Oh, how our ego loves to prattle about its supposed IMPORTANCE. It might be considered a mental faucet without an off position. When it isn’t squawking out loud, it’s most likely still chattering within. Given just a moment of our attention, it will unabashedly steal countless years of time. The majority of Beings may, in fact, sleepwalk through the mist of Maya for uncounted lifetimes before awakening to Truth. Such was certainly the case for “me.”

If “Art” were permitted to tell the story of his life, it’s a sure bet that he would inform us of his apparent birth in 1958 and that he was raised with two lovely sisters by loving parents. There’s a high probability, that he would then sprinkle his history with several “i-did-this” accounts of special events; followed by a pinch here about his status, accomplishments, travels, and education (which would, of course, be quite impressive) and a dash there about his failures (which most egos, quite naturally, prefer to list as few). The remaining hours of Art’s dissertation about himself would be filled with a whole lot of yada yada about nothing. We can be grateful that free packets of anti-nausea tablets, bowls of sedatives, and (for those experiencing more severe reactions) hang nooses would be available upon a nearby table.

To help us gain clarity about our essential nature (which is Spirit, aka Consciousness), I offer the following passage from a book entitled The Lankavatara Sutra. It reveals wisdom that was shared by the historical Buddha about the very nature of so-called “reality:”

“All that is seen in the world is devoid of effort and action because all things in the world are like a dream, or like an image miraculously projected. This is not comprehended by the philosophers and the ignorant, but those who thus see things see them truthfully.”

To understand the full meaning of this passage requires that our ego be transcended by the knowing recognition of the Truth of our essential nature. No apparent “thing” (including our body-mind, aka the person) has existence independent of the mind that perceives it. What this basically means is that our body-mind and the apparent “world” arise together. From the spiritual classic entitled I Am That, I also offer the following wisdom as expressed by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“Realisation is but the opposite of ignorance. To take the world as real and one’s Self as unreal is ignorance, the cause of sorrow. To know the Self as the only reality and all else as temporal and transient is freedom, peace and joy. “

We are given another valuable pointer through the passage in John 10:30 of the Bible, which is attributed to Jesus:

“I and my Father are one.”

How can this possibly be the case? Because the Consciousness that knows the finite experience of the “person” is actually Universal Consciousness (God)–not a limited consciousness, which is assumed to arise from neuronal processes of the body-mind.

Ramesh S. Balsekar also possessed a profound understanding of our essential nature and the apparent world. He expressed the following passage in The Final Truth, which is one of his many incredible books regarding the Truth of our Being:

“The universe is a mere appearance and the ego-sense is a mere concept.”

Here’s the bottom line of this article: Our body-mind and the apparent world arise together, in much the same manner as the contents of dreams arise in the dream state. This cannot be experienced via the mind, but it can be known directly by our essence. Most Beings have been conditioned to believe that they are the ego, which is actually non-existent. It is, in fact, only a repetitive “i”-thought. I prefer to be as I Am, eternally here and now. One way liberates; the other way leads straight to the table mentioned above.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2023 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. 🙏🏿🧡

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