The Ego and the Absolute

(by unknown)

So long as you identify with the ego, you cannot transcend it. It is only when we take the enormous risk of not looking into it, of leaving the ego completely alone, that we will finally be able to see it for what it really is. It takes tremendous courage to do this. You have to leave it completely alone. There's no other way to achieve the liberating result. It's an all-or-nothing game and most people don't want to play because the stakes are just too high. We are speaking about a leap into another dimension that reveals a perspective that is absolute. Within that perspective, the ego just does not exist. If you want to know what that perspective is, you have to be willing to leave this one behind. The ego will never do this; its own survival depends upon clinging to the unquestioned conviction that it is important.

The ego always pleads for time. Its refrain, in the face of the call from the Absolute is, "I'm not ready yet, I need more time". But, the Absolute never hears the ego's pleas. Its ceaseless refrain is: "Every moment that you hesitate, you're keeping yourself from me". Its constant demand is always, "Now!" and the ego insists, yet again, "No, I'm not ready". This is the spiritual drama that has played itself out between man and God for thousands of years -- between the individual sense of self and the call of the Absolute.