U R UR GURU

Why following someone or something else doesn't work

Ever since I tried to read Deepak’s book, Digital Dharma, I’ve been playing with this idea of a guru. He argues that AI can be your spiritual guru. I’ve got news for you. AI can’t be your spiritual guru. Neither can Deepak. Neither can I. Only YOU can be your spiritual guru. U R UR GURU. How is that possible? Let me explain.

The more you understand yourself and how you are showing up in the world, the closer you get to seeing how far you are away from your True Self. What did she just say? Let’s put it another way.

Every day we put on a mask. Some days, we wear more masks than others. We show up as a daughter or son to our parents (and behave a certain way). We show up for our children (and behave a certain way). We get triggered by something (lately it has been the news for me and we behave a certain way). We show up at work (and behave a certain way). We don’t show up the same way in every situation. These are all facets of our personality. These facets are very important, and as children, we needed them to survive (whether we grew up in a healthy home or not). The ego (personality) is formed so that we can deal with the world.

We all have gifts. We can be amazing at:

1. Making sure things are done right and people are following rules

2. Helping and supporting people

3. Inspiring others to be their best while being our best

4. Seeing the beauty in the world and having a deep sense of emotional intelligence

5. Sharing our knowledge

6. Focusing on community and averting crises

7. Being the cheerleader

8. Challenging ourselves and others

9. Resolving conflict through seeing others’ perspectives

But as we witness these gifts of ours, we can begin to see how, when overdone, they can pull us away from our Truest Self.

1. We can be a stickler and feel we are the only ones who know what is right

2. We can be overly helpful and resent those who don’t acknowledge us

3. We can be workaholics and lose sight of what is important in our lives

4. We can feel misunderstood and like a victim

5. We can over-rationalize and withdraw

6. We can be hyper vigilant

7. We can become so enthusiastic, we over-commit and under-deliver

8. We can be too controlling

9. We can lose sight of our wants and not show up in the world

For every gift, there is an over-doing of this gift. This pulls you away from your True Self - the one that can show up in Presence and do the closest work to what the Universe intended for you. This is what religious dogmas refer to as “sin.” Sin is not immorality. Sin is being off-track. Off-track from your greatest gifts, which can look like showing up as a jerk, needy, bossy, righteous, paranoid, etc. You are the one who has to do the self-reflection. You are the one what will see you are off-track. Believe me, others see it they just don’t always say it. Or if they do, you then show up defended and in conflict (and out of Presence).

So, you can ask AI some generic spiritual questions and you’ll get some generic spiritual answers. You can even ask AI some specific questions about yourself (which I do, and it is very fun, BUT you must be very self-aware). You can also become Deepak’s best friend or even Eckhart Tolle’s, Marianne Williamson or Pema Chodron, But if you don’t do the work of understanding what pulls you out of Presence, then you will never understand the spiritual journey that was intended for each and every one of us. There is no ONE way. There is your way and only your way works for YOU. U R UR GURU and anyone who tells you otherwise is simply misguided. Don’t follow them. Follow you.