The Ego
These days the word ego carries quite a negative air. It is the enemy that limits us and leads us to suffering and endless catch 22 scenarios. You know the ones that don’t really have any solution because the elements cancel each other out and nothing happens. Life becomes a loop that endlessly repeats itself in meaningless circles until death comes and an apparent end to all things wipes the slate clean.
This structure, also called the ego, that we have become prisoners to was not meant to be so by design. It is a vehicle to experience individuality while the truth remains that there is only One Universal Self. Of course forgetting this simple truth would lead the individual aspects of the One into very confusing realities of separation and suffering.
Ascension Attitudes can be seen as thoughts in the mind of God. The Universal Self creates and the Attitudes are the blueprint for that creation. As we think them we quite literally align our entire being with the Self. We instantly take our awareness through gross and subtle layers of illusory ego created realities and thinking. In that instant the supremacy and power that we have given to our little ego self is gone. There is nothing to grasp or project. Only because of age-old choices that humanity has collectively made we don’t experience this transformation instantly. The momentum of the old world still carries on seemingly.
The more that we cut through that momentum the more it will slow down and this gives us the opportunity to see beyond the small perspectives based in fear and separation. This simple choice to Ascend gives us time, it gives us the Eternal Now. And in that holy instant we can see a greater picture, a True Reality unfolding.
Transcending the ego state of being, the sense of identity that we have learned to wrap around ourselves, does not need to be difficult or horrendously demanding. The ego itself has no power whatsoever. It is an enemy that is a mirage only. If we believe in that mirage we give the strength to it. But as we focus and enliven the Reality through consistently choosing to Ascend in all experiences the mirage will fade. It will be the greatest joy to let go and let God.
Nataraja Ishaya
The "Dynamics" of the Ego
Let us begin this lesson in 'ego dynamics' by understanding the term itself does not mean anything. It contains the very contradiction in terms that makes it meaningless. "Dynamics" implies the power to do something, and the whole separation fallacy lies in the belief the ego has the power to do anything. The ego is fearful to you because you believe this. Yet the truth is very simple.
All power is of God
What is not of Him has no power to do anything.
When we look at the ego, then, we are not considering dynamics but delusions. You can surely regard a delusional system without fear, for it cannot have any effects if its source is not real. Fear becomes more obviously inappropriate if you recognize the ego's goal, which is clearly so senseless that any effort on its behalf is expended on nothing. The ego's goal is quite explicitly ego autonomy. From the beginning, then, its purpose is to be separate, sufficient unto itself and independent of any power except its own. This is why it is the symbol of separation.
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The ego cannot oppose the laws of God any more than you can, but it can interpret them according to what it wants, just as you can. That is why the question, “What do you want?” must be answered. You are answering it every minute and every second, and each moment of decision is a judgment that is anything but ineffectual. Its’ effects will follow automatically until the decision is changed. Remember, though, that the alternatives, themselves are unalterable. The Holy Spirit, like the ego, is a decision. Together they constitute all the alternatives the mind can accept and obey. The Holy Spirit and the ego are the only choices open to you. God created one, and so you cannot eradicate it. You made the other, and so you can. Only what God creates is irreversible and unchangeable. What you made can always be changed because, when you do not think like God, you are not really thinking at all. Delusional ideas are not real thoughts, although you can believe in them. But you are wrong. The function of thought comes from God and is in God.
The ego analyzes; the Holy Spirit accepts. The appreciation of wholeness comes only through acceptance, for to analyze means to break down or to separate out. The attempt to understand totality by breaking it down is clearly the characteristically contradictory approach of the ego to everything. The ego believes that power, understanding and truth lie in separation, and to establish this belief it must attack. Unaware that the belief cannot be established, and obsessed the conviction that separation is salvation, the ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts, without meaningful relationships and therefore without meaning. The ego will always substitute chaos for meaning, for if separation is salvation, harmony is threat.
A Course In Miracles
The Beginning and Ending of the Ego
The story of the Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden tells the story for all human kind. Symbolically, it tells the story of how each person creates their ego.
