Yesterday I was reminded of one of the reasons why modern information pertaining to the topic of Enlightenment I not something I am attracted to. What I have found is that nearly every spiritual teacher I have come across, and particular those teachers who claim they are Enlightened, is that their teaching establishes a situation that is both impractical and impassable to a human being seeking freedom. The aspirant is told he or she must transcend his or her current experience of reality as if to step over it or around it. On the one hand the aspirant is told he is imperfect and unenlightened as he is and thus must strive toward his enlightenment, and on the other hand he is told that Enlightenment is the end of all striving. You must seek a state of non-seeking. You must search for a state of non-searching. How is the aspirant ever meant to reconcile this dichotomy?

What I also find is that time and time again enlightenment related teachings come across as being so anti-life. They consistently manage to dismiss the magnificence of life and the perfection of all that is. It is as if life here on Earth was one massive mistake that we must now figure out way out of. This again sets up the aspirant with an impossible situation. On the one hand she experiences her emotions, her challenges, her personality complexes and so forth, yet on the other hand she is instructed to go beyond these things. But who is it that is going beyond them? It’s as if to say, "Get over yourself."

I find this approach lofty and ungrounded. I don’t know what the word is to describe the opposite of pragmatic, but this approach is just that.

The Path of Freedom as I experience it is an approach to reality that fully embraces life. It fully embraces the aspirant’s experience in every regard. Nothing is brushed aside, nothing is ignore, and nothing is seen as anything less than the means to that person’s liberation and total empowerment right now. It uses the combination of the aspirants total experience and their total innate awareness to bring about a shift in perception. This shift in perception results in Inner Peace.

The book I am about to publish will explore this topic in full.

The ego, a much misunderstood aspect of the human being, is not in my experience something to be got rid of.

Ego is simply the "I" within us. The same "I" in you that wrote the message you sent me, and expressed and felt the things you wrote in that message.

Our challenge at this time in human history–humankind’s challenge–is in discovering/uncovering the true nature of that "I".

Most people live under an illusion of misidentification of "I" with the world. "I" am defined by the world I perceive around me. Such people are blind to the fact that world they perceive around them is in fact a projection, and apparition, in the mind of the "I" within them or perceiving through them. The true and essential "I" is not of this world… it is in fact the dreamer of this world.

This is what the Christus was presenting to the world when he said "I Am that I Am"… this is the "I" free of identification with the world… the "I" awakening to its own true nature THROUGH this world. Similarly "I AM the way the truth and the light… none shall pass through to God except through me"… this "I" was not referring to some person, an individual human being, to Jesus and so forth… it is referring to the I AM… within Jesus, within you, within me… that "I" is the "I" of that which some call "God". That "I" is directly accessible to each and every human being, right now.

I Am the fish in the sea… I am the wind in the trees… I am the ocean… I am the waves… and I am the one reading these words here on this computer right now!

In-joy…

Jonathan

2+2=4
3×3=9
These are stories also; mathematical stories. Yet even the concept of mathematics is again another story. I would about to say "The truth is we can’t get away from telling stories," yet that too is another story. Tricky, isn’t it?

Actually it’s not that complicated nor tricky. Once one realises the world of things is a story, a kind of a letting go can take place. It’s like we can sort of let go of the seriousness of it all, and approach Life from a perspective that is potentially much more at ease with things and especially much more at ease with the unknown, the realm of no-thing–which ordinarily has such a frightful presence in the world of Man.

Because everything is a story there is nothing to believe. There is nothing to disbelieve. We can simply choose what kind of story we wish to tell, and then experience the con-sequence of this story unfolding within our perception. I’ve noticed that the world of Man reflects many stories on many different dimensions. From one perspective it’s an awful story of war, hatred, fanaticism, religious dogmatism, and environmental and ecological destruction, where humankind somehow got it all wrong. There isn’t much fun to be had at that level of story telling–it’s mostly made up of pain and anguish, although human beings seem to do a pretty good job of hiding that fact from themselves. I know I’ve played my part in such stories, at one time or another.

From another perspective Life as made manifest here on/in Earth is an exquisitely beautiful affair, of unimaginable intelligence and perfection. There is such bliss to be experienced, such radiance to be lived, and such kindness to be shared, that all beings are simply overflowing with these qualities. Another angle on that story, however, is that despite this story being true most people seem to hide it from themselves. It’s awfully silly really, yet I know there’s a sound reason for this.

