Tag: Ego

Chase Your Own Tail with Full Awareness

The mind has always been fascinated with pursuit; chasing meaning, purpose, love, and even itself. Every spiritual seeker eventually discovers that what is being sought is also what is doing the seeking. This circular dance is not an error of logic but an essential revelation of consciousness attempting to know its own face.

Self-awareness begins as observation: the witness looking at the one who thinks, feels, or reacts. Yet as the circle tightens, the observer realizes it too is being observed. Awareness turns upon itself, chasing its own tail. The chase appears endless, yet there is no distance between hunter and hunted. Each rotation refines perception until the realization dawns; nothing was ever outside the circle.

To chase your own tail with full awareness is to engage life without trying to escape its paradoxes. The ego may protest, craving resolution, but awareness thrives in the friction between motion and stillness. Every question collapses into its own answer when seen through this lens. Each loop reveals that the seeker and the sought are made of the same light, turning endlessly within a field that neither begins nor ends.

Such pursuit is not futility; it is awakening disguised as repetition. The circle is not a trap; it is the geometry of return. The tail you chase is your own forgotten wholeness, the reminder that every step forward curves you back into what has always been whole, complete, and awake.

To awaken is not to stop the chase, but to see that you were never moving at all.

Morgan O. Smith

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The Hidden Genius Behind Laughing Yoga

When I first heard about laughing yoga, a practice where you deliberately laugh or even laugh silently within, it struck me as absurd. I dismissed it as theatrical, maybe even frivolous. Then I learned that OSHO had introduced it, and my skepticism deepened. What could possibly be the purpose of such a practice?

I come from a stand-up comedy background, having worked as a comedian for 12 years, 10 of those before I began meditating. One thing I know about laughter is that when someone hears a joke and laughs at the punchline, they must momentarily surrender a part of themselves. The ego’s protective shell, the facet of self concerned with judgment, insecurity, shame, and embarrassment, drops away in that instant. To truly laugh, one has to release these defences and embrace the moment without resistance.

This same mechanism operates on a far greater scale during a spiritual awakening. When the “cosmic joke” lands, it demands the complete surrender of all defences, along with the entire sense of self. The one who hears the punchline is the same one telling it, and in the moment of hysterical laughter, the separation between “comedian” and “audience” dissolves entirely. Sometimes, that laughter is so overwhelming it flows with unstoppable tears of joy, as if the heart itself is laughing through the eyes.

It’s in that context that OSHO’s laughing yoga makes profound sense. Perhaps it was never just about forcing a laugh, but about training the body and mind to tolerate joy without flinching, to let go of identity without panic. By practicing laughter, you prepare the psyche for the day it encounters the greatest punchline ever told.

Morgan O. Smith

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It’s Not About You, or Me

You may resist hearing it, but nothing here was designed to serve your preferences. Existence doesn’t negotiate with your plans. The ocean doesn’t adjust its tides because you’re having a hard day. Mountains don’t bow to your ambitions. Storms don’t hold back for your convenience.

There is a strange freedom in recognizing that you are not the axis of this world. Your fears, longings, and beliefs are weather patterns blowing through a vast sky. Even your discomfort with this fact is not a problem to be solved—it is part of the very order you imagine resisting.

Ask yourself: When did this story become about you? When did the measure of truth narrow to fit your tastes? The self who wants life to behave is so small it forgets it is born of the very forces it wants to command. You and I are not exceptions to the flow. We are the flow.

Even the frustration that arises when someone says “everything happens as it should” is folded within the shape of things. It isn’t an error. It’s another ripple on the water, another branch growing from the same root.

There is no special exemption that spares you from the dance of impermanence. Life moves through every form—including your insistence that it ought to be different. Even that protest is part of the design.

So let go of the idea that it’s about you, or about me. Something far more mysterious is moving all of this, and we are its fleeting expressions—here for a moment, dissolving back into the whole.

Morgan O. Smith

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The Root of Choice

True Free Will and the Causal Realm

Most speak of choice as if it lives at the surface, where preference, fear, habit, and desire jostle for control. But what if true free will does not arise there at all? What if it exists at the root, before thought forms into options, before “I want” emerges to justify itself?