Adam and Eve lived in the garden of paradise. Every good thing was available to them. Then began the questions and thoughts. Eve believed the lie that what God had given her wasn't good enough. Rather than being grateful for what she had, she began to think that God had tried to limit and control her. She fell for a lie -- that if she had something different than what God gave her, she might be more happy.
MSI said, "The fundamental stress of the modern world is that something is wrong with the individual life." Said in another way, the stress comes from the belief that I could be having a better experience if only_____ (you fill in the blank). Isn't that one of the major thoughts we think every day? Maybe not phrased exactly that way, but how about, "if only I had said ______", or "if only I was as pretty/good/talented as ______, then ______." Or, " If only they would ______, I'd be happy/content/feel better."
It is important to say that there is nothing wrong with wanting something more. But, Eve had no gratitude for the paradise that she already had. As Milton said, "The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven."
Fortunately for anyone who Ascends, MSI said, "The Praise Ascension Attitude corrects the fundamental stress of the modern world, that something is wrong with the individual life. This Attitude by itself is sufficient to generate full enlightenment."
In the garden, Eve was excited by the promise that she would be able to judge good and evil. Essentially, this is how the ego maintains itself. It needs to determine what is good, and what is bad. It has written its own job description. It has set itself up to be the judge and jury of all events of your life, so it never need run out of things to do.
MSI said, "It is our belief that there is something wrong with our outer world, with our bodies, that is the root of all our limiting beliefs and judgments and habits about our outer, objective universe. It is this thought that keeps the mind abstracted away from the experience of the present moment, from the experience of right HERE and right NOW. So to heal our appreciation of our objective world and turn our lives completely back to life in this instant of time, it is only necessary to add (the Gratitude Attitude) to our Ascension. It is not necessary to believe in this phrase to make it work. Nor is it necessary to feel gratitude for your body or for your world. It is only necessary to effortlessly repeat it, and then whatever happens, happens. What you will experience in this easy and effortless way is that all your beliefs and judgments about nature of your body and your world start quickly and dramatically changing, based on a new level of experience of the Ascendant."
In the Ascension! book we find, "When an individual ascends, it becomes unnecessary to try to undo the previous beliefs and judgments; the power of this wholly beneficial inward process is sufficient to remove all previous false perceptions and understandings and replace them with the direct experience of the transcendental beauty and perfection of the Ascendant within. When the inner Reality is thus acknowledged, the outer realities automatically change."
Jyoti Ishaya
Death of the Ego
When we are born, our first requirement is to relate to the outer world. Our need for physical and emotional support means that we must direct our senses outward, away from inner silence and complete consciousness, into the field of multiplicity. In order to do this, we organize our consciousness into an illusory structure that artificially maintains our separation from the inner Ascendant Self. This was designed as a necessary but temporary stage of development, not the be all and end all of human evolution. The dominance of the ego is not supposed to continue past puberty.
It is our attachment to the ego that keeps us trapped in the world of illusion, in that which is known in sanskrit as samsara. Samsara means literally, "perpetual succession" or "eternal cycle": we rise up only to fall again, over and over again forever until the endless circle is Ascended. Since the ego structure is an illusion, everyone on the deepest level inside desires to Ascend this artificial construct. The illusion must be abandoned; the ego must die.
If not properly understood, this process of expansion beyond the confines of the ego can be quite painful. Never having received the critically necessary knowledge, some decide at this point to abandon their quest for enlightenment.
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What is required for our growth is surrender to higher power. Only through this death of our old ego-based thinking does rebirth occur. Becoming immortal through dying is the theme of many ancient myths. Beneath the chaos of the waking state mind lies the perfect silence and beauty of the infinite bliss of the Ascendant. When the ego is cut away, enlightenment naturally dawns. This is the transfiguration of the ego.
MSI, Ascension!
Pada I Sutra 36
Or, by cutting away sorrow, the brilliant light of the Self dawns.