Whenever I am struggling with my circumstances I find it very helpful to pause and ask myself what story I am maintaining in this moment. I invariably find it is my story that is the cause of my pain and whatever suffering I may be experiencing in relationship to that pain. This leaves me with no one to blame, and no one to attack or defend (including myself). It simply leaves me with an opportunity to forgive and in that forgiveness–in that giving up of my story–the opportunity to tell my story anew.

In my story I trust you’ve enjoyed reading this story which I’ve now shared with you.

One implication I can see of this hypothesis is that it may mean that sitting every day to meditate, even if only for 10 or 15 minutes, or doing some other spiritual "practice" each day will enable a person to have greater self-discipline and self-regulation in other areas of their life.

Information on this study can be found »here«

I understand that since the day the US Government blew its towers up (9/11) they have change the laws within the USA to such an extent that the constitution on which the USA is based can be annulled immediately and with the command of just one person (the President), and with no requirement for for the US Senate to back him or her up. I also understand there are huge prisons being built in the USA which most people no very little about and which are not official prisons, but rather they have some other purpose.

Over the years I’ve heard various things about the plans the USA has for implementing a Space Warfare program. Many people have heard about their Starwars program, although most have no idea what it’s really for. Today I came across a video where someone mentioned the Vision 2020 program the USA Govt is working on in order to have complete dominance of the Space around the Earth and also to be able to dominant information systems on earth and have global surveillance systems positioned in space. I did a quick search on the net to find out if this was for real. Sure is.

If you’re interested in this aspect of world affairs I suggest a quick search on Google (or some other search engine) for "Vision 2020 space combat" will provide some interesting results.

Here’s a few I found that I suggest reading:

www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usspac/visbook.pdf

www.spacevision2006.org/Space-Vision-2020.html

www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25636

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/14/bush.space/index.html

www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usspac/lrp/ch02.htm

There’s also much related reading available here:

http://www.middlepowers.org/gsi/docs.html

As you will quickly see, this is for real. The US Government openly intends to have "space based strike weapons," "non-intrusive global surveillance," "the ability to dominate space," and to have "full spectrum dominance."

They also talk about having "information superiority," described as "Space-based capabilities (collecting, generating and transmitting) are critical to the uninterrupted flow of information throughout the battlespace. The protection of US space capabilities and the denial of the enemy’s use of space are integral to information superiority."

Just where are we, as humanity, going with all this? A tiny fraction of the money spent on these sorts of insane programs is enough to provide every person on the planet with food, water, and housing.

In one of the above links it talks about Bush’s plan to get "another" manned trip to the Moon by 2020. I can’t help but wonder how the USA managed to get people to the Moon in 1969, and yet it’s not possible to do it again for another 50 years. Technology in 1969 was very primitive relative to what we have available today, yet somehow this quite priority of exploring the Moon has remained unfilled. Many people believe the USA never put a man on the moon. I must say that all the evidence I have seen (arguing both ways) leaves only one sensible conclusion. These people are right. Whether it’s basic things like the fact that getting in and out of the Space ship kited out in their space suit was not possible (the door was too small), or the idea that it is not possible to go through and beyond the  Van Alan Belt without getting cooked by radiation coming from the Sun, these and hundreds of other oddities create a serious question mark over the whole affair. The US Govt. has not responded to official requests for an explanation to many of these anomalies. It smells a lot like the situation with 9/11 where again the Govt. is no willing to answer some very basic requests for further information.

For a large collection of information and links related to the moon landing question go here: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm

Happy exploring… this is our world.

Here’s a short video for a bit of entertainment…

Buzzing out over some film footage

Here’s another interesting clip from the guy that has put together a movie available at www.moonmovie.com

Visit www.moonmovie.com for more

Like myself, the author seems to have an interest in the origin and root meaning of words. He discovered this about forgiveness.

The Greek word translated as forgiveness in the New Testament is aphesis. It means dismissal, release, pardon, “to send away” (paid in full).

The Author also had the following to say about what forgiveness is and is not:

Forgiveness is not: approving, excusing, justifying, pardoning, reconciliation (takes two), denying, blindness, forgetting, not taking the wrong seriously, pretending we aren’t hurt.

Forgiveness is: being aware and still forgiving, keeping no records, refusing to punish, not telling others, being merciful, graciousness (what you don’t say), an inner condition (in the heart), absence of bitterness, forgiving God, forgiving ourselves.

