My Only Regret

Trippin' with the all important ego

I was sharing with a friend recently about the workshop that I am about to be putting on with my long time friend, Mark. 

One of the key focuses of the series, including the name and promotion, is about not taking spirituality so seriously, while at the same time doing the deeper, meaningful work that is yours to do (you can get more info on our upcoming workshop here).

I told this friend that the only regret I have about my 17 years working with my spiritual teacher, John-Roger (J-R), is that I was too serious about it. J-R had a lot of fun, even while doing incredibly profound work with people spiritually. There were a lot of opportunities to have fun that I missed because I was so serious about the work we were doing. 

I did a great job, and served my teacher at the highest level. I just could have served myself better if I had lightened up and had more fun. He would have appreciated it too I would imagine.

Everyone has their battles, and my life by his side was no different. That’s life. We all get scarred and burned by it at some point. You can go through the challenges of life laughing or crying, or maybe a bit of both.

Having learned what I’ve learned, I would rather do a lot more of the laughing part…and I am. 

Having a laugh with the boys, early 2000’s. From right: Nat Sharratt, Erik Albrecht, John-Roger, Mark Harradine, Jsu Garcia

You see, my seriousness was really just an ego trip. I was serious about what we were doing because I thought it was important work, and if the work was important then that made me important. The ego is tricky.

Your seriousness doesn’t make what you’re doing any more important than it actually is, and your having fun doesn’t make it any less important. It is either important or not on its own merits, and that just is what it is.

You can be sincere and heartfelt about what you’re doing without being serious. It can be important work without being serious, which is a form of dramatizing that the work is important. If it’s actually important, it needs no outward dramatization, and if it needs you to be serious in order for it to be important, then it’s just a show and an ego trip.

That was one of the most disarming things about my teacher. He would do the most spiritually extraordinary things, but act like it was nothing. He’d be dressed in jeans and a cowboy shirt, tell a joke, and heal someone of an ailment, all in the same breath. I saw him do it. He did it to me. He wouldn’t dramatize it. It seemed totally normal. You would almost miss it if you weren’t paying attention.

There’s no need to be serious in order to do extraordinary things. 

Be sincere, not serious.

Have fun. 

That’s all.