Pulling the Plug on the Ego
Joburg Retreat-One Problem, One Solution—Pulling the Plug on the Ego
The mind that is trapped in the ego is seeking freedom in the world. Do not attempt to understand or figure out this world. The Course teaches that “My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.” W-11 It is the mind that needs help and healing. To the degree that we do not define the problem, we can allow the Spirit to guide us to find the real problem (belief in separation) and real solution (Atonement).
Gold Nugget:
“Jesus tells us in the psychotherapy pamphlet that a careful tracing back of the effect to the thought in the mind, even that will not help you unless you forgive. In other words, there are many symptoms that can be traced back to many thoughts, but there is one experience that actually heals it, and Jesus says in that pamphlet, only forgiveness heals. That is where Atonement comes in. Atonement is going to be correcting the identity confusion. It is not correcting parts. It is not trying to change the effects. It is going back to the ego, which is the unreal cause, which made the unreal effect, and seeing that the unreal cause is not real. ‘This world is causeless’ (T-28.II.6:1) is the way Jesus says it.
That is where we are going together with this. We are going right for the drain. If the ego is a big pool, we are going down scuba diving to find the plug, to pull the plug, to drain the pool. We are not going to do any good in the pool. If the pool is filled up with guilt, we have to drain the guilt out of the pool, and in order to do that, we have to get to the plug. There is just no other way. It is not going to evaporate. It is going to take a long time to evaporate. But if we pull the plug, then you see how it gets simpler. That is where the joy comes. The joy comes from pulling the plug, really pulling the plug, and seeing I can’t be guilty. I don’t have the power to be guilty.”
Recorded at the 2014 LM South Africa Tour on December 12, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa
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