Excitement is a natural and healthy part of what it means to be human, but there are definitely different levels, or forms of expression, of excitement.
When we are very young, we get the most excited about good things happening in our lives, hence the expression, "she was beside herself with excitement." When are in our twenties, thirties, or even forties, we may still let out yelps or even screams of delight, but when we're in our fifties or older, the tendency to get excited is still there, but often it's a quieter, more mature expression. Maybe our eyes light up, and we grin with anticipation.
That's how it is with me now. Recently I got news that an insurance settlement that I first applied for four years ago, and that six months ago I was sure I was not going to get at all, may be arriving as early as next week. That will give me much more freedom financially, and I am already planning a 10 day trip to Manila, in the Philippines. I will stay with a friend of thirty years, and I will enjoy, I am sure, the many delights of being a single man, a Westerner, in an exotic Asian country.
So, when I think about my trip, I get a little excited. Yes! But I don't think too much about it, because that would be to dwell in the future, to live always thinking about anticipated events, and of course I don't do that. I live fully in the present, in this timeless, flowing moment of now... I honor the past, keep an eye on the future (including, occasionally, indulging a brief fantasy about my stay in Manila!), but live right here, in this very moment that you are reading this...
Now, is it my ego that gets excited, or is it something deeper? It is both, I feel. It is part of our human personality, which includes the ego, to get excited at the thought of anticipated good things. But the freer we are, the more awake or enlightened, the less identified with any of the thoughts or stories inside our heads, especially ego thoughts. We are simply present here, now, identified (if even we can speak of "being identified") with all that is.
This is how we ride the wave of excitement.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Making Friends with Your Ego
My book, end your story. Begin your life... was written as a complete statement on what is needed to awaken to and embody inner freedom or, as it has more traditionally been called, enlightenment, self-realization, or liberation. And, as a statement, I am well-satisfied with it. It is now going out into the world, albeit very slowly, and is already having an effect.
As I wrote elsewhere, the musician, Carlos Santana, of Black Magic Woman fame, evidently bought a copy at Open Secret Bookstore in San Rafael, California, and on March 22, quoted me on the Wall of his Facebook page. A few days later, I received an email from his assistant. We spoke and she said Carlos loved my book so much he bought ten copies for his friends. I've never actually been to a Santana concert, but someone told me he is a very spiritual guy and always appears onstage with a photograph of his guru.
Now, what does all this have to do with making friends with your ego? Everything. Two young seekers of truth, my son, Adam, aged 25, and Cameron, age 26, are both right now engaged in varying degrees of struggle with their ego. I've written this post to clarify things a bit more for them. We will see what kind of a job I do as I wing this post!
As I say in my book, I am a marketplace, as opposed to mountaintop, teacher. An example of the latter is Ramana Maharshi, or Ramakrishna. Krishnamurti was somewhere in between. Jean Klein, my guide, was closer to the marketplace. Marketplace teachers fully acknowledge the role of the ego in their lives. We use our egos to get things done.
I am right now in the middle of setting up a series of workshops with the Krishnamurti Foundation in Ojai, Agape in Culver City, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Los Angeles. All this requires writing, planning, communication, persistence, and patience. When I email someone about a proposal, there is a "me" doing it. I am promoting my own work. You might think that I am promoting myself, my ego, but you would be wrong.
Once you are free, and are fully awake to your true purpose for being here, then your purpose comes through you, and your ego is there, as your ally, your friend, to help shape it and guide it into manifestation. You, as consciousness, the whole, use the wonderful tool that is your ego to facilitate the workings of your creative mind, and thus bring your dreams into reality.
All this is explained in different words in Chapter Four of my book, in the section titled Toss the Ego a Bone. As I say at the end of that section: "Acknowledge your ego's existence, and let it go. Come back to simply being open and aware in this moment now. Then your ego need not be a problem."
As I wrote elsewhere, the musician, Carlos Santana, of Black Magic Woman fame, evidently bought a copy at Open Secret Bookstore in San Rafael, California, and on March 22, quoted me on the Wall of his Facebook page. A few days later, I received an email from his assistant. We spoke and she said Carlos loved my book so much he bought ten copies for his friends. I've never actually been to a Santana concert, but someone told me he is a very spiritual guy and always appears onstage with a photograph of his guru.
Now, what does all this have to do with making friends with your ego? Everything. Two young seekers of truth, my son, Adam, aged 25, and Cameron, age 26, are both right now engaged in varying degrees of struggle with their ego. I've written this post to clarify things a bit more for them. We will see what kind of a job I do as I wing this post!
As I say in my book, I am a marketplace, as opposed to mountaintop, teacher. An example of the latter is Ramana Maharshi, or Ramakrishna. Krishnamurti was somewhere in between. Jean Klein, my guide, was closer to the marketplace. Marketplace teachers fully acknowledge the role of the ego in their lives. We use our egos to get things done.
I am right now in the middle of setting up a series of workshops with the Krishnamurti Foundation in Ojai, Agape in Culver City, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Los Angeles. All this requires writing, planning, communication, persistence, and patience. When I email someone about a proposal, there is a "me" doing it. I am promoting my own work. You might think that I am promoting myself, my ego, but you would be wrong.
Once you are free, and are fully awake to your true purpose for being here, then your purpose comes through you, and your ego is there, as your ally, your friend, to help shape it and guide it into manifestation. You, as consciousness, the whole, use the wonderful tool that is your ego to facilitate the workings of your creative mind, and thus bring your dreams into reality.
All this is explained in different words in Chapter Four of my book, in the section titled Toss the Ego a Bone. As I say at the end of that section: "Acknowledge your ego's existence, and let it go. Come back to simply being open and aware in this moment now. Then your ego need not be a problem."
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