The Manifest Ego

In this teaching, one of our greatest values is the truth that our thoughts and feelings create our reality, and not the other way around.

This mindset helps us pay attention to what we are thinking, so that we can take an active role in creating what we choose to have in our experience rather than passively going about life without a thought for what we may actually want.

But what are we doing when we take action based on our thoughts. Some say it’s all God. But others argue that there is something else happening as well, and that is what we call ego. Deepak Chopra often says ego stands for “edging God out”, and I would agree that is an apt description of what happens when we work through the world by using our ego first.

Ego is powerful, and like the rest of our thinking, it too can manifest an experience. At its center is a drive that is unmistakable and often exhausting. It is the kind of drive that shuts out other people, closes doors rather than opens them. It has power, yes, but rarely any joy.

The drive behind this type of manifestation comes from one source – and that is fear. And as such, it has a finite existence. The drive runs out, the friends disappear, the vision vanishes. The ego has run its course.

This is not true when we are manifesting from the other place – the place of Love, the place of God, the place of Spirit.

Such manifestations have a life of their own. The individual in the midst of the experience is really a conduit for something much larger. We then become what we really are – physical manifestations of that One Mind operating in and through us as individuals.

In order to achieve this state, we need to let go. We need to let go of ego and remind ourselves repeatedly that we are doing nothing. We do nothing. What we do, is we allow the greater power that is that One Mind to flow through us. We listen, we meditate, we watch, we learn. When we feel fear, instead of running we walk.

Marianne Williamson in her book A Course in Miracles says: “The miracle worker’s purpose is spiritually grand, not personally grandiose… “ and she goes on to say while our careers may be important, our personal relationships important and our talents important, they are only important “to the extent that they are devoted to God to use for His purposes.”

This is precisely the same truth that appears as the First Commandment: Thou shall have no other Gods before me. When we put God first, we get our ego selves out of the way so that real transformation can take place.

When we create from a place of love, everything speeds up in absolute perfection. Relationships heal, fears are removed, we flourish.

For centuries humanity has lived from the place of the manifest ego. And throughout this time, we have grown in our conscious understanding of what is possible. We can choose differently. We have the tools.

As Ernest Holmes said: “There is a power in the universe, and you can use it.” What’s equally true is that now that we know this, we have a responsibility to do so.

We know enough about what the world creates when we manifest from ego. What would happen if we choose instead to manifest from our Sacred Selves? Crazy idea, but if we all did more of that, what a world we would live in.

Could be way more fun.