You may know me as Johnny Radar, but I would like to introduce my new column to the readers of The Seeker. I have worked with energy healing for a large part of my life. I have my third level of Holographic Reiki, and am actually an ordained minister. Rather than charge customers for Reiki sessions, I prefer to offer advice on living in a non-religious way, which I loosely refer to as taking the higher path.

I will begin this column by telling a well-known story known as ‘Two Wolves’. One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.

This simple truth is at the heart of all religions, all teachings about self-improvement, and holds the key to perfection. It is extremely powerful, because feeding either ‘wolf’ truly enables it to become more powerful as it combats the other wolf within. These ‘wolves’ are at odds with each other, yet most people try to allow both to co-exist, not understanding that they affect one another.

This column will deal mostly with one characteristic of the ‘evil’ wolf, and that is the ego. We are familiar with the idea of being ‘egotistic’ – that is feeing more important or better than others. But our ego might also act modest in order to be ‘more humble’ than others. I will help to shed some light on our human ego, so that we can better identify when it is in control, which in turn will help us to muzzle the ‘evil’ wolf a little better. All attributes of the evil wolf are powered by the human ego. So let’s start by discovering our own ego.

Most of us have asked ourselves, ‘Why do I always do that?’ or ‘Why am I always thinking that way?’ or some similar question. But have you ever stopped to wonder who is asking the question? It is your authentic self, your deeper energy, your spiritual being, that is asking your outer, learned personality the questions. The outer you, is a product of what you have been taught, how you have been raised, and how you react to life situations. It is not you, it is only your ego.

This is just the tip of the ego iceberg. Although the ego is a part of who we are, we are not our ego. We are deeper, stronger, a silent rock that the ego sits on. If we can learn to recognize the ego, we are on our way to controlling it, or rather, taking the wind out of its nasty sails. Life will become more enjoyable, satisfying, successful and fulfilling.

For more information, please visit www.thehigherpath.ca