Many spiritual teachings pick on the instincts equating them with temptation and “the Devil’s work.” The instincts are seen as antithetical to spiritual development and enlightenment.
In non-dual awareness, one sees how everything is part of presence, a unity.
Self-centeredness, inherent in the ego, is oriented around me first and what’s in it for me. At more subtle levels all experience is centered in the reference to a self. We are mostly unconsciousness.
According to A.H. Almaas when self-centeredness is insecure, it appears as selfishness.
Self-centeredness is an objective fact of the ego, everything is referenced to the self, one’s subjective experience.
Selfishness is an obstacle to spiritual growth. Selfishness indicates an insecurity which means we are not being our true self because he true self is selfless in its nature. There is not a self that is separate from True Nature.
Why does the self keep coming back? A huge factor in the resiliency of the ego self is the survival instinct. This instinct is tied to the body and the ego equates its own disolution with physical death. Mystics throughout the ages attest to the fact that life goes on when the ego disolves.
Synthesizing the survival instinct brings toether the first and seventh chakras, the transcendent and the physical.
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