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The
Ego and Your Fifth Chakra
©Excerpt based on the book: The Uncommon
Path, O-Books, June 2009.
Mick Quinn's work is also published as
Poder Y
Gracia, Spain - June 2007.
P: Paying
attention is important when translating my thoughts
from intentions to words.
MQ: Yes. Your
words are the bridge between formless and form. And
they have tremendous power -
far beyond that which you may assume. Your
words either support or degrade the conditions for
awakened living.
P: My destiny
is determined from the content of my conversations?
MQ: Yes, and
also the fate of humanity.
P: Really?
MQ: If your
primary reason for being is the evolution of
consciousness and culture, then your words will also
reflect that intention. But often, your interpersonal
exchanges are entirely consumed by the words and
topics of the ego-mind. Inherited ways of conversing
greatly inhibit your chances of uncovering and
sustaining the next level of your spiritual
development. As you
awaken, you will realize just how many conversations
are comprised of nothing more than the ego in
one person talking with the same ego in another
person.
evolutionary pointer: Be sure the ego is not the sole orator of your fifth chakra.
P: Is the fine art of small talk in question?
MQ: No, but
the proliferation of ego prattle prevents exceptional
conversations that can allow everyone to reach beyond
such triviality. Little
progress is possible in awakening to your full
potential if you solely
converse with the lesser-self
amidst your most important relationships.
The awakened life does not preclude harmless
banter, but a slight majority of your dialogues are
also free
of concealed conditioning.
P: And, of course fifty one
percent is ‘slightly’ enough, correct?
MQ: Yes.
P: Therefore, when my goal is to
create the conditions for awakening, it is best that
the words I use and the topics of conversation I
engage in primarily
reflect that intention.
evolutionary pointer: Your intentions—the notions of a future self—may first appear
to you in thoughts or dreams, but do not take
‘form’ until you speak them.
MQ: Primarily, yet not entirely. Wanting to be
free, but talking to or about the unhealthy-ego for
extended periods of time can only create an outcome
beneficial to its agenda.
P: Is it crucial, therefore, to recognize the
unhealthy-ego in speech before it is given a
voice?
MQ: Yes. It is of no use to dissect such a
discourse after
the fact. When you know what to listen for, the
telltale signs of concealed conditioning in
conversations will become obvious and therefore,
perfectly avoidable without effort.
P: With practice, spotting the
unhealthy-ego’s requests to blather will become
second nature?
MQ: Yes. It is quite easy. And don’t be
fooled by those who can wax eloquently on matters of
great depth. Amma, the renowned ‘hugging saint’,
once said, “The
number of scriptures read or satsangs attended is no
criterion for gauging the spiritual evolution
of an individual. They only indulge in intellectual
acrobatics. There is no difference between them and a
tape recorder”.
evolutionary pointer: To an awakened person, a ‘great conversationalist’ often has absolutely
nothing new to say.
MQ:
A quote from the Buddha points
us to the importance of paying attention to our words:
“All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make
the world. Speak or act with an impure mind, and
trouble will follow you.”7
The art of awakening communications, therefore, begins
by establishing if an upcoming dialogue is solely a
request from the unhealthy little-self for sustenance.
P:
And I guess that when I start
to move my attention away from a conditioned way of
conversing that my significant relationships will
respond?
MQ:
Of that, there is no
doubt.
evolutionary pointer: If awakening
reveals that some of your relationships are founded
solely on the grounds of gratuitous ego banter,
simply removing your attention from such a
foundation proves to be a catalyst for profound
transformation.
MQ: Let’s
now look at some common incentives for chatting that
sustain the unhealthy ego-mind. I will not attempt to
describe every possible scenario here, but a
sufficient number to reveal how concealed conditioning
can command your voice or that of the other person.
With a little practice, the influences of this hidden
habituation can easily be identified and cast aside.
P:
I am going to guess that these suggestions will irk
the pathological ego to no end.
MQ:
Indeed, poor thing! Therefore, the reluctance you may
feel—to
the evolution of consciousness—is
simply the forcefulness of individual and collective
conditioning residing within you. Include that
resistance, and you will succeed. Additionally, the
lesser-mind may also try to convince you that these
suggestions will stifle the basic right of passionate
self-expression.
P: Which it doesn’t because I know that awakening
in no way denies my humanity.
MQ:
It is also good to note that chatting with your
favorite waitperson, commenting on a rainy day with
the mailman, or exchanging pleasantries with your
neighbors are not the type of conversations that we
are concerned about here.
evolutionary pointer: Refusing to
share the little-mind in conversation is the
greatest gift you can give another human being.
This is rare; when you see it, cherish it. Emulate
it.
MQ:
The purpose
of these questions is to allow you can hone your
attention to conditioning that is concealed in
conversations, therefore, they should be applied
only to your most important relationships.
A positive answer to any of the following questions
may point toward the unhealthy-ego’s bid to control
the conversations that are relevant to your awakening:
• Do I want to initiate a conversation or
respond to another person because:
– we both enjoy an exchange that is entirely composed of gossip and hearsay?
– small talk is normal in this particular
relationship?
– I’m bored and I want to fill the time talking
about what I happen to be thinking?
– I know this person loves ‘he said, she said’
conversations?
– being with this person in silence would be too
uncomfortable for me?
– if I don’t engage, they might think something is
wrong with me, them or our relationship?
– by
chatting as we normally do, we can
avoid unresolved issues between us?
– I only speak about matters of depth
and consequence in all my other
relationships?
P: But these sound like perfectly normal
topics of conversation.
MQ: 'Normal' to the unhealthy-ego, yes. To the
awakened ear, however, they are simply a distraction
of concealed conditioning in both the speaker and the
listener.
©Excerpt based on the book: The Uncommon
Path, O-Books, June 2009.
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© 2008
Mick Quinn, All Rights Reserved
Mick
Quinn is the author of The
Uncommon Path and Poder Y Gracia
and the founder of Choice
for Enlightened Living Foundation. Mick's work
is quoted in The LA Times, Yahoo!, CNN
Living, and Woman's World. Gary
Renard, the best-selling (Hay
House) author said this book is "informative
and gripping". Raquel
Torrent
– Psychologist
and founder of the Spanish Integral Association
said, “Mick Quinn’s style is clear and direct -
like silence making music”. Mick lives in Utah
with wife Debora. For upcoming events visit: www.mickquinn.com
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