 

Enjoy…

My point is this: The Sun has long been recognized as the source of our Manna or our life-force and energy here in this world. It has long been recognized as a spiritualizing force in our world. It has long been recognized as something very beneficial to our health and well-being. Sadly, when our relationship to the Sun of God was hijacked by religion and replaced by a relationship to the Son of God, we ceased to spend time receiving Light and Illumination from this readily available source.

Sun Gazing is the method by which such illumination can be readily received. The exact results of this illumination will of course be specific to each individual. It is probable that sungazing is not a suitable practice for some people. Therefore I do not specifically recommend it to any person.

There are many sources of information on this topic. There are various techniques taught and espoused. I recommend checking out the information written by Vinny Pinto on the Raw Paleo Diet site found at www.rawpaleodiet.org/sungazing/

Enjoy the light.

Fear, anger, hatred, blame, and the myriad of other states manifesting at this level of being, are mechanisms that arise in order to protect my false sense of separate self. They arise both to protect this and as a product of this sense of separation. My illusions are self-fulfilling and self-sustaining. I fight to maintain this false sense of separate self to feel that I exist as some independent entity that can then objectively experience Unity / God / Love.

Yet I already am Unity / God / Love, though totally unaware of this reality within the body-mind. Through believing in the illusion of separation I sense that I need this experience in order for it to be real.

If I throw off and deny the ego-personality and all its mad emotions and thoughts then I simultaneous deny God the experience of being Unity / God / Love and having AWARENESS of this reality through experience, through direct perception.

Through letting go of attachment to and identity with the ego-self yet not denying it I become more aware (experientially) of my True and Natural state of Being — Unity / God / Love.

Thusly, God experiences God.
God aware of God.

Just to be aware.
Awareness is the key.

Ultimately the individual — as a unit of Awareness — discovers their self as God.

This leads spontaneously to to discovering that All-Is-God, that all is one.

One can easily stop here and seemingly cease to exist. Evolution comes to a holt. One’s universe ceases to expand. For the Self, in its usual sense, has nothing left to do.

Yet ultimately the purpose of individualized selfhood is not just to experientially be aware of God as God ones for its own sake but rather to be the full expression of that in its totally, for only then is that awareness of God as God complete. Even this has no finality, for we are, of course, dealing with Infinity when we speak of God.

Self is literally transformed into an absolute expression and simultaneous experience of God, the totality, Infinity. At this point, only, does the ego-self illusion truly cease to maintain and experience itself as a reality unto itself. The Boddisatva returns not through some kind of altruistic volition to save and help all beings. That’s a very personal way of relating to it from the mind of those who thing they are being saved. Rather the Boddisatva is all beings, in one particular expression or aspect, moving in whichever way happens to be most conducive for the totality of all beings to sustain the evolution of awareness.

This is God being ABSOLUTELY AWARE of God as all that God is.

This is total illumination. This is the end of separation - and of self. Evolution at the level of self ceases to Be, and yet paradoxically Awareness continues to evolve in ways unfathomable to Man at this point in our development. Creation ceases. It just is. As it always was. Yet now eternally aware of That.

Today there are parties taking place (thousands of them) all over the world in connection with the Live Earth Concerts which are taking place on eight continents in eight major cities around the world. Check out if there is a party in your area and join the fun. Here’s some more info on the event, or do a Google search for “live earth concert” to find out more.

On another note…

Here’s 77 interesting bits of info pertaining to the number 7…

1 Seven is the optimum number of hours of sleep for humans, according to a US scientific study.

2 Seven is seen as a lucky number in many cultures. Japanese mythology talks of Shichifukujin (The Seven Gods of Fortune).

3 The seven deadly sins, or cardinal sins, were refined by Pope Gregory I in the 6th century. They are pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

4 The seven virtues are humility, liberality, chastity, kindness, abstinence, patience, and diligence.

5 At a ceremony in Lisbon on 07/07/07, presumably at 7:07, the results of a global vote for the New Seven Wonders of the World will be announced. The 21 finalists include Stonehenge, the Kremlin and Timbuktu.

6 The superstitious believe that to break a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. The cure: to bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.

7 The average person’s digit span (the number of digits they can recall in sequence) is seven.

8 The common ladybird has seven spots.

9 In Vedic Hindu tradition, the human body features seven basic chakras, or “wheels of energy”.

10 Bushido or “way of the warrior” is a Japanese code of conduct comprising seven virtues.

11 The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish folklore, but is a vampire in Romanian legend.

12 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the seventh studio album released by heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1988.

