DON'T SEEK YOURSELF IN THE MIND

                                                THE SECRETS OF NOW

       I FEEL THAT THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL I NEED TO LEARN ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF MY MIND BEFORE I CAN GET ANYTWHERE NEAR FULL CONSCIOUSNESS OR SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT.

      NO, YOU DON'T. THE PROBLEMS OF THE MIND CANNOT BE SOLVED ON THE LEVEL OF THE MIND. ONCE YOU HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE BASIC DYSFUNCTION, THERE ISN'T REALLY MUCH ELSE THAT YOU NEED TO LEARN OR UNDERSTAND. STUDYING THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE MIND MAKE YOU A GOOD PSYCHOLOGIST, BUT DOING SO WON'T TAKE YOU BEYOND THE MIND, JUST AS THE STUDY OF MADNESS ISN'T ENOUGH TO CREATE SANITY. YOU HAVE ALREADY UNDERSTOOD THE BASIC MECHANICS OF THE UNCONSCIOUS STATE; IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MIND, WHICH CREATES A FALSE SELF, THE EGO, AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR TRUE SELF ROOTED IN BEING. YOU BECOME AS A "BRANCH CUT OFF FROM THE VINE" AS JESUS PUTS IT.

       THE EGO'S NEEDS ARE ENDLESS. IT FEELS VULNERABLE AND THREATEND AND SO LIVES IN A STATE OF FEAR AND WANT. ONCE YOU KNOW HOW THE BASIC DYSFUNCTION, OPERATES, THERE IS NO NEED TO EXPLORE ALL ITS COUNTLESS MANIFESTATIONS, NO NEED TO MAKE IT INTO A COMPLEX PERSONAL PROBLEM. THE EGO, OF COURSE, LOVES THAT. IT IS ALWAYS SEEKING FOR SOMETHING TO ATTACH ITSELF TO IN ORDER TO UPHOLD AND STREGTHEN ITS ILLUSORY SENSE OF SELF, AND IT WILL READILY ATTACH ITSELF TO YOUR PROBLEMS. THIS IS WHY, FOR SO MANY PEOPLE, A LARGE PART OF THEIR SENSE OF SELF IS INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THEIR PROBLEMS. ONCE THIS HAS HAPPENED, THE LAST THING THEY WANT IS TO BECOME FREE OF THEM, THAT WOULD MEAN LOSS OF SELF. THERE CAN BE A GREAT DEAL OF UNCONSCIOUS EGO INVESTMENT IN PAIN AND SUFFERING.

     SO ONCE YOU RECOGNIZE THE ROOT OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS AS IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MIND, WHICH OF COURSE INCLUDES THE EMOTIONS, YOU STEP OUT OF IT. YOU BECOME PRESENT . WHEN YOU ARE PRESENT, YOU CAN ALLOW THE MIND TO BE AS IT IS WITHOUT GETTING ENTANGLED IN IT. THE MIND IN ITSELF IS NOT DYSFUNCTIONAL. IT IS A WONDERFUL TOOL. DYSFUNCTION SETS IN WHEN YOU SEEK YOUR SELF IN IT AND MISTAKE IT FOR WHO YOU ARE. IT THEN BECOME THE EGOIC MIND AND TAKES OVER YOUR WHOLE LIFE.