Ego – The Dream Maker

“EGO: a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance: ‘He needed a boost to his ego’. A sense of personal identity.”

Of course, there is no such thing as an ego: it’s a state of mind, a set-up that up-sets the mind. It is because of this ‘self’ identity, this me, that we spend all our precious life maintaining and defending this dream world.

It’s interesting that the dictionary should use the word “boost”. Boosting a thought or emotion is what makes it seem real. This is the same as the ‘reality’ we experience in a dream. We get lost in a mind experience, which then expresses itself in a reaction in the outer world: this is all part of the dream.

Pure perception just perceives – this is happening more than we notice! For example, at this moment, there is a bowl beside me with an irregular, asymmetric shape (made by the wife 😉 ): there is no need to comment on it…it just is. What we do not notice is how much time we spend commenting and reacting to the things that we perceive (but of course, I told her how wonderful it was, and she said it wasn’t quite finished yet…that’s love for ya!). It’s like failing to notice how much sugar or carbohydrates we eat in a week. This can be a shock – and realising how much ego dominates our lives is also a shock!

There nothing wrong with thoughts and emotions as they are a natural occurrence of mind. They come and they go. When we are aware of a thought arising, it is self liberated…no comment…it just is…and it goes. When we react, we give perception a boost. We grasp at, cling, hold on to…and our attention becomes caught and held. This is because of relating everything to ourself, and therefore we get lost in self-esteem, self-importance, self-interest….we are lost in a mental world. This is dreaming; in that moment, we are, in fact, asleep.

The moment we are aware in the dream
is the moment we wake up
…in the dream.

When the dream stops totally,
we totally wake up
…enlightenment.

We first recognise our true nature. When that happens, karma – the dream – is not created. But there is still a residue of karmic dreams that has to play itself out. When that collapses totally, enlightenment dawns.