13 According to many faiths, there are seven heavens, corresponding to the seven heavenly bodies (earth, the sun and the five “naked eye” planets). In Judaism, the seventh heaven is called Araboth and is home to the Throne of Glory, which is attended by the Seven Archangels.

14 Seven is the atomic number of nitrogen.

15 The city of Rome was built on seven hills. They were Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine. Early Rome was ruled by a line of seven kings.

16 Seven days of blessings (Sheva Brachot) follow a traditional Jewish wedding.

17 The seventh and final book in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (below) is set for release in 2007. The sixth instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold seven million copies on the first day of its release in America.

18 Shakespeare’s “seven ages of man” soliloquy begins “All the world’s a stage…” and is delivered by Jacques in Act II, scene seven of As You Like It.

19 In both the Challenger and Columbia Nasa space shuttle disasters, seven astronauts were killed.

20 The seven of clubs in a deck of Tarot cards represents initiative, ambition, drive and desire.

21 According to Buddhist legend, after his birth the Buddha rose to his feet and took seven steps.

22 The first BMW, Nissan and Lotus cars were based on, or licensed reproductions of, the Austin 7.

23 In the vision of the apocalypse described in the Biblical book of Revelations there are seven churches of Asia, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven trumpets, seven spirits before the throne of God, seven horns, seven vials, seven plagues, a seven-headed monster, and the lamb with seven eyes.

24 Seven is “neutral” on the pH scale. Pure water has a pH of seven.

25 Roy Sullivan, a park ranger from Virginia, US, is the only person known to have survived seven lightning strikes. He shot himself dead in 1983.

26 “Jumpy,” “Shifty” and “Snoopy” were among the names rejected for the seven dwarf characters in the 1937 Disney animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

27 The square root of seven (to four decimal places) is 2.6457.

28 Seven years after Charles Grigg created Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda in 1929, he changed the drink’s name to 7Up, inspired, one theory suggests, by cattle he saw branded with “7″ and “u”.

29 In Greek mythology, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. They had affairs with several Olympian gods, including Zeus, Poseidon and Ares.

30 The Seven Sisters is a series of chalk cliffs on the East Sussex coast, a set of waterfalls in Norway, and a group of Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow.

31 The phrase “seven-year itch” was first recorded in 1899. It characterises a man’s urge to roam after seven years of marriage, the theme of Marilyn Monroe’s 1955 film, The Seven Year Itch, right.

32 In Arabic and Urdu script, seven takes the shape of a large “V”. In Telugu, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script, it is written as a backwards “S” and in Gujarat it resembles a “9″ with an extended tail.

33 The 7-Eleven chain has more than 30,000 convenience stores in 18 countries. It was named after the opening hours of its first outlet when it opened in Dallas in 1927.

34 Ten films have won seven Academy Awards, including Lawrence of Arabia, Dances With Wolves, Schindler’s List and Shakespeare in Love.

35 All the building numbers in the opening scenes of the 1995 thriller Se7en, starring Brad Pitt as a detective investigating a series of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins, start with seven. The delivery of a box at the end of the film was scheduled for 7:07.

36 Brad Pitt also starred in the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, the true story of an Austrian mountaineer who befriended the Dalai Lama in the late 1940s.

37 Seven is the fourth prime number, after two, three and five.

38 Seven Dials in London’s Covent Garden stands at the intersection of seven roads. Now part of a shopping area, it was a notorious slum in the 19th century, and hosted seven pubs on each of its apexes.

39 John Sturges’ 1960 western The Magnificent Seven was a reworking of the 1954 Japanese classic, Seven Samurai, which was directed by Akira Kurosawa.

40 The 32-metre Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai once marketed itself as the world’s first seven- star hotel.

41 Netball, handball and water polo are played with teams of seven players.

42 Ancient astronomers believed there were seven planets in the solar system - those celestial objects they could see with the naked eye (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn). In most languages the seven days of the week take their names from these “planets”.

43 Seven is the minimum age at which a UK savings account holder can withdraw money.

44 The opposite faces of a dice add up to seven.

45 Seven is the largest number of sticks or any other cylindrical object that can be tied into a bundle such that the shape of the bundle remains fixed.

46 In 1849 the writer John Ruskin published The Seven Lamps of Architecture, which set out seven leading principles. They were sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life memory and obedience.

47 The seventh amendment to the United States Constitution codifies the right to jury trial in certain civil trials.

48 Both Elizabeth Taylor and the late Lana Turner have had seven husbands (and eight marriages). American broadcaster Larry King has had seven marriages (but only six wives).

