Defense and Ego: Defense - The Illusion of the Ego

By Barry Elwin-Jones

Defense: The Illusion of the Ego (Lesson 6)

ON THE BRIDGE

We now have a foot in two camps. We have begun to let go, but we are still hanging on. Here we see that we are standing on the bridge between two realities. In our hearts we know that we need to completely let go, but our fear of continuing the free fall halts us for what we call a rest stop, to look around and take stock. In fact this is just an elaborate ploy of the ego to maintain subtle control. The ledge we have grabbed on the way past cannot sustain us for long. Once we have taken one step on the path we cannot withdraw, as it is impossible to backtrack. We have reached a point of spiritual awakening and responsibility; we cannot revert back into ignorance. Everything is in the letting go; there is no real need to stop.

Stopping gives us a false sense of control over our lives, and along with it comes false security. The ego presents us with fear of the unknown to make us hang on once again. Control is an ego and fear-based activity. Avoidance is back on the agenda once again, be it only temporary.

MANIPULATION AND CONTROL

When we manipulate and control our lives, we invariably find judgment also creeps in, and once again we are back into our karmic filters and the truth is colored again. Free falling is self-empowering, because you are overriding the ego and reclaiming your power, letting go to the God within. This allows you to reject other people's ego demands and your divinity then shines. This takes courage, but soon becomes such a natural experience that you begin to once again honor yourself for who you are. Compromise is not a word you are then prepared to listen to, because you are either in free fall or not - there is no half way.

As other people try to intimidate or stifle your divinity, you reply with love and tolerance, because you see and understand the karmic play when judgment is put aside. The lesson is easily understood: there is nothing to prove or defend to anyone; you are who you are.

LOSS IS AN ILLUSION

Nothing can be taken from you; you cannot lose who you are. You are indestructible and eternal. You are a manifestation of God's light, an individual consciousness just as others are, so what is there to struggle with? Only the perceived threat of loss that the ego presents to us can bring us into fear, delusion and defensiveness. When we understand that loss is impossible, we will not keep falling into the same hole over and over again. We must eventually see the distorted reality that the ego presents to us, and once again embrace love unconditionally.

TWO MANIFESTATIONS OF SELF-EMPOWERMENT

Two things seem to happen simultaneously at this stage of your self-empowerment.

1. You experience an outpouring of anger (fear of loss) from others close to you. This fear can be anything from fear of losing your friendship, to genuine concern that you are losing your grip on reality as you no longer react in ways that they are used to. This fearful reaction with people does not always occur, the reaction can instead be very positive.

2. You experience an inflow of divine energy that stabilizes and strengthens. At this time, there can be a decidedly strong pull in both directions on the bridge as the ego works with fear and your true being works with love. The sensation is like having a long lost friend standing beside you, giving you the words to speak and the wisdom of the ages from which to draw inspiration. A deep recognition of your divinity begins to filter into your consciousness. The transformation has started on a conscious level.

The first point only proves that what you are doing is reclaiming your divinity, your power, your magnificence. The offspring of fear is anger and attack. Recognize that others who become angry with you are fearful, and respond accordingly. By reacting with love and tolerance, you empower the inner process that has already started by honoring who you are. You also honor the other soul by responding in this way. There is a place for controlled anger; we are not unfeeling creatures, we just need to learn how to react in a controlled way.

FOCUS ON THE GOD WITHIN

By focusing on the inner God, you empower this aspect more and more in your life. Soon, nothing will dissuade you from taking back your life and giving it up to the part of you that is perfect and true. It will never let you down, but rather be a source of inner strength that will amaze you over and over again. The most wonderful thing is that it is YOU!

SPIRITUAL TESTS

Tests that come our way are not divine intervention or some higher up in Spirit challenging us. They are our consciousness changing, propelling us into new experiences for our growth. These experiences existed previously in our lives, but we could not experience them because we could not recognize them in our reality as it was. The same conversation with the same person six months apart will present to us two totally different experiences. Which reaction within us is the one that recognizes the truth? Possibly neither one, possibly both.

We can see from this the foolishness of trying to bend others to our way of thinking, especially when our own thinking is so volatile and destined to change. Our ego wants everyone to think the way we do, so that we feel in control. This is the road to hell; experiencing the roller coaster ride of emotion as we struggle to get others to conform to our concepts of how they should behave. It's the perfect scenario for the ego, for whichever way you turn, it's got you.

DISEMPOWERING THE EGO

In the scene where Jesus was being shown how he could have all of the kingdoms and riches of the world by Satan, he said "Get thee behind me, Satan." The presentation being made to him was from his ego. Being a spiritually evolved being, he made that statement and turned away. Here the ego is completely beaten, not by confrontation, but by empowering spiritual values. As Jesus was and is one with the Father, the transient nature of the world held no attraction for him. If Jesus and other teachers were tempted throughout their lives by the ego, then we must draw from that that the ego is with us throughout this lifetime. How we like to view the ego and its works does not affect its function. We may call it by any name we wish; it still effects us the same way.

If a man fights a disease by utilizing all of his powers to struggle against it, he is in fact empowering the disease in his life. Some people spend all day, every day, talking about what is wrong with them, and how difficult it is to get rid of the problem. This reinforces the illness. Head to head confrontation never solves anything, but to walk away and focus on the spiritual values that we hold dear makes us strong.

Time and time again, people diagnosed with life threatening diseases walk out of the doctor's office and say "I do not have time for this, there is too much yet to do with my life," and magically the disease retreats. It has not been confronted, but ignored, and positive affirmations put to work. This is a change of consciousness where disease cannot exist. Something only has to be done once to prove that it can be done. To beat the ego at its own game is to turn away and empower love.

Barry Elwin-Jones is a reiki master and offers training in Higher Human Values to both organisations and individuals. The training is aimed at assisting people to recognise and utilise their own inner power. Please visit his website at http://www.lightpaths.com.