This is
my 18th year of teaching trainings, four per year! One of the best things about
teaching this course is that I always present something I never have presented
before. It may
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be a new idea altogether, or a core concept that I have presented
many times, but that I suddenly find I am presenting in a completely new way.
I
found myself explaining to this class that all problems arise from the ego
-- the sense of limited fearful separation. Problems, defined as unnecessary
emotional suffering, are optional! We're not required to have them, and in
fact, we never have a justifiable reason to suffer fearful emotional
distress! |
Of course we will experience sadness and grief at the loss of a
loved one, but without a sense of ego, of limited self, we do not suffer
distress -- in the sense of being diminished or weakened or deprived by the
experience. Without the ego, we don't create a mournful story which we
constantly replay to depress ourselves.
As
I presented this in class, I was astonished -- even though these ideas are
by no means new to me. Presenting to the class in this way made them new to
me once again. So I started contemplating daily on my morning walks ?
remembering that the only problems or suffering I have are due to ego
attachment. Otherwise I could be experiencing the Higher Self List 24 hours
a day, Joy, Freedom, Exuberance, etc., (see my other ezine articles on
choosing the Higher Self and releasing anger).
On
these walks I realized that just because a particular outcome I was looking
forward to has not yet appeared, nor the funds to realize it, does not
require me to shrink in any fearful way. I saw how grasping and desiring
this outcome was creating a temptation to feel fearful and small. So I
released this attachment repeatedly and enjoyed the sense of lightness and
openness in my chest, and the clarity in my mind, that resulted.
Then I went further, examining the desire to grasp 'Jack,' to 'be Jack,' to
identify as this body/mind. I repeatedly practiced releasing my hold on
being Jack, on wanting to survive as this body. Releasing at the root of ego
in this way made it very clear that stress, and having problems are entirely
optional.
Does it seem outrageous to think
in this way, to question the idea that you are your body/mind/personality.
Since we all will have to release it at the moment of death, why wait until
we are forced to let go? It may seem very scary if we wait. Don't you think
it would be better to practice now, so that letting go of the body at the
moment of death could actually be fun? Having released attachment to the
body so thoroughly in advance, at the moment of death it would already be a
done deal! Not only that, we would have lived a life free of suffering and
full of Joy!
This is one way to define an
enlightened being: someone who is completely free from body/mind/personality
identification. By the way, body/mind/personality functions just fine, and
even much better, once the grasping identification is released.
You
might try repeatedly asking yourself, Can I let go of being (your name),
can I let go of thinking I am this body? It doesn't matter whether the
answer is 'yes' or 'no' ? either one is OK. Just notice your inner feeling
each time you ask.
Good luck!
Copyright 2006, Jack Elias, All Rights Reserved
http://www.findingtruemagic.com/performance.shtml#gainingconfidence | |
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