49 Seven is the international telephone dialling code for Russia and Kazakhstan.

50 The Seven Champions of Christendom are St George, the Apostle Andrew, St Patrick, St Denis, St James Boanerges, St Anthony the Lesser, and St David. They are patron saints of, respectively, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, and Wales.

51 The McCaughey septuplets, born in Iowa in 1997, are the world’s first surviving septuplets.

52 Seven segments make up each digit on the simplest electronic clock or calculator displays.

53 Famous footballers to have worn the No 7 shirt include David Beckham, George Best and Eric Cantona.

54 Daniel Craig is the seventh actor to have played James Bond (with the controversial inclusion of Barry Nelson, who starred in a 1954 adaptation of Casino Royale). Sean Connery made his seventh and final outing as Bond in the unofficial Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again. In Ian Fleming’s novel You Only Live Twice 007 appears briefly as 7777.

55 A series of seven works of art is called a heptalogy. In the case of films, Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia (both to be completed), are examples.

56 Enid Blyton published 15 books in her Secret Seven series between 1949 and 1963. The Secret Seven also appeared in seven short stories, which were collected after Blyton’s death and published in 1998.

57 In December 2006, Wisconsin hunter Rick Lisko ran over and killed a seven-legged hermaphroditic deer. “It’s a pretty weird deer,” he said before eating it, later adding: “It was tasty.”

58 Popular music groups with seven members have included Belle & Sebastian, S Club 7 and The Pipettes.

59 The Seven Years’ War (1756-63) involved all major world powers and was described by Winston Churchill as the real first world war.

60 The Advertising Standards Authority permits the advertising of condoms on Channel 4 after 7pm (but only after 9pm on other channels).

61 Seventh Day Adventists believe the second advent of Jesus Christ is imminent. Cornflake inventor John Harvey Kellogg was an Adventist. He also campaigned against masturbation and in 1888 published Treatment for Self-Abuse and its Effects.

62 Seven-league boots first featured in the French fairytale Le Petit Poucet by Charles Perrault. They enabled the wearer to reach seven leagues (about 24 miles) at a stride.

63 Luminaries who will turn 70 in 2007 include Shirley Bassey, Colin Powell, Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Bobby Charlton and Anthony Hopkins.

64 The Seven Summits is the name given to the highest mountains on each continent. The oldest man to have climbed them all is Ramon Blanco of Spain, who completed the feat at the age of 70.

65 In Dante’s 14th century work, The Divine Comedy, the seventh circle of hell is guarded by the Minotaur and receives, among others, the violent, blasphemers and Sodomites.

66 Launched in 1957, the Lotus Seven sports car - later called the Caterham 7 - was banned from competition in the US in the 1960s for being “too fast to race”.

67 Wool is the gift traditionally associated with a seventh wedding anniversary. American country singer Kitty Wells and her husband Johnny Wright expect to celebrate their platinum (70th) wedding anniversary in 2007.

68 The heptagram, or seven-pointed star is a traditional symbol for warding off evil. Most American sheriff’s badges are heptagrams.

69 When asked to think of a number between one and 10, most people pick seven.

70 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York, is known as “Fashion Avenue” due to its concentration of fashion houses, including Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. The designers have separately been dubbed the “King” and “Queen” of Seventh Avenue.

71 As a child, Jack White, one half of the rock duo The White Stripes, referred to his local Salvation Army charity shop as “the seven nation army” (the name he gave to the band’s 2003 hit single).

72 Events that took place on 7/7 include 17-year-old Boris Becker’s victory at Wimbledon in 1985, the 2001 Bradford race riots, and the 2005 London bombings. Ringo Starr, Bill Oddie and Michael Howard celebrate their birthdays on 7/7.

73 UK musical duo Zero 7 took their name from a nightclub called Zero Siete.

74 Fiji are holders of the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series.

75 Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is in fact five-and- a-half miles long.

76 The House of Seven Gables, a mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, inspired the eponymous 1851 novel by the American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

77 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey has sold over 5 million copies in 38 languages since 1989. The seven habits are: be proactive; begin with the end; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergise and; sharpen the saw

I post it here as Part Two in an exploration of new perspectives on Ego. Part one is over here.

——————–

June 17th, 2007 at 6:22 PM

Thanks Albert for sharing as you do.Interesting I should stumble upon this blog entry on becoming egoless, for in the last few months I’ve been realising another perspective on the ego that differs from the one I’ve been familiar with.

