Two Voices

As you go through life, you will come to dis­tin­guish two com­pet­ing voices in your head. They have been dubbed a num­ber of ways. Some refer to them as your lower nature and your higher nature. Oth­ers denote them as ego and self. I like to label them along the lines of tem­po­ral and eter­nal. One thing for sure, mak­ing the dis­tinc­tion takes some spir­i­tual dis­cern­ment. It is cer­tainly easy to get stuck in the lesser one. It is the more directly con­trol­ling of the two and is eas­ily fright­ened into fight/flight reac­tions and the ever illu­sive secu­rity chases.

My ego has strong opin­ions and likes to think it is in con­trol. It over-asserts itself or backs away in shame. All the while my soul watches patiently and steps up to the plate when some real depth is needed. My eter­nal nature passes off the lit­tle slights and fears. It can­not be threat­ened by an opin­ion or any human-generated action. Why would it be con­cerned? It never dies.

The ego goes to the grave. It serves its pur­pose through its asser­tions for a while, but it is more of a cre­ation of our own than any­thing else. It is who I think I am while I am here. It can make some help­ful obser­va­tions, but it lacks eter­nal depth, and it has a ter­ri­ble time try­ing to be silent or still.

If you are pur­su­ing the spir­i­tual life, you will notice that as the years go by you are more at home in your soul. You can rock on the porch with­out think­ing and just be. What oth­ers think of you is less and less a con­cern. You have learned that the lower nature of oth­ers “hooks” your lower nature too. Those expe­ri­ences are just not worth the energy any­more. Being tran­scends doing. An eter­nal smile begins to become fixed between the lines that were once worry and con­cern. Dis­tinc­tions fade as you embrace the whole of life — both here and beyond. You feel less crit­i­cal and more com­pas­sion­ate. The “peace that passes all under­stand­ing” is becom­ing your per­ma­nent home.