If you have been following the latest debacle in the Senate you know that Senator Jim Bunning, former Hall of Fame pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, and the oldest Republican member, has been objecting (or filibustering) to bills that have had a unanimous vote to pass by the rest of the Senate body, including his Republican brothers and sisters. According to the Associated Press, the move had forced some 2,000 federal employees into unpaid furloughs, put jobless benefits in jeopardy for millions and halted more than 40 highway projects. Now I know that this may be an isolated case of a Senator who has lost some of his marbles but, as it turns out, he is not seeking election in November for another term, so what the heck he’ll just vote his conscience.
Ah, there’s the rub. His conscience. It’s amazing how many egos on this planet have consciences of unwavering stupidity. Many people are afraid of entitlements because they will have to pay for it with their hard earned, sweat laden tax dollars – and why can’t the bums just get off their butts and find a job, or pay for health insurance or find a place to live. It’s a ‘not in my back yard’ mentality. Should these well off folks find themselves one day to have lost it all, and part of the society of the needy, they will be the loudest ones begging for help.
Do we have any inkling of the pain that people may suffer at the hands of others selfish motivations? Can we honestly stand by while they go hungry or homeless? There is something wrong in the human psyche with this equation and we must try to understand where it comes from and work on changing it.
There is a commercial on TV where a good samaritan helps a woman with her baby stroller on a rainy street corner. Then she gets the notion to help someone and does so and on and on it goes, passing it forward. Well let’s stop and think about our place among all others on this planet. Let’s offer gestures that might help someone else, no matter how small. Once we start this thread of oneness with our fellow travelers we might just change the consciousness of the world. As difficult as it may be for us humans to change this one quality let’s give it a try. It’s just another step toward enlightenment and we seem to be getting closer every day.
“What do you mean by enlightenment? Is it really a matter of light?”
Light is the fundamental, formless essence entering the world of form. It brings with it, energetic characteristics, like trajectory, wavelength, and frequency. Since light-vibration is fundamental to both creation and appreciation, it is synonymous with active consciousness: Light equals consciousness in this sense.
To be imbued with light, or enlightened, means that Life and consciousness have come awake and alert within you; they are alight within your being and all around you—illuminating your attention, your thoughts, feelings, and interactions within the world of form. It means that certain blockages have been removed.
Enlightenment means that formlessness is taking deliberate presence in you. It is giving you a profound sense of appreciation for the objects and essences around you. It is radiating out from you into other beings and objects, lifting them, energizing them and sensitizing them. It clarifies the understanding of integrated Life and wholeness among all creatures. This, incidentally, does not guarantee great intellect, but it does bring resourcefulness and vision.
“Can’t intelligence come out of ego as well?”
Indeed, it can and did repeatedly in human culture. Ego can be, and was a huge stimulus to creativity and development of increased awareness. By the way, intelligence is a universal; intellect is a local, human phenomenon. There is a great difference.
Let me take this opportunity to clarify what I’m saying about the ego. Your age was so dominated by it, both collectively and individually, that it is the major feature we remember of your civilization. Ego conditioned everything you thought—your entire identity. In my time, we still have vestigial egos, not unlike the appendix in your body, but it never dominates us or governs our identity. What it does for us is trigger early development, and later it spices up our lives, in small doses. We can see it quite clearly and turn it on or off, as desired.
Any time you live in a duality system, there will be at least remnants and semblances of separation from Source. In these letters I will speak of egoless or ego-free qualities, but nothing is absolute on the physical planes. Thinking, acting and speaking are always done in relative terms.
“All right. It’s good to know that. But how can your egos—any separative ego—coexist with holistic awareness?”
In vigilan society, we have a phase of our lives where ego plays a part, longer for some than others. It is in our youth, when we need to find our differentiation from the oneness. Even so, it is never dominant over appreciation. During this period, the ego assists in the development of individuality, in ways similar to humans. It is useful in giving us a face to the outer world—a personality, if you will. As part of this process, we establish our sense of destiny and desires for engaging Life. In youth we explore our passions more overtly and actively, as we explore our newly manifesting life form. A small amount of ego is helpful in this.
“How do you keep it in check?”
There is no need in our species to be psychologically defensive from others or from the environment. Therefore, we do not build protective mental structures. The sense of self for us relies much more on sensitivity to oneness than on differentiation. This is the authentic self in any case; we are simply acknowledging reality in our psychology. One function for ego that we encourage in youth is bridging between mind and other forms of consciousness; awareness of differentiation is important in this.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert Lee Potter
Letters From 500 