The perspective I have been familiar with is the one most prevalent in most of the so-called “New Age” and many “old-age” spiritual traditions and views on the nature of the human being, reality, etc. This is the one that describes ego as some sort of mistake (mis-take) and implies it has a separate existence from who and whatever we (as humans and consciousness) are. Like it is some kind of entity in its own right… or at the least some kind of separate “thing” within the human consciousness. It’s as if we are all suffering from multiple personality disorder. Yet do all these multiple “parts” really exist in the way most people think they do?

On one level the status-quo perspective on ego has rung true, to a degree… it’s made sense. Yet, I’ve also had this inkling inside that says “hang on a minute, in the perfect Unity of all that is where is there room for this mad ego that is apparently running amuck?”. Infinity knows no error.

Ego is derived directly from the Latin word of the same spelling. It refers to the “I”. We say “I” in English, where one would have said “ego” in Latin.

In my experience the ego is not something we can overcome or get rid of. This is further misperception. Rather it is about expanding my sense of “I” to be more inclussive to the vast infinity that my limited sense of “I” (my limited sense of ego) typically relates to. It’s also commonly proposed that one can enter into a state of self-lessness. Yet that is not my experience. I have realised it is more accurate to say that one can expand their sense of self to a point that is so inclusive of what was previously perceived as “other” and “non-self” that the perception of the self as an independent entity separate from the rest of all-that-is dissolves. If I eradicate the self — or the ego — what is it that remains to say it is so; to know it is so? What is it that has eradicated the ego or the self?

There is, in my experience, an essential I-ness within, and I feal this “I” is the same “I” in you, and me, and the same “I” that some people refer to as “God”. The I that I Am is the “I” that is God.

Attempting to eliminate the ego is, I suspect, another ego-trip. It is again a limited sense of self/ego attempting to manipulate the experience of self and reality based on the perspective afforded to one from that limited sense of self. As far as I experience, in Truth, the Path of Freedom is one of becoming forever more inclusive. The “heart” (the spiritual heart centre) is the inclusive faculty within the Human. The rational / thinking mind is the reductive and deductive faculty. As the heart opens and integrates into the human experience, I have experienced that there is less and less a sense of this mad ego I must over come. Rather I have found that it was more a matter of expanding into a far vaster perception of That which is I.

Is it about human beings dropping their ego or is it really about human beings evolving (as we are) in such a way that what we experience as ego / I / self expands? And I don’t mean in some sort of ego-inflation and self-aggrandisement… no, what I refer to is at the level of the profundity of Man/Woman, not the superficial.

I will be exploring this in more detail on my blog some time soon.

With love and blessings…

Jonathan

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Albert Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 7:25 pm

Jonathan, thanks for that great entry. It is brilliant! At the same time, I’m finishing off a post on some of what you’ve mentioned (removing the ego is actually more ego), but what you are saying on “Expanding” your consciousness and perception is admittedly new to me - I shall have to explore this.

I think you’ve just put a name to some of the experiences I’ve had in recent times - I’ve been discussing this expansion feeling with a few of my fellow bloggers but I have had nothing concrete yet - I still don’t know what exactly is happening to me - hence I’m sticking with what I’ve personally experienced with this blog. Once I consolidate that expansion thing I’ve been experiencing I’ll write about it. Thank you so much for that, I’ll be keeping a close eye on your blog for further insights. Thanks again!

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Jonathan Evatt Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 8:06 pm

Albert,
Thanks for the affirming and passionate response.
As I read your reply, the following analogy came to mind.

The human ego in its current state of e-volution (energy spiralling forever outward as form manifestation, and inward as awareness) is like a seed. To the external observer the following process can be seen: The seed dies to the germ within the seed as it begins to germinate (which takes place under the right conditions of moisture and temperature). The germ dies to the seedling. The seedling dies to the sapling. The sapling dies to the mature tree. The flower buds die to the flowers. The flowers die to the fruit. The fruit die to the seeds.

So, from one perspective, one thing dies to the next, just as we might say the ego dies to the true Self. One could also say the catepillar dies to make way for the butterfly.

Yet from another perspective the seed in fact already contains the tree. The seed already contains what is within the umpteen million seeds that tree will produce. Yet with each generation the potentiality of the seed evolves into something more aptly suited to the present conditions, as part of Life’s intelligent response to itself. Thus awareness evolves and expands. From this perspective the seed does not die (it is not got rid of), rather it simply incorporates from the formless side of Life (the unknown) a greater and greater expression of the Intention represented by this seed into the form side of Life (the known). The mature fruit baring tree is simply the full expression or manifestation of the potential inherent to the seed.