What is the root of the sorrow? A mind that is caught up in the past.. Once one has released the connection with the beliefs in past pain and suffering, the perfect light of the present dawns. The great curse of the human mind is also its greatest blessing: it can only do one thing at a time. If it is caught by regret or worry, it is not going to be open to the glory of the only time there is, Now. Therefore, if one can firmly and completely break the tie with that which afflicts, life is freed for perfect joy.
Sorrow is simply a movement in the mind. Another translation of sorrow, visoka, is "flame" or "glow". As long as the mind is absorbed and moves with the flame experience of the lower light of ego-based thinking, the brilliant higher light of the True Self cannot be seen. Said another way, as long as the mind experiences movement, Union cannot occur. This sutra does not describe how to detach from grief; it does not give the means for removing the lesser movement of mourning or sorrow; it only says that if it happens, the result will be the experience of the Transcendental Light. Perhaps for some, simply learning that sorrow is not necessary is by itself sufficient to break the bondage of the ego. Or, perhaps Maharsi Patanjali simply meant to observe that the movement from misery to the highest joy is as simple as the decision to change.
There can be no progress unless one is willing to change. Unless one is willing to drop the old self-destructive habits and beliefs, the supernal wonder and joy of life Here and Now cannot enter in. The whole wealth of the Universe can be (and is!) waiting just outside our door, knocking to come in, but until we loosen the bolts and turn the handle, it will wait -- forever, if it must. But let us only decide to break the attachment to suffering: joy rushes in and lifts us up on eagle wings into the Indescribable Beauty of the Divine Presence.
MSI, Enlightenment!
Weakness of Mind
Problems are not solved on the level of the problems. Analyzing a problem to find its solution is like trying to restore freshness to a leaf by treating the leaf itself, whereas the solution lies in watering the root.
All problems of life arise from some weakness of mind. All weakness of mind is due to mind's ignorance of its own essential nature, which is universal and the source of infinite energy and intelligence. This ignorance of one's own self is the basis of all problems, sufferings and shortcomings in life. In order to root out any problem of life it is necessary to be brought out of ignorance, to be brought to knowledge.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad-Gita - Chapter 2, verse 2
Race Consciousness
"You say God's children are dying on every hand and none within your generation has accomplished the ideal of everlasting and eternal life, peace, harmony, and perfection which I idealize. You say that accomplishment must come after death; so you let go and find for a time that it is much easier to drift on and on with the human tide on the downward trend.
"Again the race consciousness has had another setback: another who had a great spiritual enlightenment and understanding and could have succeeded, has failed and the race consciousness has another binding hold upon humanity. Generation after generation gives it a still greater and tenacious grip. Is any wonder that human nature becomes weak and frail; and each in turn follows on and on, in the same eternal treadmill, the blind following the blind, on and on into eternal oblivion,; and into the great vortex where not only body is forced into dissolution and decay, but the soul is ground between the never-relenting millstones of human perception and mistakes.
"If you would realize, as I did and so many have done, that it is far easier to work out your own problems in one earthly experience than it is to go on and on and accumulate a race consciousness of good and evil that soon becomes an encrusted shell; that has been added to, layer by layer, upon an encrustation by each succeeding experience, until it takes superhuman force and sledgehammer blows to break the shell and release your true self."
Baird T. Spalding, Life and Teaching of the Masters of the far east, vol. 3
Individual "I"
The majority of people are so divorced from their own states of pure consciousness that they do not recognize them when they experience them, because they identify with their lower ego states, their own lowest common denominator. A negative self-image blots out the joyous brilliance that is the true essence of their identities, which therefore goes unrecognized.
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The irony of human experience is in how fiercely the ego fights to preserve the illusion of a separate, individual “I” even though this is not only an ontological impossibility but the wellspring of all suffering.
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There is nothing the mind believes that is not fallacious at a higher level of awareness.
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The mind identifies with content. It takes credit and blame for what it receives, for it would be humbling to the mind’s vanity to admit that the only thing it is doing is experiencing, and in fact, only experiencing experiencing. The mind does not even experience the world, but only sensory reports of it. Even brilliant thoughts and deepest feelings are only experience; ultimately, we have but one function: to experience experience.
David R Hawkins
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