This root is the causal realm: the source of all motion, where intention is not split from manifestation. It is not personal will in the usual sense—no ego negotiating with life to get what it wants. Instead, it is pure causality aware of itself, setting everything in motion without conflict or division.

At the surface, people speak of freedom as the power to choose between alternatives. Yet these alternatives are already conditioned. They are branches of a tree whose root has already determined their growth. To speak of freedom at the stem while ignoring the root is to mistake effect for cause.

However, the paradox reveals itself when one sees no real division between root and stem. The freedom to choose at the surface becomes genuine only when it is recognized as the expression of the root itself. Every choice becomes the revelation of causality. There is no separate chooser apart from the choosing.

This is what lies beyond the ego’s belief in control. The ego claims “I choose” without realizing that its very claim is already part of the causality it denies. True free will is not the assertion of control over life but the recognition that you are life itself choosing, moving, unfolding.

To see this is to dissolve the illusion of separation. Responsibility is no longer a burden but realization: the root chooses through you, as you. There is no conflict left. Choice becomes transparent, ego falls away, and causality shines unbroken.

This is freedom—not as license, not as negotiation, but as total alignment with the source of all that arises.

Morgan O. Smith

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The Rapture of Letting Go

Presence is not a prize to be won or a fortress to defend. It is not some static peak upon which the awakened are meant to perch forever, unmoved and untouchable. The pursuit of a “permanent state” of anything—even presence—quietly binds us again to the illusion we sought to transcend. It becomes another mask of the seeker, cloaked in stillness, trembling behind the veil of spiritual ambition.

States rise and dissolve. Rapture comes like a summer breeze and vanishes just as gently. Then irritation, confusion, boredom. Then clarity. Then fog. The parade continues, not because you are failing, but because you are alive.

To lose attention is not to lose awareness. What perceives the loss? What observes the drift and the return? That witnessing is untouched. It is not opposed to distraction, nor does it seek permanence. It simply is, always.

Clinging to peace is no different from clinging to pain. The grasping hand is the same. When rapture becomes an achievement, it quietly rots. But when it is allowed to dance freely—hidden beneath the dishes in the sink, behind the silent gaze on the subway, or in a burst of sudden awe at the sky—then it becomes alive again.

You can continue to practice, to breathe, to cultivate. But do so like a child builds a sandcastle: for the love of it, not to resist the tide. Joy, too, is a practice. But it must remain unhooked from outcome.

There’s a kind of rapture in the background hum of your own awareness—even when the foreground is chaos. That quiet clarity never left. You’re not missing the moment. You are the moment, passing through its own reflections. And if you laugh at the absurdity of forgetting and remembering over and over again, then perhaps that’s the most awakened thing of all.

Morgan O. Smith

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The Throne of Illusions

How the Mind Deifies Itself

The mind constructs its ruler—a sovereign draped in reverence, sculpted from ideals we exalt but refuse to embody. This deity is not an external force but a projection of the highest aspects of ourselves, polished and placed on an altar beyond reach. It is the sum of virtues we admire but disown, an illusionary monarch fashioned by the governing voice of the psyche.

This entity—crafted from moral codes, cultural doctrines, and inherited beliefs—sits enthroned above the nature it was designed to suppress. It governs impulses deemed unruly, desires cast into shadow, and instincts labeled sinful. To tame the wildness within, the mind erects an overseer—one adorned in righteousness, one feared yet adored.

But this sovereign is nothing more than an elaborate mirage, a construct sustained by collective faith. Every attribute labeled “good” is stripped from the individual and projected outward, transformed into a divine presence we serve rather than integrate. This keeps virtue at a distance, shimmering like unreachable jewels in an unseen vault. The self, fragmented by this artificial hierarchy, remains divided—some aspects glorified, others buried in shame.

Like all forms of dominion, this imagined rulership thrives on submission. Fear fuels its reign, whispering myths of punishment and reward. The throne itself is upheld by those who kneel before it, unaware that they are the architects of their captivity. Yet, the power we assign to this fabricated ruler has always belonged to us. The virtues we attribute to it are the very qualities waiting to be reclaimed.

The moment one ceases to externalize greatness, the illusion collapses. No ruler remains—only an undivided self, whole and sovereign.

Morgan O. Smith

Yinnergy Meditation/Neurofeedback, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!

