The ego is an activity, not an entity. It is the wrong use of mind due to identifying with form - with mind and body, rather than the true reality and identity of your Being which is Non-Conceptual Consciousness (I) being Undifferentiated Awareness (Am). One's true self is not thought or felt. It is known.
As Consciousness is innately creative, if it identifies as mind, it will create with it, which is problematic all round as creating life is not the natural nor intended function of the mind that is the servant of Spirit, not itself. The mind was not created to serve itself. Thought can no more control thought than the body can control the body. Spirit is the master of the mind in the way is the master of the body. Therefore, one must develop a state of mind that is contusive to realizing and aligning with the Spiritual dimension Being, if one is to ever be free of the Ego and have dominion over yourself and the world around you. The mind is a receiver & revealer of truth, not a creator of it.
Once you stop identifying with mind and have the actual experience of being Spirit you, as Soul, will begin to use the mind correctly, with the added result being the restoration of one's mental and physical wellbeing, that suffered under the egoic state. This includes the emotional body that Eckhart Tolle refers to as the pain body, deep within the subconscious. While in an egoic state, which is the forgetting of thy Self Spiritually due to identifying with Mind, you would have, lifetime after lifetime, developed Vasana's which are unhealthy emotional habits that must be rectified before the two minds; the conscious and subconscious come together as a channel for Spirit, that in turn leads to the union between mind and Soul.
Knowing yourself as Spirit, will automatically stop one from misusing the mind in the incessant and unnecessary creation of thought (Thinking) allowing the mind to settle into the open channel of meditative Awareness between the physical and spiritual realms it was meant to be. Remember thought Aka Mind (The mind is ONE thought), which is a pure channel for Spirit is perfectly fine. It is the bridge between the physical and spiritual. It is the taking or creating of thought that is the problem. Thought given and analysed is a completely different to thought taken or created. Consider the mind a draw bridge. When it has risen in thought, it is not connected to Spirit. When it is down and singular in meditative receptivity, it is a channel for Spirit to flow through.
The conscious mind or inner I (attention) must be kept still, apperceptive (outside thought), quiescent & intuitively receptive for the flow of Spirit or Chi flowing through ones being or awareness, which is experienced as a 'Knowing' expressed in and of intuition and instinct.
Metaphysicians bang on about the Now as the Now is outside the process of thinking. You cannot think and be present at the same time. Try it. Think and notice how you lose Awareness of the moment. The thinking mind can never know the eternal now. They are like the moon and sun; The sun comes when the moon goes and the moon goes when the sun comes, even though they belong to the same sky and shine for the same earth. One's mind must become a single I that acts as a channel for intuition and instinct. The I of mind cannot think and serve itself while being present and serving Spirit at the same time. One must choose. If the conscious mind is creating thought, it has risen out of its Temple of Present Moment Awareness where intuition is received.
The proper and right use of the mind is called the Tao, Christ, or Zen mind. It is a channel or bridge that connects the spiritual and physical realms through holding a still, quiescent, and meditative state of 'Being' which is not thinking. Rather it is a heightened and alert state of Awareness that aligns one's being multidimensionally Aka being under and as Grace. The mind is both a receptor and a revealer of Truth. Not a creator of Truth. The mind creates mental images of the truth by reflecting the actual creator of truth itself: Spirit.
The egoic mind as a creator is a well-documented nightmare that every incarnating soul either rising or falling from Grace can relate too. Every time a thought rises an emotion responds, flooding the body with stress chemicals that wear the body down. Every day, all day, your mind creates literally thousands of thoughts/emotions in the process of thinking. It would also be fair to say that a good portion of these thoughts, will be in conflict with each other, often resulting in uncertainty, anxiety, and lack of sleep or worse. Much worse. Look at the world today. The mind being subject to the mind is a messy unreliable business that world history stands as an apt and sorry testimony too. Worse yet we separate the mind through distracting ourselves with unhealthy habits. We can consciously distract ourselves from the pain of the Subconscious - the true mind - leaving a hum of anxiety plaguing us unconsciously. We don't even notice this hum due to becoming so used to it. You could liken it to someone that has put on 50 kilos gradually. They do not notice the weight weighing them down until it is no longer there.
In reiteration due to the importance of this principle, let me again make clear that if you are in the process of thinking at all, then you are not present. The Consciousness of mind is either present in thought and absent in its temple of Awareness that is one with Spiritual Consciousness, or it is present in the temple of Now and absent in thought. The former state serves the ego while the latter state serves one's true Self in and of Spirit. Every time you catch yourself in thought or thinking remind yourself of this.
The process of thinking equals unconsciousness. Thinking is putting your consciousness in a container that completely blinds you to all other aspects of your being super-consciously and subconsciously. Once you stop putting your life and sense of existence into these thoughts and allow your awareness to deepen and stabilize in the present moment, more authentic dimensions of your being will reveal themselves to you. They cannot when your consciousness is in itself as thought rather than the Awareness of Soul. These dimensions will reveal themselves, not because they were developed but because your consciousness is there to become conscious of them. Do you see? In truth these dimensions were always there. It was you that was absent in them consciously. You have always been your true Self - you were simply under the illusion you are not. It is like one who is dreaming. You do not try and become the true Self in the dream - you simply wake up and the dream or illusion falls away.
Intuition (Intelligence) and instinct (Love) are not heard seen or felt in the egoic state. Not because they are not there in the moment to guide you, but because you - as consciousness - are not there to receive them. When you are present in thought you are absent in the moment where all spiritual alignment and guidance takes place. When you are present in the moment you are absent in thought. It really is that simple. There is no need to take thought when you have your Spirit guiding you knowingly - intuitively.
Learn to hold the 'conscious mind' that is one's presence of being or existing, as the 'being mind' the 'meditative mind' in the now and come alive. Come out of thought and know thy Self. Be guided lovingly by and as Soul (Am) that is intelligently led by and in Spirit (I), by remaining present in the moment as a single-minded consciousness (Meditation) that is present in and of Awareness. A consciousness that was once blind but now sees with the inner I (Rather than the outer eyes) of thy Self, not myself. Morph from the personal to knowing Thy Self impersonally as Spirit.
You are Conscious and you are aware, but you are not consciously aware. It is time now to become Consciously (Spirit) Aware (Soul). It is time to become whole. To bring the I and the am of mind together as One in service of the true Self. It is time to pull ourselves together and live.
~ Tracy Pierce
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