On Tuesday in the Mindshifters group which meets in Woodstock, IL, we watched Jayem discussing Lesson 5 from The Way Of Mastery. During the talk, Jayem mentioned how walking the spiritual path, and using the tools of observation, desire, intention, allowance, surrender, and humility, will lead to the dissolution of the ego. He talked about how that process will effectively take the ego, flip it upside down, and shake it until the content of its pockets fall out, and there is nothing left but a shell which will then be blown away.
At that point, I stopped the video to remind us that it is doing the work of being willing, and then committing to follow through with the path that leads to spiritual awakening – that does this to the ego. It is not “I” who will turn the ego upside down and shake it until nothing is left but a shell. It is not “I” who will blow away the dust of the remnants of the ego. The “I”, or “who I think I am” – that is actually the ego. The ego will never dismantle itself. “I” will never dismantle the ego.
My only role in the dismantling of my ego is to have the willingness to observe, and walk the path, or the way, which reveals the False nature of the ego. I must be willing to observe that of myself, I know and do nothing. I must be willing to watch my ego as it takes credit for the good in my life, and blames everyone and everything else for the bad in my life. I must be willing to observe this without defending it, and be willing to LAUGH at the drama the ego will create in an attempt to get me to align with it, identify with it, and defend it!
One of my favorite books from past years was, The Mirror Theory. In it the woman, Betsy, tells her teacher, “Charlie, I hate the ego!” To which Charlie replies, “Then the ego has won.” Betsy says, “Why?, I said I hate it!” Charlie replied, “The ego does not care who or what you hate, so long as you hate.”
The ego wins whenever anyone or anything wants to fight it! As soon as anger, pain or fear have been identified with, the ego wins. The only thing that undoes the ego, is Truth. My role in Truth is not to create Truth, and it certainly is not to use Truth as a weapon, either against ego or anyone / anything else. My role in this process is to be willing to see the Truth for what it is, even when that Truth reveals that everything I have been identified with is false. Everything I thought I was, and poured all of my emotional energy into for decades, is false.
Observations are always welcome.
We Come From Love. We Are Made Of Love. We Are Love. Everything else is false.