tinymadidea said:

Forrester said:

syncro said:

It still seemed elusive what is the ego. I was thinking what is it, something said or certain behaviors? No, imo, it must be the whole body-mind system

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I have pondered this often, and ask myself (as it seems most thoughts are of the ego)  but is EVERY thought of the ego?  Loving thoughts toward others can't be, can they? Unconditional love certainly is not of the ego, so are loving thoughts (our true creations) the only thoughts not of the ego?  It would seem.

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There are the two levels to bear in mind. On the one hand, everything that we know and experience is ego. Anything we are conscious of is dualistic and therefore not Oneness and therefore not of God. Basically everything we experience is illusory:

T3.IV.2.1-2
Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split introduced into the mind after the separation, making the mind a perceiver rather than a creator. Consciousness is correctly identified as the domain of the ego

That being said, once we find ourselves within the world as a seperated self we can make a choice for something that reflects the Oneness of Christ. The only way we can do that is to undo the ego:
1. Realise we (as a decision making mind and NOT a body) have chosen the ego and accept 100% responsibility for that choice
2. Ask for the part of our minds that remembers God to help us to choose again
3. Be very kind with ourselves for not being able to do this for a lot of the time (This step is very important)

The big mistake is to make a positive choice for love. It's completely understandable and would seem very noble but we can't get there without first seeing that we choose the ego. We MUST go through the darkness of the ego to get to the light. Anything else is false light.

Forrester, the vast majority of thoughts we have reflect the ego: not surprising as this is the ego's world. Watching the ego, without judgement, reflects the thought of love. Loving thoughts come the more time you spend watching the ego with Love next to you. It's basically mindfulness. The Course leads you to an understanding of why to be mindful. I think it saves time because it helps you to avoid lots of ego pitfalls.

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syncro said:

T3.IV.2.1-2
Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split introduced into the mind after the separation, making the mind a perceiver rather than a creator. Consciousness is correctly identified as the domain of the ego

This is interesting and I think it can be a common difference in use of the term consciousness, around Advaita and such, where consciousness can be equated with pure being, as in this case it is not.

If I recall correctly, Nisargadatta used consciousness to describe more as the dualistic perception, whereas Ramana Maharshi used it as pure being. It looks like Shankara uses consciousness as the self-illuminating absolute.

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Forrester said:

tinymadidea said:

Forrester said:

syncro said:

It still seemed elusive what is the ego. I was thinking what is it, something said or certain behaviors? No, imo, it must be the whole body-mind system

---

I have pondered this often, and ask myself (as it seems most thoughts are of the ego)  but is EVERY thought of the ego?  Loving thoughts toward others can't be, can they? Unconditional love certainly is not of the ego, so are loving thoughts (our true creations) the only thoughts not of the ego?  It would seem.

---

There are the two levels to bear in mind. On the one hand, everything that we know and experience is ego. Anything we are conscious of is dualistic and therefore not Oneness and therefore not of God. Basically everything we experience is illusory:

T3.IV.2.1-2
Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split introduced into the mind after the separation, making the mind a perceiver rather than a creator. Consciousness is correctly identified as the domain of the ego

That being said, once we find ourselves within the world as a seperated self we can make a choice for something that reflects the Oneness of Christ. The only way we can do that is to undo the ego:
1. Realise we (as a decision making mind and NOT a body) have chosen the ego and accept 100% responsibility for that choice
2. Ask for the part of our minds that remembers God to help us to choose again
3. Be very kind with ourselves for not being able to do this for a lot of the time (This step is very important)

The big mistake is to make a positive choice for love. It's completely understandable and would seem very noble but we can't get there without first seeing that we choose the ego. We MUST go through the darkness of the ego to get to the light. Anything else is false light.

Forrester, the vast majority of thoughts we have reflect the ego: not surprising as this is the ego's world. Watching the ego, without judgement, reflects the thought of love. Loving thoughts come the more time you spend watching the ego with Love next to you. It's basically mindfulness. The Course leads you to an understanding of why to be mindful. I think it saves time because it helps you to avoid lots of ego pitfalls.

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Good way to put it, indeed mindfulness is key.  I've never been able to sit and meditate eastern style, I just don't think it's my path.  But I find everyday constant mindfulness (or at least an attempt), forgiveness, and non-judgement to be my form of meditation and it is helpful, I seem to progress in making it easier and more natural.  We see ourselves in our brothers and I find this true more and more as I forgive all I see, which there is much opportunity to do with the state of the world today.

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Pray at will?

syncro said:

Reminds me of in the course that it was said the various paths will fulfill the goal of it, but that this, the way to see others and offer, was meant to save a lot of time.

