The ego mind VS Mind of Spirit 

 In my practice since the year 2000 and for many years prior I have always believed without the Spirit to guide and temper the ego mind there lays the capacity for destructiveness.

This condition would be likened to an insane person driving a powerful vehicle of immense proportions and capabilities, results in chaos and suffering of self and others. The ego lives in linear time and always perceives everything through the clouded lens of past and future.  On the other hand, Mind of Spirit is always present and never minds the past or future because present is all there is and that is where Truth lives. Ego wants no part of Truth or present time because it has no power there.

The ego mind uses personal suffering as a tool to keep the Mind of Spirit from being heard. Chronic suffering can have a pay off, the ego can use it to get back at others, gain attention, have a sense of specialty or just having an identity of brokenness, such as; “I am the one that is always broken, or I cannot be successful because I am sick or in pain", or there could be a inner belief that you do not deserve to be happy or well.

Some ask, “Is it too much to expect to want to be free from the chronic suffering or limiting conditions that plague us in one form or another?” Perhaps if we ask ourselves what is my ego trying to accomplish by causing me to attract this condition, we come closer to discovering why it is OK to let it go. 

I believe getting over a constant state of suffering is not too much to ask. Having said that we must realize that with birth or coming into this world of opposites we experience suffering in many forms. We suffer much more through the resistance of suffering than we do with an understanding that this suffering has come to pass and not to stay.  

Will we become pain free forever?  That is to be discovered for each one of us depending on how much we desire to do what it takes to become present. Since the present moment is all there is - you only need to let yourself be.  Being is not doing, it is just allowing yourself to become aware of the way your body and mind perceive the world around you right now. Appreciating the moment is not resisting what is happening but observing that this to shall pass whether you perceive it as good or not good. Being fully in the present moment puts you in full connection with your healed life. You are there instantly. So why can’t we allow this to happen? We don’t believe it for one. 

However you may be suffering; let’s see how to use it for your greater good since that may be where you are right now. If you can see how your suffering has brought you closer to a greater understanding of yourself simply in that you are stronger than all the suffering you have endured so far, no matter how bad it has been, you are still here now. Right now be aware that you are stronger inwardly than you were five minutes ago, ten minutes ago, five hours ago, a year ago and so on. You are victorious in this moment because you have arrived in this moment of awakening to the new potential for being. Whatever that is and you don’t have to figure it out. You are brand new in this moment and the past cannot reach you here because it no longer exists.  Breathe in this Truth and allow it to filter down into every cell of your body, hold it for a few seconds so each cell will know you are not blocking this healed moment. Now this opens a channel and a path to your power and peace. Up until now suffering has been the breaking of the shell to your understanding. You break out of the limiting perceptions of what and who you thought you were in order to become free of having to know everything and free to discover life without judging it.  You are not your thoughts and the ego may be trying to trick you right now by telling you that this is not important or true, that is ok just listen and be detached, relax in the knowing that all the fears and worries of the past have no power over you anymore.  

Your body is your storage facility for holding on to the past. Your cells are conscious and profoundly affected by your thoughts and emotions.  Each cell has the conscious capacity to take part in the letting go as long as the mind is quiet enough to allow the process to take place.  

An ego that has no spiritual guidance is an insatiable gluten who only thinks of immediate gratification and is never satisfied. It will grasp at any identity in order to achieve control. Better to be that person who is always suffering than to have no identity at all. The ego is supposed to be our servant, serving spirit and not of itself, but it is too often allowed full reign over our lives because of it’s incessant chatter and non stop badgering, criticism, condemnation, blaming and fear based thoughts. The ego never shuts up; it is loud, aggressive and does not like silence unless induced by some addictive method like drugs, food or alcohol. The Spirit is quiet and has a still small voice which you can only sense when you are still and listening to the silence that exists between the thoughts.  

The ego mind will use your painful memories against you in order to maintain control. Being aware that the ego is scheming against you is half the battle. You see prior to your awareness of this, all of your suffering is unconscious.  Now as you become more conscious and not resisting your present condition this will lessen the intensity more and more, while it breaks up the foundation of the ego’s building blocks and begins to set you on a new foundation of freedom. 

The good news is that 90% of all the thoughts you have are not yours and not who you are so you don’t have to invest any time or energy into them. Observe the thoughts that float in and out of your mind and be mindful of the spaces in between where you peace lies. The more you do this the larger those spaces become, the more your mind quiets down and the more you become one with the Mind of Spirit and not of the ego. Suffering wanes and peace reigns in the Mind of Spirit and the internal and external war is no more 

Carol S. Rios