... of mine subscribes to a cute little email service called "The Daily Guru."

Each day, this service sends a message of encouragement or support, usually including one or several quotes from different respected spiritual leaders.

The message for Tuesday, November 1st read as follows:

"Ego's Tricks"

"One of the great dangers of transformational work is that the ego attempts to sidestep deep psychological work by leaping into the transcendent too soon. This is because the ego always fancies itself much more "advanced" than it actually is."

-- Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson

The Tibetan teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, warned of the trap of spiritual materialism. He says we must be ever diligent to spot the ego's use of the spiritual journey to further its own ends. We may think it's spiritual to yearn for divine connection. And yet, if the longing is to fill an emptiness inside, just how does this differ from the one who yearns for money or possessions to fill the inner void? Do we look to our spiritual practices as proof of our evolved consciousness or as protection against fears?

Any time we use spiritual disciplines to maintain our identity and security, we are not yet on the path of genuine spiritual development.

"Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment."

-- Chogyam Trungpa

For me, this type of message always conjure images of a delighted Homer Simpson and Apu as they climb an impossibly tall mountain to seek the guidance of the benevolent and enlightened president and C.E.O. of Kwik-E-Mart!!

However, this one was a little bit more interesting in that it somehow resonated with recent thoughts with which I've been struggling. The notion of "enlightenment" can be a very trendy thing, and just like everything else, there are false versions of it that are just as harmful and addicting as any other dependence can be.

It's a bit ironic coming from something called "The Daily Guru," however, because that same trendiness is what makes services like this successful!!! In fact, all of the self-help books and videos are guilty of covertly navigating this divide simply due to the dual nature of publishing a spiritual message in a capitalist society. One would think that a book, which directs its readers toward detachment from all material possessions, shouldn't be sold for money! But, here we are.

The conundrum is that human beings are, by design, dualistic creatures. And, this has always been amazingly fascinating to me. We're individual animals living in a place where we must be dependent on certain external sustaining forces to survive (i.e. food, water, sex, and in most societies ... money!). But, we're also driven to uncover our spiritual connection as well ... something that by its very nature should lead us to forgo our individuality in deference to our universal connectedness ... or whatever common parlance is calling it these days.

I personally think that it's this struggle between those two driving forces that defines us as human beings. Fancy people have writing about the concept for thousands of years using countless metaphors: yin and yang, male and female, heaven and earth, physical and spiritual. This surplus of available examples indicates a struggle that has been going on throughout history. People have been searching for an explanation for this dichotomy for thousands of years, and trying to explain it using whatever the current debate is.

I think the only way to be truly enlightened is to have finally conquered that duality; to be a master of both your physical and your spiritual side. The yin yang symbol has two opposing sides, but it's the whole circle, the two sides together, that comprises the complete symbol. It's the combination of the two opposed forces that creates the peace the symbol represents.

Anything for which you actively wish, or strive, or reach in life is part of the material world. If it's a desire that you feel as though you "need" ... it's an animal desire; a physical desire. Even when it's a "need" to be spiritually advanced, it still falls into this category. This, I believe, is the mistake that causes fanatically "religious" people to be so preachy and act so entitled. They see themselves as more spiritually advanced than others. They think they're the ones who have it right, and everyone else is simply splashing around in the shallow waters just trying to stay afloat. But even in the Christian mythology, Jesus doesn't differentiate between this person and that. He doesn't believe any one is more advanced than the next. He doesn't even separate himself from the group. He says things like, "we are all ..." and, "Our father ..." He felt his connection to all of them.

When you begin to slowly realize, piece by piece, that you don't need anything ... that none of these material wants and desires matters in the least. I believe that's the true spiritual journey. Strip away all of the so-called needs, and sever your dependence on any of the material, worldly ideas or goals. That would be truly enlightened.

But, unfortunately we live in a society that values material success. In fact, I personally live in a city that thrives on it! As a result, my version of the conundrum seems somehow amplified. With all of this stimuli calling me to lose myself in the "deep" end of the pool, how can I possibly stay afloat using only my version of the spiritual search?

One of my favorite quotes seems to answer this question as it speaks to the very duality that causes it. It's a Taoist verse that instructs, "Live wholly in the world while maintaining a connection to the source." My interpretation is that we are living in this world, as physical beings, for a reason ... so let's live fully. Let's have a robust, abundant life. But, let's not allow ourselves to get lost in it all the details of it ... the minutia. Let's always actively maintain a connection to the "source" ... "god" ... "nature" ... whatever you want to call it. If we struggle to constantly put all of our day-to-day stuff against that backdrop ... if we work hard to enjoy our connection to everything that goes on around us ... every day ... I think then we'll be all right.

Because, in the end, and I think it was the great sage Homer Simpson who said it, "It's all just a bunch of stuff that happened."