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The Hidden Beast

A Reflection of the Disowned Self

A cunning force moves through the unseen corridors of the unconscious, concealed within those who reject the parts of themselves they fear most. It does not wear horns or breathe fire, nor does it announce its presence with grand gestures. Instead, it drapes itself in the illusion of virtue, speaking with the tongue of righteousness while burying its most primal aspects beneath layers of denial.

This force is not the false prophet itself but the unclaimed shadow—the rejected fragment of the psyche that festers in the void of self-neglect. It lingers where awareness falters, whispering through the cracks of pretense, waiting for moments of weakness to make itself known. Some may catch its presence through a subtle unease, a tension within that signals something amiss. The senses pick up on what the eyes cannot see.

The more one denies this silent presence, the more erratic its manifestations become. When left unacknowledged, it erupts in impulsive behaviours, reckless speech, and actions that defy the carefully crafted image of moral certainty. It demands attention, forcing its way into reality through chaos and contradiction.

Yet, those who witness this in others must tread carefully. Casting judgment only strengthens the illusion of separation. The beast is not exclusive to one person, nor is it bound to a single host. Every individual carries a shadow—a hidden reservoir of unprocessed fears, desires, and forgotten aspects of the self. Recognizing it in another is merely an invitation to acknowledge what lies within.

True transformation does not come from condemnation but from confrontation. The journey is not about silencing the beast but understanding its purpose. When met with awareness, the shadow no longer acts out in defiance but instead becomes an ally. It teaches, refines, and reveals the depth of one’s being.

To see this force in another is an opportunity to turn inward. Rather than dismissing the reflection, one must embrace it, integrate it, and walk the path of self-illumination. Through this, judgment dissolves, tolerance deepens, and empathy emerges—not as an act of virtue but as the inevitable result of knowing oneself completely.

Morgan O. Smith

Yinnergy Meditation/Neurofeedback, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!

https://linktr.ee/morganosmith

The Catalyst for the Ego’s Demise

The experience often referred to as “ego death” is not the obliteration of the self, but rather the dissolution of its illusions. The ego, a construct woven from the threads of identity, attachment, and fear, functions as a survival mechanism. It clings to roles, titles, and the narrative of separation to sustain its existence. Yet, this clinging obscures the deeper truth of who we are—a boundless consciousness that cannot be confined by labels or stories.

Ego death is not an event brought about by force, but a consequence of profound surrender. It arises when the conditions are ripe, often catalyzed by deep meditation, spiritual awakening, or transformative life experiences. These moments of clarity reveal the ego for what it is: a temporary construct, a shadow cast by the mind in its attempt to define the undefinable.

The catalyst for this unravelling often comes disguised. It may appear as a crisis—a moment when the identity we have constructed no longer holds up against the weight of reality. It may manifest as awe, where the boundaries of self dissolve in the face of something greater than the mind can grasp. Sometimes, it is the gradual erosion of ego through years of contemplation and self-inquiry, as if the winds of awareness slowly wear away the stone of selfhood.

The process of ego death can feel terrifying. The ego perceives its dissolution as annihilation, a threat to its very existence. Yet, for the one who witnesses this unravelling, it is liberation. What is revealed is not a void, but fullness—an infinite presence, free of the limitations imposed by the ego’s grip.

Paradoxically, the ego’s demise does not result in the loss of individuality, but a clearer expression of it. Freed from the distortions of fear and attachment, the individual becomes a unique channel for universal consciousness. Actions flow not from a sense of lack or separation, but from wholeness and authenticity.

This death of the ego is not a single moment, but an ongoing practice of letting go. It requires vigilance and a willingness to face the shadows that linger in the mind. Each time the ego asserts itself through judgment, resistance, or attachment, it offers an opportunity to recognize its presence and release its hold.

The catalyst for the ego’s demise is ultimately the realization that it was never truly alive. It is a phantom, a mirage that dissolves when illuminated by the light of awareness. In its absence, what remains is not emptiness, but the unshakable truth of being—a truth that was always present, quietly waiting to be revealed.

