The concept of eliminating the Ego also sometimes confused by the I Am awareness is something that features heavily in spiritual awareness circles as a desirable goal. Get rid of the ego (I Am) and live in permanent bliss. But is this really true? Who do you know Guru or otherwise, that is not aware that they are. That do not respond by saying I Am when asked a question as to their state of being.
I tend to think that nature has provided for us in every way possible and that we have all the necessary tools with us to reach awareness. The I Am and the ego (which are separate manifestations of conscious awareness of being) are no different.
To reach awareness one just need to understand what they are and their purpose in the larger scheme of being. But in essence just being is quite enough, and exactly what is needed to become aware.
In my understanding the I Am is another word for recognition of what makes us unique to any given situation. We use I Am to define our boundaries to the world, so that we can use those to explore everything that is not included in our I Am function.
For example saying "I Am Angela" clearly defines that in order to get your attention one must call for Angela. However Angela does not describe anything at all. It is just a sound. So really you are not Angela, the sound to get your attention is. Yet we put all our identity into that sound as if our living depended on it. When we put this into perspective we might find just how absurd it really is by stating:
"Hi I Am A Name."
We can then go on to state all the things we recognize as part of our I Am experience like, our occupation, our civil state, our age, our height, emotional state etc etc. What we find is that the only thing that is constant is our belief that we are. I Am.
So in essence I Am is simply awareness of being in its purest form. And is endless in it's possibilities. The only true and permanent answer to any question about who and what is I Am.
When we recognize that the I Am rather than define us and bind us is what frees us and allow us to experience anything and everything - we come to realize our true potential as beings. Welcome to awareness of being. Or being aware.
So if the I Am is pure awareness then what is the Ego and how are they different?
Well Ego to my understanding is the control center of being. It is what wants us safe and well so that we can carry on being awareness for as long as possible. It seeks out answers to what if questions in order to understand possibilities within the boundaries of our accumulated experiences. The Ego does not like sudden changes. It wants organized predictable chunks of reality events to deal with, so that it can carry out it's task of evaluating what ifs and protect our being from transitioning into unknown territory where certainty of awareness might not exist.
Further more Ego loves I Am but it is not it. This can easily be tested by saying out aloud "I Am Ego". It doesn't make sense because we are not. I Am and Ego is it's keeper. When we say "I Am Egoistic" we are not saying we are the Ego but rather that the I Am is focusing on the Ego function. The Ego in that sense is to our I Am as an arm is to our bodies. Just one part within I Am. A tool.
Now that we understand this we also see how preposterous it is to try to eliminate the Ego from our being. Rather than seeking to destroy it all we have to do is understand that Ego is not always right in it's ways and does not always see things clearly. Nor is it always necessary to listen to the Ego's ranting about what should be. We can, when we are aware ignore the Ego entirely as and when we are required to in order to move beyond our current boundaries. This in my view is what being conscious or enlightened means. Recognition that I Am is the only thing that we are. We are all it.
I Am and so are you
Just for today embrace the I Am, allow the I Am to be to it's fullest potential, because you are no more and no less...
Monday, 25 June 2012
Awekening, enlightenment, awareness....
Awakening have all the symptoms and disorientation of waking up.
Enlightenment is what happens when your 'eyes' are still adjusting to the light being turned on.
Awareness is what comes after and the state of both being awake and seeing clearly what was always there when you were still asleep and too deep in dreamland to notice.
We too often confuse the exiting energizing stage of waking up and enlightenment with a desired higher state of permanence when in fact they are only transitional stages.
Stay exited for too long and you will eventually burn out.
Waking up and turning on the light is not the days work, it is what you do once you are awake that is. Part of it, is knowing when to rest and go back to sleep.
I Am
Enlightenment is what happens when your 'eyes' are still adjusting to the light being turned on.
Awareness is what comes after and the state of both being awake and seeing clearly what was always there when you were still asleep and too deep in dreamland to notice.
We too often confuse the exiting energizing stage of waking up and enlightenment with a desired higher state of permanence when in fact they are only transitional stages.
Stay exited for too long and you will eventually burn out.
Waking up and turning on the light is not the days work, it is what you do once you are awake that is. Part of it, is knowing when to rest and go back to sleep.
I Am
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