The Ego Falling Away is Not Frightening


The belief in guilt fell away from this mind. Then the self-concept fell away. This mind is now in the process of “unlearning” self-identification. Which is to say, the ego is falling away. It is not frightening.

I tell you this because all along the way on the path to transcending the ego (personal thought system), the ego says you are dying, you are killing yourself, it is impossible, it is terrifying, you will cease to exist, etc. And it was wrong. Surprise!

I knew this intellectually. I knew the ego was always speaking for itself and not for this mind. But now I can report, from experience, that it is not frightening for it to fall away. It is unfamiliar, yet natural. It is fascinating and awe inspiring. It is confusing and disorienting. So it is “unsettling”, as this stage is labeled in the Development of Trust in A Course in Miracles. But there is nothing to fear.

It is the ultimate paradigm shift. It feels like a massive undertaking. But, for this mind, anyway, just as the first four stages were gentle preparation for this stage, the ego falling away is also a slow, gentle process. So far. I’ve only just begun. But why would it change?

There is no loss in this process! It is all gain. The Love! The Light!

Imagine that, if you can.

>>>>> 
A mentor is one who walks ahead of you and can help make your path smoother by sharing her experience. Email me at Liz@acimmentor.com to set up an appointment. Learn more at www.acimmentor.com.

If you have a question the answer to which you think will help others email it to me at Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in the newsletter/blog.

Comments

JontheArtist said…
May I ask that have you experienced glimpses or more of real world glimpses and how would you describe them?
1:44 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
I have, Jon. It is Golden. It is a Vision, but more a feeling of joyous Love. It is a Perception rather than a "world".
2:15 PM
hannah said…
i can imagine that, by gum!
12:18 AM
nicci said…
so grateful for your sharing this journey as it is unfolding in the mind ... to hear of it brings strength to my commitment and practice. somewhere within that Golden Vision I am. n
7:44 AM
will said…
The belief that If I try long enough, hard enough, am sincere enough, if I pray enough, I can change the ego and have peace of mind. My teachers were Roman Catholicism, addiction and conventional psychotherapy both doing it and teaching it. Years into Recovery from alcoholism people said to me, “Wags, you are too hard on yourself.” My reply, “If I don’t do it, who will?” A badge of honor, of stoically carrying pain, being the suffering hero in this sad story I created. I carried my pain proudly to show my dedication to getting well.
Ken Wapnick in “Ending Our Resistance To Love” says: “It is important to note that the ego never changes. It is 100% hate and murder. On the other side, the Holy Spirit is 100% love. He never changes. His thought system of forgiveness, healing, peace and love never changes. Both are totally present in everyone: 100% hate, 100% love. It does not diminish; you do not chip away at it. What changes is the amount of time you spend on either side. It is a mistake to think you can whittle away at your hate. You will never whittle away at your hate. It is 100%---like solid granite. There is no tool powerful enough to do anything with that 100% granite wall of hate and murder. What you do is choose to spend less and less time identifying with it and more and more time identifying with the Correction, the Holy Spirit.”
1:14 PM
will said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
1:20 PM
will said…
To add: Even knowing this, I continually have this knee jerk response of reprimanding myself for thinking "bad of inappropriate" thoughts. I still judge myself by what the mind is saying. This is all very easy to say but is a long process of correction. Allowing the mind to think whatever it wants but to not judge it. Worse are the good table scrapes the ego offers to feel good and happy. Tough, Tough.
1:26 PM
Christine said…
Years ago, my now deceased (and dear) father-in-law, who was a psychiatrist, had a group of other psychiatrists "unself" him...he had anger issues...he went through therapy to kind of undo the ego as they knew it. I heard this years after I met him. He did seem very calm, happy...but I felt like the anger issue was still there, just tamped down with a boulder! To "really" unself the personal sense self you have to eventually figure out (with the Holy Spirit) that this little self never really existed, just a passing idea/a classroom/a dream of separation...it's useful, it's challenging, but it isn't Reality. To Remember this is freedom and Peace, finally...
1:39 PM
JontheArtist said…
Will, I always appreciate your comments..I sense your deep involvement and evolvment in your spiritual path. For myself, I know that hate is not part of my conscious self, at least what I feel inside. I mostly extend only love. Maybe still at the Relinquish stage but that's Ok. Blessings.
4:21 AM
will said…
Jon, The hate that Wapnick is referring to is in the subconscious. He says we could spend a lifetime doing the Course and never really do what Jesus is asking us to do. To get past the subconscious or to make progress with the course it is necessary to go through the subconscious. Just getting it clear in your mind how to do this is tricky. Wapnick is very adamant that the majority of students never really learn how to do Forgiveness. There is a lot of small print:)
10:27 PM
will said…
The book I referred to above is one of those little 4" square ones. $5 at Amazon.
10:43 PM
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