Ask: Why does the ego always speak first and how do I counter it?
“A Course in
Miracles says that the ego speaks first, is always wrong, and the Holy Spirit
is the Answer (see T-6.IV.1:1-2) Why does it speak first? How to counter it?
Rule no. 7 for me is the last & easiest of the Rules for Decision and seems
like a good antidote for the ego speaking first.” – ES
The
ego (personal thought system) always speaks first because it wants you to
listen only to it. It is defensive, so it is reactionary and emotional, and
this grabs and holds your attention, pushing out all reason and any other
Voice.
You
don’t need to counter the ego. In fact, trying to do so will only give it more
power over you. Instead, you want to allow its response to come up and go past.
Then you can turn to the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in your mind). Sometimes
you can do this quickly; other times, when you are more emotionally charged,
you may have to take some time to let the charge pass.
The
Rules for Decision (Chapter 30, Part I) provide an excellent process for
getting past the ego when you are locked in its response. Rule #7 is:
“Perhaps there
is another way to look at this. What can I lose by asking?” (T-30.I.12)
Sometimes
you may be able to go to just this rule. But the rules before this one can be
helpful because they get to motivation when you are really stuck: You don’t
like how you feel. This is what
motivates you to open your mind to another way of looking at a situation.
>>>>
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Comments
Despite reading them over and over and thinking about them, I never seemed to be able to apply them successfully until the other night when I awoke to a terrible fright thinking about some imaginary scenario that might take place in the future. This hypothetical scenario was predicated on another event which also hadn't happened. (Double craziness, no?) Just as I was about to slide into a black hole of overwhelming fear and dread, the following inner dialogue took place: "Just hold on a second. You have been studying the core principles of the Course through the 4HIP and Releasing Guilt for years. You think about these things every day. What part of what you have been studying supports these fears?" The answer of course was none of it. Although I saw no specific way out at that moment, I felt as though I had applied the brakes to a runaway train. Better yet, it was like a small force applied to an object hurtling through space with no gravity to impede its speed or direction - the object moves off in an alternate direction. Without really thinking about it, I used the essence of No.7 to give me a breather.