The Ego of the “Awakened Person”

Many famous people from the West and the East claimed that they have achieved enlightenment. Gurus, authors, charlatans. The problem is not only that they are lying to themselves but actively influencing lives. Any influence based on lies is wrong, despite momentary pleasantness.

There is a point in spiritual work where something shifts.

Subtle changes. Perception sharpens. Thoughts seem to start to "behave".

A certain distance from the usual patterns happen.

...and almost immediately, something else happens:

Maybe not as crudely as “I am the best.” (although somehow Patrick Bateman is a role-model now).

Something more subtle:

“I am awakened.”

To be honest, I'd rather interact with the Patrick Bateman kind!

"DON'T YOU SEE I'M ENLIGHTENED?!"

The Final Defense

The ego does not resist spirituality as that is not its function.

It adapts to everything that happens whether it appears in the inner world or the outer world.

Depending on this dynamic, if it is perceived beneficial, the ego can let go of obvious identities whirling around status, possessions or social roles.

Only to rebuild itself around something far more powerful:

Awakening.

Because now the identity and the Ego is no longer worldly.

It is absolute.

JACKPOT!

The Untouchable Position

Once someone identifies as “awake”, they occupy a position that is difficult to challenge. Any contradiction from that point onwards can be dismissed as:

“You don’t understand”

“You’re not there yet”

“That’s your ego reacting”

This creates an airtight system every sociopath dreams about.

Self-reinforcing.

Self-protecting.

Self-sealing.

Nothing enters that can destabilise it.

Most claims of awakening are based on Machiavellianism, some are based on experience.

Even though most spiritual guides, yoga teachers and meditation Gurus never experienced dhyana, the state of True Meditation, they experienced moments of silence or clarity, some concentration or withdrawal of the senses. This can be rather powerful.

But they are still experiences. Arise, pass then remembered.

And what is remembered can be claimed.

The Ownership Problem

The moment awakening becomes:

“Something I have experienced”

It is already misinterpreted.

Because now there is:

An experiencer

An experience

A memory of it

And that memory, will be devoured by the Ego, so an identity forms:

“I am someone who has seen the truth.”

This is not awakening. It is ownership, and pissing our own pants mesmerised by our own superiority.

The Spiritualised Ego

This version of the ego is harder to detect even from the outside. These people will appear certain, detached, glassy eyes, calm on the outside like they are above all the conflicts of the world. They speak very carefully and use precise language. They refer to deeper ideas even if they fail explaining them but the architecture underneath is identical.

The Fear of Losing Awakening

Once the identity forms, something fragile appears:

The fear of losing it.

So behaviour adjusts predictably :

Avoiding any situations at all cost that may trigger reactivity, struggling to maintain a sweaty "spiritual" image. Suppressing contradictions.

Deepening drops away entirely.

The Ego must preserve the identity of having realised enlightenment, and all the benefits that may come with that, at all cost. To ensure survival. That is the role of the Ego.

One of the clearest signs of this trap is the end of questioning.

Not because everything is clear...

But because questioning would threaten the position.

So instead of:

“What is true?”

It becomes:

“How do I maintain this clarity?”

Practice stops.

Maintenance begins.

Language as Armor

The “awakened” ego often uses language as protection.

Statements like:

“There is no self”

“Everything is illusion”

“There is nothing to do”

Used not as direct expressions or referring to anything.

These are shields to end conversations before they could start. To avoid careful examination and assert finality.

This is the collapse of humility.

Real clarity removes certainty about the self.

False clarity amplifies it.

The difference is subtle but precise:

One claims “There is no solid ground here, everything I knew was the Veil of Maya"

The other claims: “I have found the ground and the absolute truth with it”

And from that false claim, clarity and humility disappear abruptly.

This trap is so persistent because it feels complete.

There may be some understanding, some insight, some quiet, just enough to create a conviction, but never enough to dissolve the one holding that conviction.

So the process freezes at a certain plateau of understanding, hidden behind the "nappy-full-of-poop" smile. You know exactly what I mean.

The Critical Distinction

Awakening is not becoming someone who "knows".

It is the collapse of the one who needs to know.

If someone can claim it, defend it, maintain it:

It is still within identity.

Any position that can be held can become identity.

Even:

“I am nobody”

“There is nothing here”

“All is one”

These can all be claimed and once claimed, they function like any other belief.

Stabilising the self. No more, no less.

There is no dramatic solution to this.

No new teaching or higher concept.

Only a simple, destabilising observation:

Who is claiming this?

Not as a question to answer but as something to look at directly.

Without turning it into another position.

The ego of the “awakened person” is the most refined form of self-preservation.

It does not seek validation and it does not seek approval like the "common egos" on social media.

This "awakened" ego seeks something far more stable:

Finality.

And it finds it by turning awakening into identity.

But real awakening leaves nothing.

Nothing to hold.

Nothing to claim.

Nothing to defend.

Nothing to maintain.

And that is exactly why it cannot become a position.

It is beyond.