Our ego is like this too.
It is simply the seed of that fuller potentiality inherent to the hu-man being. We live on a planet we call Earth. Which is an anagram for Heart (we only have to put the tail round to the mouth of the word Earth to get that).

…….H
…T…….E
…..R…A

(The spiralling process I referred to earlier and also an ancient symbol for the mystery of life… the snake eating its own tail). [Ignor the dots… spaces didn’t work so well so put dots instead]

I shall enjoy reading more of your blog soon. Diner time now.

Arohanui,

Jonathan

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Albert Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 11:36 pm

Hmm…you seem to be coming from a very different perspective…I mostly know the ego as a psychological construct, but you seem to be talking about it as more a metaphysical thing? Thank you for taking the time to type up such a great response, I’ll have to look more into it, as I am coming from a completely different perspective than you are.

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Jonathan Evatt Says:
June 19th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

Yes, indeed. A different perspective.
Thanks for popping over to my blog at www.feal.org. Happy reading. My editor tells me there is 300 or so pages of writing on there.

From where I stand I would say that every “thing” we experience is a construct of one kind or another. We can call it a psychological one, and yet I am inclined to say that the human psyche is also a construct within the empty “space” of the Mind.

If I overcome or eradicate the ego, who is that knows this has taken place? Who is it eradicating the ego?

Further to what I have said already, as I typed the above and considered your above reply, I realised the following:
This “thing” we call the ego and experience as the ego is in fact some “thing” that within time and space (within the human scheme of things) has taken rather a long time to come about. It is the beginnings of the totality (call it God if you like) coming into an even fuller state of Awareness. As already mentioned, the “I” within me (and you) is ultimately the “I” of this totality we call God. I shall add that in my experience God is not an entity in its own right, independent and/or separate from you, me, and all that is.

This seed we experience as the ego has arisen out of the void into the form side of life. All the issues, problems, complexes, challenges, traumas, dysfunctions, etc. that we label and experience are in fact the very basis of our liberation into the Grand Perfection of all that is. These are not “things” to be fixed and/or got rid of, rather they are again the seeds of a vast and mysterious Power (one which most humans not yet even tried to fathom) coming into being — incarnating… stepping into the flesh.

From the lucidity of my True, Pure, and Omnipotent Nature there is no error. There is no faulty aspect within Creation that must be fixed or some how eliminated. There is an infinite perfection playing out… dancing through time, space, and beyond. Our human tendency to perceive that there is “something wrong with me”, which for the spiritual aspirant turns into “this ego and all that goes with it is an error I must correct or overcome”, this tendency arises out of out limited sense of self, our limited sense of ego or “I”.

For aeons I have watched people, and my own self, try to overcome these perceived human problems and conditions, and what we call ego. I’ve also seen beings of relatively great “spiritual accomplishment” (an oxymoron at best, but I think you know what I mean) — let us say these are people who are very conscious on many planes and of a great many spiritual/subtle realities — who were in my experience still being tripped up by a wounded and non-integrated human ego that had most likely been abandoned along the way side some where early on in their journey of spiritual awakening. It simply doesn’t go away. Human ego becomes spiritual ego. Human dysfunction simply becomes spiritual dysfunction. And that too is part of the journey into greater awareness. That too is part of the perfection. Yet that too is something I am equipped to discus and perhaps just one person will hear that discussion and something will click. The fight will end, and a new and more empowering battle will begin. The battle or challenge we were all Intended to face in the journey of Forever Expanding Awareness in Liberation.

With love,

Jonathan

Please check it out at www.zaadz.com

Let me know how you get on.

With love,

Jonathan

In my experience this is a slightly distorted way of relating to the ego and I question the long term benefits of such an approach. The ego is simply our sense of “I”; our sense of self; our sense of I-dentity or what I sometimes call the I-entity. The word entity comes from entitas, which relates to character/nature of being also a relation establishing that a thing exists. The I-entity (our identity) is that character of self that we use to establish that “I” exists. On planet Earth the existence of the “I” is, as far as I know, unique to human beings.

Is there something wrong with people having a sense of self existence? Is there something life-taking about a person having a sense of the “I” within their awareness? In my experience, many religions and spiritual paths and New Age teachings suggest there is, yet I disagree.

