Self-Mastery as a Spiritual Path

Ever since I can remember I have desired to be a person who has achieved a state of self-mastery.  This idea of being a master has many interpretations. For some being a master conjures up images of Jesus walking on water, Sai Baba manifesting Vibuti in front of thousands, bi-locating and levitating oneself.

Mastery may also signify being excellent in one thing, a skill or art form. Webster defines it as, to command or has a superior grasp over something. A master has generally spent years in the study of one thing and has mastered that skill or subject.  I am sure you have known people who have been great artists or dancers, even actors. Some would say that Meryl Streep is a master actor, Steven Spielberg a master director, and Misty Copeland a master ballet dancer. 

Self-Mastery is entirely something different for to become a master of one’s self-implies that the individual has to first know him or herself and then take command of all the different aspects that make them be human. This would mean taking command of your health, finances, relationships, your emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, and energy bodies as well.  It would also require that you devote a great deal of time to the discovery of your true nature and self-awareness.

It is because of these things that becoming masterful over one’s own life isn’t just for anyone although it is available to anyone who feels the desire to go on this path of spiritual awakening. The difference is your commitment and dedication to this particular path.

I have known from a very early age that I wanted to become a master of my own self. I remember reading books in my twenties and thirties about characters that we're able to heal their own bodies and youth themselves with electricity or a special elixir. I just knew that was possible and that I wanted to be like those characters in those books. 

You may even feel that right now you already possess a high degree of mastery or skill in one area or another of your life. You might feel that your finances are handled, or that your ability to heal your own body is easy for you. Mastering your emotional body and mind are often the most challenging but definitely doable. I have found that the more I am able to tune into and become stillness itself the less emotionally reactive I am.

For most, it takes a lifetime of diligent practice to truly be able to call yourself a master of your own being. Living in the world but not of it is no easy thing. This life offers so many challenges and unless you are single-focused and are dedicated to self-mastery as a spiritual path you will not succeed.  Being a master of your own life actually means taking full responsibility for that life and knowing that you are the only one who can give your power away.

Especially now when there appears to be so much chaos and mayhem in the world. Every day I read another horror story about the demise of our human rights or of our democratic way of life. I hear about secret agendas that have been put in place for many years now coming into a reality that is not going to benefit humankind. My first reaction is either fear or to hide my head in the sand but then I begin to just feel angry shocked that any group of individuals could actually want all of these “disasters” to happen and in fact helps to cause them and feeds off of the fear and emotional drama that often ensues.

Being the Master of Your Life

I then remember I am a master, a master does not give away their power. So I begin to claim it back from these unknown beings. I claim it back from the fires, from the news, from the fear that I pick up on when I go to the market or an event. I claim it all back from anything, any person, place, or thing where I have given it away. You see power is a funny thing.

No one can give you power but yourself.

Now I don’t mean the kind of power we see in our politics, the selfish, ego-based power or power over others. What I am speaking about is TRUE Power, the power that comes from within yourself and that no one can ever take from you. This is the power of self-mastery. This is the power that will make you strong, fearless, and give you the courage to face whatever you are called to face in your life. It is this power that we all have and that we are all responsible for. When we know that we are powerful beings that can accomplish anything that we set our hearts and minds to then we take responsibility for creating the world we want to live in.  Not a world of scarcity, war, and rampant suffering. If we wish to create a different reality for ourselves and the world then we must first call back those shadow aspects of our own hidden psyche. Those fragmented parts of our own shadow have gotten lost in the collective field and manifested as the darkness we now see.

 We stand as a master and we take back our power from this darkness and say No More! “ I reclaim those parts of myself that I see manifested as greed, cruelty, as murder, selfishness, power over others,  I reclaim my power, I take it back.”  We forgive ourselves for disowning those parts so that now when they come back to us we can heal and integrate them into our psyche with love.

As a being who declares yourself on a path of Self-Mastery, the change must start with you first. You need to own that you are a powerful being of love, light, wisdom, courage, and faith. You must feel in your heart and mind that you are stronger than any force outside of yourself no matter what that might be. Personal mastery, living as a master requires that I, you, we act as a master acts and responds as a master would respond. It also requires that we all take a stand for what we want in our lives and in our world and that we begin by owning right now that we have the power to create that.