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People often feel that if the ego is dissolved, nothing will be left. They feel devastated to think that all their feelings, thoughts, ideas, efforts, and their body have no place in the divine Universe. They are repelled by the thought that they have to give the self up, for to them that equals extinction. If it were possible for the ego to just dissolve, this might be true enough. But the ego dissolves for a reason, and the reason is the increased radiance of the divine Spark in the heart. This eventually leads to liberation from the round of birth and death. When we die to the world, we then live in Christ. What, in truth, is the ego? It is the veil that shuts out the Light. It is the cloud that obscures the Sun of Truth. It is the prison house of the soul. It is the illusory attraction that compels us to live in this realm of suffering, pain and death. It is the delusion of separateness. Who, then, would not feel joy at its removal? Renunciation of the ego does not lead to nothingness — it leads to Reality. When we let go of the false we discover the True. When we renounce egoic living, we discover divine Life. When we let go of the separative self, we enter Unity. For the ego is the embodiment of separateness and selfishness. It is the essence of isolation. It is an abnormality in the Universe. When the ego is let go, then the natural, divine Unity becomes apparent. People imagine that the path to God is a lonely one. Outwardly it often is, for those who tread that Path renounce the world and thus must proceed alone. Buddha taught in the forests and Jesus went into the wilderness. People see Saints and mystics retreat into isolation, and imagine that is the end of it, for all people can see is the illusion. But in that renunciation of the world of separateness and falsehood, there is an inner awakening of unity and connectedness. When Grace takes its effect, then it brings to our consciousness a taste of the divine Universe of non-separateness, Love, and Beauty. If, then, we renounce the world, surrender the ego, and let go, we will discover that we begin to live just a little bit in terms of the divine Universe and not the fallen, separative one. That divine Universe has no separateness in it, and we cannot be alone in it. We will discover that when we experience the divinity that lies within us that we are One with all other people who also experience it. We will discover that those who have surrendered the ego to God are in truth one community, one brotherhood, and one Life. When we turn away from the world and look inward to the divine Spark — to our inner guidance and to Truth — we are in fact also moving towards Unity, connectedness, and non-separateness. If the ego is the delusion of separateness, then surely the result of its destruction is a Unity that is beyond the human imagination. There is no separate path to God. There is no way to truly tread the Path alone. For when we find the Truth that resides within us, we have also found the group Life. There is not really "your Spirit" and "my Spirit"; there is only one Spirit and only one Truth. When Spirit speaks to us in its still, soft voice, it speaks to us all, and pays no attention to us as individuals. When Truth is sensed, the whole group responds. And when an individual is able to convey even a small measure of the divine Fire, the whole group is lifted up. The whole group resonates together. Thus when we surrender the ego to God, we are entering the group life and a group community — an inward community of all those who respond to Spirit's Will. They are those people who are the instruments by which God's Plan is worked out in this universe of illusion. They are the servants of Truth who present it to a world immersed in falsehood. Yes, our egos will die. Our egos will become extinct. When we surrender the ego to God, we will endure a slow and painful death. Living in this world of illusion will become like torture. But as the ego dies, the Spirit will come alive. The Truth will begin to live within us. The divine Fire will awaken. The group "Field" will become apparent. And in that Field of subjective energies is a love and a sharing that cannot be equaled in this world, for it is a sharing that is an expression of the divine Reality — the Truth of our essential, inner Unity. |
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