I think that where we get into problems is not so much that we have ego (a sense of self) but rather that at our present level of evolution in consciousness we (the vast majority of human beings) have a relatively limited and oftentimes distorted awareness of what the “I” actually incorporates. I don’t see this as some sort of error or fault in the human psyche but rather a natural consequence of the present state of development within humanity. Would we condemn the caterpillar for identifying with the particular form it takes in that stage of its development, ignorant of the butterfly that is yet to come? Of course not.

What I would like to suggest to you is this. The ego is not something to be suppressed, denied, controlled, condemned, or destroyed. This is as mad as trying to destroy the caterpillar in order to bring about the butterfly. I’ve seen much reference to the notion of transcending the ego, and again it is so often suggest that this is done through some form of separating from the ego (in some way), possibly squashing it (in some way), and voila, we go beyond it. Yet how effective is this? Really?

Would it not be more sensible to heal the ego in its present state–to heal our sense of self in out present state–so that this sense of sense may evolve into an even higher, fuller, and more spiritually integrated Being? The problems the ego appears to create in this world are the natural result of where it is presently at within its evolution. Just as the monarch caterpillar completely ravages the Swan plant before it establishes its chrysalis and eventually emerges as a butterfly, the ego is also ravaging its world. I’ve seen caterpillars ravage a Swan plant to the degree that the chrysalis’ already formed are chewed off, so they drop to the ground and die. Just this past summer I had a Swan plant which started out with about 15 caterpillars. Eventually only one chrysalis remained hanging, to eventually produce a butterfly. Many other rotted on the ground. Each of these caterpillars was behaving selfishly (moving toward the self) yet at their present state of evolution (in terms of consciousness) their appreciation of what that self is is rather limited. Human beings have the inbuilt capacity to operate at a level well beyond that of the caterpillar.

As I was saying, the key is to heal the ego–to heal our limited, dysfunctional, and disfunctional sense of self. Our ego in its present state is setting us–individually and collectively–up with the exact challenges we require in order to evolve to the next natural state of the Human being. The question is, will a few consume the Swan plant at the expense of everyone else or will we do it some other way that incorporates the life, development, and evolution of all beings?

I think that separating from what we call the ego is a mis-take, just as much as it is a mis-take to think that our limited egoic self is the sum total of what it means (or could mean) to be human. I think one only has to look at India and America to see an example of each of these extremes playing out and the pain and suffering each approach to reality brings about. In a place like India one can find the height of development of spiritual tradition and exploration along with the denial or at least the devaluation of the ego-self. The result is a country that is on the one hand immensely “spiritual” and spiritually enriched and yet on the other hand in deeply impoverished with people suffering and dying through starvation, poverty, abuse, caste segregation, and exploitation.

In a country like America we find a very different and yet paradoxically a very similar situation. The ego rules. The ego is it, the be-all and end-all of what life is about. The resent popularity of the movie The Secret is just one tribute to this, where spiritual principles are being promoted (at great financial profit) as a means to the ultimate satisfaction of the ego’s many delude desires and addictions. I think the capitalization and commercialization of materialism in America is the commercialization of the ego in its present state of evolution–that of being identified with a purely physical (even machine-like) body and the emotions, thoughts, and desires experienced within the framework of that body. Yet here in a country of ego-maniacs and ego-gratification we again find the same situation. People dying not of starvation but of greed and obesity and health degeneration that results from such greed. Oddly, death by starvation and death by chronic gluttony are both caused by malnutrition! In the USA we find a nation of people living in relative luxury yet at the same time impoverished with debt, the relatively absence of heart, and a level of consciousness devoid of true spirituality.

Of course, in both situation there are exceptions. If you’re reading this it’s probable you are one of those exceptions. I don’t wish to nullify the reality of those are an exception to the norm in either of these nations. I fully acknowledge I am using two generalizations to make a point. Generalizations that I think have a great deal of basis in reality.

So, in my experience I observe that neither of these approaches is in itself the answer. Denial of ego and worship of the ego both represent a limited approach to the reality of the Self and the evolution of awareness. Each is a stepping stone along the path we are all on–”we” being humanity. Each brings important lessons in the form of challenges that move the human collective toward something that is evolving toward a greater embodiment of awareness, and a fuller expression of Divinity.

The key is to expand our sense of self–our I-entity–so that it incorporates more of what is real and less of what is unreal. What I am referring to is not about the inflation of the ego the results in egomania, but rather in each human being expand their awareness of “That which I AM” beyond the limitations it is presently faced with. Just like the caterpillar must answer the call to let go of its present sense of identity so that it might arise from that chrysalis as a butterfly.