SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY
Why do I approach God or seek communion with him? My motivations have evolved over the years. Recently I've become aware that any such attraction needs to come from a deep, irresistible invitation into his presence, a divine gravity that tugs at the very center of my being. Anything other than this is a form of idolatry, whereby I unconsciously regard my ideas and ambitions as divine and dictate my will to God.
I’ve frequently, predominantly fallen for this deception in the past. It's the great lie that leads some folks into mysticism from a desire to control their reality or the great fear that keeps others from the contemplative life altogether. It's also what separates Christian contemplation, which is based on receptivity and surrender, from the various New Age approaches that emphasize the use of spiritual techniques to bend reality to one's will - the goal being the manifestation of a reality conforming to one's idealized orderings, based on private desires. Such use of spirituality tends to feed, rather than undo, the ego. It may promote ideas of love and integration, but such notions tend remain contrivances in service of the ego. Tragically, it subtly uses virtues as mechanisms to manipulate people in service of its own appetites. This doesn’t differ from the ego’s normal modus operandi, but it’s masked in spiritual vestments and, thus, more insidious and difficult to root out.