your progress is your willingness to apply the teachings to yourself, look into your subconscious mind, and resolve what we now call the subconscious selves. »[1]

The Mechanical Path and the Inner Path

We all find the spiritual path at different levels of consciousness, but we are certainly somewhere between the 48th and 96th levels. Without the guidance of an Ascended Master, it is very difficult to be ahead of the 96th level of consciousness on Earth, though not impossible.

When we discover the spiritual teachings of the Masters, we adopt the prevalent collective consciousness of what it means to be a 'spiritual person'.

As Master Maitreya says in this discourse, fallen beings designed a 'spiritual path' according to what people on Earth wanted when the fallen beings arrived.

They wanted a set of rules to follow or some magical knowledge imparted by a guru, which they would gladly adhere to in order to achieve what their egos desired in the material world.

They wanted to become masters of matter and, at the same time, perfect their egos so that they could attain salvation, and to this end the fallen beings created moral rules defined by religion or 'mystery schools' to better control the population of Earth.

This defined a mechanical path, or 'outer path', but it does not help us grow as spiritual beings because it focuses on the ego and the sense of identity formed during our time on Earth.

If we ask any ordinary person how they conceive of 'salvation', we will find that everyone – whether religious or part of a 'spiritual community' – believes that it is the external self that needs to be saved.

For millennia, people have completely forgotten that they are more than this outer self, only considering it in relation to salvation.

The inhabitants of Earth created the perfect trap for themselves when they decided that they didn’t want to grow or change; they were content with their lives as they were.

However, since the material environment was not conceived as an unchanging world, this put the planet on a path of self-destruction.

According to Master Maitreya, this is why fallen beings and avatars were authorised to incarnate on the planet: to break the uniformity and stagnation caused by the choices of its inhabitants.

The inner Path is the Only Spiritual Path

Only one approach to the spiritual path serves life and the spiritual growth of any being. Our choices have created countless reactionary patterns in our physical bodies, which we refer to as our subconscious selves.

These selves reinforce the ego and were formed by our past choices and decisions. They have altered our sense of identity, shifting our awareness from that of spiritual beings to accepting our mortality.

Humanity has not only forgotten its connection to the spiritual source, but also its freedom. People have pretended that they are not free and that everything that happens to them is caused by external factors.

This is a consequence of our new sense of identity — the ego — which is unable to perceive internal causes because it lacks self-awareness. The ego merely borrows the self-awareness of the 'conscious you' while the latter identifies with it.

The Spiritual Path aims to help the 'conscious you' awaken from the illusion that it is the outer self and resolve our psychology.

What does this mean? It means that each of us must replace every previous choice we have made in order to progress from a fallen state of consciousness to a choice that connects us to the Christ mind.

Spiritual growth does not happen overnight. Unless we approach this task with determination, we will not grow beyond a certain spiritual limit.

We cannot depend on anyone, no matter how wise or knowledgeable, to tell us how to change.

Each of us must consciously and freely "roll up our sleeves", so to speak, and make new choices and decisions, because the spiritual path is always one of self-awareness.

It is an experiential path — we can only grow by acknowledging that certain past choices no longer serve our growth.

As the masters remind us, only that which is self-conscious and the result of our freedom can be stored in our causal body.

The spiritual path is not about achieving results in the material world, but about changing ourselves. The true treasure we are looking for is inside us — indeed, it embraces us from the heart.

[1] Master Maitreya in Being the Living Christ in Everyday Life, dictated through the messenger Kim Michaels, chap. 29, pg. 349 , 2025, E- book version.