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Quote:

5. The guiltless mind cannot suffer. ²Being sane, the mind heals the body because _it_ has been healed. ³The sane mind cannot conceive of illness because it cannot conceive of attacking anyone or anything. ⁴I said before that illness is a form of magic. ⁵It might be better to say that it is a form of magical solution. ⁶The ego believes that by punishing itself it will mitigate the punishment of God. ⁷Yet even in this it is arrogant. ⁸It attributes to God a punishing intent, and then takes this intent as its own prerogative. ⁹It tries to usurp all the functions of God as it perceives them, because it recognizes that only total allegiance can be trusted. (https://acim.org/acim/en/s/93#5:1-9 | T-5.V.5:1-9)

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Quote:

II. The Ladder of Prayer

1. Prayer has no beginning and no end. ²It is a part of life. ³But it does change in form, and grow with learning until it reaches its formless state, and fuses into total communication with God. ⁴In its asking form it need not, and often does not, make appeal to God, or even involve belief in Him. ⁵At these levels prayer is merely wanting, out of a sense of scarcity and lack.

2. These forms of prayer, or asking-out-of-need, always involve feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is. ²No one, then, who is sure of his Identity could pray in these forms. ³Yet it is also true that no one who is uncertain of his Identity can avoid praying in this way. ⁴And prayer is as continual as life. ⁵Everyone prays without ceasing. ⁶Ask and you have received, for you have established what it is you want.

3. It is also possible to reach a higher form of asking-out-of-need, for in this world prayer is reparative, and so it must entail levels of learning. ²Here, the asking may be addressed to God in honest belief, though not yet with understanding. ³A vague and usually unstable sense of identification has generally been reached, but tends to be blurred by a deep-rooted sense of sin. ⁴It is possible at this level to continue to ask for things of this world in various forms, and it is also possible to ask for gifts such as honesty or goodness, and particularly for forgiveness for the many sources of guilt that inevitably underlie any prayer of need. ⁵Without guilt there is no scarcity. ⁶The sinless have no needs.

4. At this level also comes that curious contradiction in terms known as “praying for one’s enemies.” ²The contradiction lies not in the actual words, but rather in the way in which they are usually interpreted. ³While you believe you have enemies, you have limited prayer to the laws of this world, and have also limited your ability to receive and to accept to the same narrow margins. ⁴And yet, if you have enemies you have need of prayer, and great need, too. ⁵What does the phrase really mean? ⁶Pray for yourself, that you may not seek to imprison Christ and thereby lose the recognition of your own Identity. ⁷Be traitor to no one, or you will be treacherous to yourself.

5. An enemy is the symbol of an imprisoned Christ. ²And who could He be except yourself? ³The prayer for enemies thus becomes a prayer for your own freedom. ⁴Now it is no longer a contradiction in terms. ⁵It has become a statement of the unity of Christ and a recognition of His sinlessness. ⁶And now it has become holy, for it acknowledges the Son of God as he was created.

6. Let it never be forgotten that prayer at any level is always for yourself. ²If you unite with anyone in prayer, you make him part of you. ³The enemy is you, as is the Christ. ⁴Before it can become holy, then, prayer becomes a choice. ⁵You do not choose for another. ⁶You can but choose for yourself. ⁷Pray truly for your enemies, for herein lies your own salvation. ⁸Forgive them for your sins, and you will be forgiven indeed.

7. Prayer is a ladder reaching up to Heaven. ²At the top there is a transformation much like your own, for prayer is part of you. ³The things of earth are left behind, all unremembered. ⁴There is no asking, for there is no lack. ⁵Identity in Christ is fully recognized as set forever, beyond all change and incorruptible. ⁶The light no longer flickers, and will never go out. ⁷Now, without needs of any kind, and clad forever in the pure sinlessness that is the gift of God to you, His Son, prayer can again become what it was meant to be. ⁸For now it rises as a song of thanks to your Creator, sung without words, or thoughts, or vain desires, unneedful now of anything at all. ⁹So it extends, as it was meant to do. ¹⁰And for this giving God Himself gives thanks.

8. God is the goal of every prayer, giving it timelessness instead of end. ²Nor has it a beginning, because the goal has never changed. ³Prayer in its earlier forms is an illusion, because there is no need for a ladder to reach what one has never left. ⁴Yet prayer is part of forgiveness as long as forgiveness, itself an illusion, remains unattained. ⁵Prayer is tied up with learning until the goal of learning has been reached. ⁶And then all things will be transformed together, and returned unblemished into the Mind of God. ⁷Being beyond learning, this state cannot be described. ⁸The stages necessary to its attainment, however, need to be understood, if peace is to be restored to God’s Son, who lives now with the illusion of death and the fear of God. (https://acim.org/acim/song-of-prayer/the-ladder-of-prayer/en/s/924 | S-1.II.1:1–8:8)

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