Morgan O. Smith

Yinnergy Meditation, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!

https://linktr.ee/morganosmith

Who and What Is Wearing the Ego

You Can Fully Know the Ego, or You Can Fully Know Who and What Is Wearing the Ego

The ego is a master of disguise, shaping itself to fit the roles, masks, and identities that define one’s place in the world. It is the voice narrating our experiences, the architect of our self-concept, and the filter through which we perceive reality. Yet, there comes a moment in every profound spiritual inquiry when the ego’s narrative starts to unravel, and a deeper question arises: Who is wearing the ego?

To fully know the ego is to observe its patterns, trace its motivations, and untangle its many threads. It is a deep and necessary work—this excavation of the self—but it often stops short of true liberation. Why? Because while one might understand the mechanisms of the ego, its fears, desires, and attachments, this understanding still operates within the ego’s domain. It is akin to studying a dream while remaining unaware that one is the dreamer.

The greater mystery lies beyond the ego’s web, in the silent witness observing it all. This witness is not a product of thought, nor is it bound by the limitations of identity. It is pure awareness, the unchanging presence in which the ego arises, performs, and dissolves.

To fully know who or what is wearing the ego requires a radical shift in perspective. It is not about fixing or eradicating the ego but seeing through its illusion altogether. The ego is neither enemy nor ally; it is merely a tool, a temporary garment worn by the ineffable essence of who you truly are.

This inquiry demands a willingness to surrender everything you believe about yourself, even the most cherished notions of spirituality and growth. It calls for courage to rest in the unknown, where no concepts or roles can anchor you. From this space, the ego’s dance loses its grip. The masks fall away, not because they were stripped, but because they were never truly real.

What remains is indescribable—a boundless, formless essence that cannot be confined to the limitations of egoic perception. To recognize this is to shift from being caught in the drama of the ego to embracing the freedom of the witness. This is the difference between living as the role and awakening as the wearer of all roles.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. You can spend a lifetime studying the ego, mapping its terrain, and understanding its dynamics. Or, you can turn inward, past the shadows and reflections, and discover the luminous presence wearing the ego—a presence that has been free all along.

Morgan O. Smith

Yinnergy Meditation, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!

https://linktr.ee/morganosmith

The Great I AM

The Great I AM Cannot Be Uttered by the Chattering Tongue

The essence of “I AM” defies articulation. Language, though beautiful, often becomes a noisy river of concepts, attempting to capture something that simply cannot be grasped. The chattering tongue thrives on duality, building walls between subject and object, speaker and listener, self and other. Yet, the Great I AM stands outside this dualistic framework, unbounded, whole, and utterly silent.

“I AM” is not a statement. It is the root of being itself, preceding thought, identity, and all constructs of the mind. To utter it is to already veil its truth. Words can point to the presence of the I AM, but they are shadows trying to explain the light. The moment you speak, it slips through the cracks of description, retreating into the stillness from which it arises.

Why, then, does the tongue chatter? It chatters because it fears the void—the stillness where the mind dissolves, and the self is no more. The ego’s survival depends on noise, distraction, and the endless creation of stories. In silence, it falters, confronted by the stark and undeniable simplicity of being.

To encounter the Great I AM is not to think about it but to dissolve into it. It is to rest in the awareness that observes the thoughts, the feelings, the words, and even the idea of “I.” This awareness has no form, no beginning or end. It is neither here nor there, neither this nor that. It is simply what is—timeless, spaceless, and unchanging.

When the tongue is still, the mind quiets, and the veil of separation thins. There, in that profound stillness, lies the Great I AM. It cannot be possessed, named, or claimed. It is the ground of all existence and yet entirely untouched by it. It is not yours or mine, yet it is undeniably the essence of what we are.

To live in the awareness of the Great I AM is to recognize that all the noise, all the chatter, is simply a dance of form arising within the formless. It is to see that even the ego, with all its stories, is just a fleeting ripple in the infinite ocean of being.

Silence does not mean the absence of sound; it means the absence of resistance. It is the acceptance of all that is, without judgment or clinging. In this silence, the Great I AM reveals itself—not as a word, a concept, or a thought, but as the ever-present reality of existence itself.

The chattering tongue will never grasp this truth, but the silent heart already knows.

Morgan O. Smith

Yinnergy Meditation, Spiritual Life Coaching & My Book, Bodhi in the Brain…Available Now!

https://linktr.ee/morganosmith