The ego and Maya

[Guest guest]

 

 

cee: the pure consciousness, the self, the guru, is all there is. i

was thinking that it stopped creating. (what i meant by this is that

i thought by practice the self would come to know itself and stop

making illusion) but nothing ever did come out of it, and nothing

ever has been created.

 

nome: if we dream of something "other," there must be some

explanation for it. so the explanation usually given, including in

all the old texts and scriptures, is that god, or the supreme self,

has created it or dreamed it up. the purpose of such

explanations, originally, were to guide the seeker's mind to the

self, to the source, and were not intended to give further

credence to the thing created. thus, instructions to the seeker

were, "if there has been creation, if you think that is the case, if

you think here is where creation has started, go to that source."

so there are all these explanations. usually, the consciousness

is thought to be either a lord of all, creating, sustaining, and

destroying everything, or in some versions, being a creator. then,

after being a creator, god steps aside and lets everybody else

take care of it, something like that. or, consciousness has

created so much within it, and then this play goes on by some

residual energy of the consciousness, something along these

lines.

 

all the explanations are originally intended to point one to pure

consciousness, and not make us think in terms of, "this has

actually happened." however, as is often the case, people do

think in terms of, "it is really going on." when we make the inquiry

to know who we are, we set about looking for a consciousness

that is invariable. If it is variable, it is only thought modifications. it=

 

is not consciousness, itself. consciousness is aware of all

change, yet is unchanging. the characteristic sign of reality, real

being, is that always is just as it is, without beginning, middle, or

end,without change. so we make that inquiry experientially, and

we come to find our iidentity is just the consciousness. we find

that the reality is, indeed, the consciousness. then the question

arises, "if the consciousness is ever the same, if the real self is

ever the same, how has any of this ever come to be?" the

question resolves itself further into, "has it come to be? " we

need a "how" if it is really there. we do not require a reason why

or an explanation of how the snake came to be in a rope, or how

the water came to be in the mirage. the whole point is that there

is no water. there is no snake.

 

likewise is it with the whole creation. how it comes to be

experienced is based upon the idea that it is experienced. when

we inquire and come to know the reality, we find that it did not

arise, and it will not arise in the future. it did not happen. it is not

going to happen. so much so is this the case, that while in deep

meditation, all objectified experience may cease even at its own

level. should it not cease, it is still not created. it does not have to

go away because it is not there to begin with. do you see what I

mean?

 

 

cee: yes. it's really great because it's not like there is an ego to

kill, there's not something to get rid of, it was never really there.

 

nome: if there is an ego, one should kill it!

 

cee: yes! (laughter)

 

nome: however, the best way to kill it is to find it. o.k? Before you

first decide to cook it, you first have to catch it. you have to find it.

when we make that inquiry to find it, the more we inquire, the

less we see of it. first we eliminate the tracks it leaves behind,

the actions, the "i am the body," ideas, and so forth and so on.

then we eliminate its thoughts. We want to get right down to what

the ego, itself, is. if we hold on to the ego-i, its i-ness disappears

and only an "I-less-I" remains. Maharshi has said, "if we

penetrate into the heart of the ego, only the self is there. "there

being only one "i" --that is why he said so. so, if there is an ego,

hunt it down, and slay it. of course, in the process of hunting it

down, your aim is to destroy it, but when you hunt it down you will

find that there is nothing there to be destroyed. again, that is why

it is called maya. in all the old scriptures, it is said, "it is

impossible to explain, maya. it is without beginning." most

people think that means that it has been around for a long time!

--but t means that it is without beginning. It did not start!

(Laughter) that is why it is maya. it did not start. however, if you

think it is there, then it seems to have been going on for a long

time, much like when you start to dream, you feel that the dream

world has been going on for a long time, even though it is all in

your mind. it is like that with the present illusion. it seems like it

has been there, but really it has never been there. we decide to

inquire to know the truth, and when we finally get a good grasp of

what this illusion is,--there is no illusion there.there is nothing to

it. it is like reaching out and grabbing that snake and finding it is

just the rope. nevertheless, you had to bring the light in to make

the motion to see it for yourself.