Becoming Real…
Becoming real is perhaps the most important—and most overlooked—part of the spiritual path. It’s not about becoming something more. It’s about shedding what isn’t true. The masks, the roles, the polished identities we’ve spent a lifetime building. And the hardest part? Realizing that even our spiritual path can become just another mask.
Materialism in its usual form is easy to recognize. The endless chase for possessions, comfort, status, validation. We grasp outwardly, hoping something “out there” will make us feel complete. But this grasping disconnects us. From others, from our deeper self, from the moment right in front of us. We begin to live on the surface of life—busy, consumed, and subtly afraid to slow down and feel what’s underneath.
Then we step onto a spiritual path, hoping for something more real. But without awareness, the same grasping follows us. Only now it’s cloaked in spiritual language and practice. We chase insights instead of income, status as a “wise” or “awakened” person instead of worldly success. We might meditate, do yoga, study teachings—all good things—but with the quiet hope they’ll elevate us above others, or shield us from discomfort.
This is spiritual materialism: when spirituality becomes another way to strengthen the ego. And like regular materialism, it too creates distance. We may feel “above” others who haven’t “woken up.” We may hide our pain behind teachings or pretend we’ve transcended things we’re still deeply tangled in. We disconnect—from our vulnerability, from honest connection, from the humility that makes love possible.
True spirituality reconnects us. And this is where vipassana—insight meditation—plays a vital role. By gently observing our experience, vipassana reveals the habitual patterns of grasping and clinging that keep us trapped in illusion. It shows us the masks moment by moment, with compassion and clarity, helping us to let go—not by force, but by natural recognition.
It breaks us open, not to make us better than others, but to make us real. It asks us to stop performing—for approval, for success, for spiritual validation—and just be here, fully. Present, flawed, awake to our own contradictions. Willing to feel. Willing to not know. Willing to let the ego die a little, again and again.
When we let go of the need to be someone—whether that someone is wealthy or enlightened—we begin to return to life, simplicity, kindness, quiet presence. And in that space, something sacred happens: we reconnect. With ourselves. With others. With the world as it is.
And that’s the beginning of freedom—not in becoming more, but in becoming real.
