I AM THAT

[Guest guest]

Q: The self you choose to call false is to me most distressingly real.

It is the only self I know. What you call the real self is a mere concept, a way

of speaking, a creature of the mind, an attractive ghost. My daily self is not a

beauty, I admit, but it is my own and only self. You say I am, or have, another

self. Do you see it -- is it a reality to you, or do you want me to believe what

you yourself don't see?

 

 

M: Don't jump to conclusions rashly. The concrete need not be the real, the

conceived need not be false. Perceptions based on sensations and shaped by

memory imply a perceiver, whose nature you never cared to examine. Give it your

full attention, examine it with loving care and you will discover heights and

depths of being which you did not dream of, engrossed as you are in your puny

image of yourself.

 

 

Q: I must be in the right mood to examine myself fruitfully.

 

M: You must be serious, intent, truly interested. You must be full of goodwill

for yourself.

 

 

Q: I am selfish all right.

 

M. You are not. You are all the time destroying yourself, and your own, by

serving strange gods, inimical and false. By all means be selfish -- the right

way. Wish yourself well, labour at what is good for you. Destroy all that stands

between you and happiness. Be all -- love all -- be happy -- make happy. No

happiness is greater.

 

 

Q: Why is there so much suffering in love?

 

M: All suffering is born of desire. True love is never frustrated. How can the

sense of unity be frustrated? What can be frustrated is the desire for

expression. Such desire is of the mind. As with all things mental, frustration

is inevitable.

 

 

Q: What is the place of sex in love?

 

M: Love is a state of being. Sex is energy. Love is wise, sex is blind. Once the

true nature of love and sex is understood there will be no conflict or

confusion.

 

 

Q: There is so much sex without love.

 

M: Without love all is evil. Life itself without love is evil.

 

 

Q: What can make me love?

 

M: You are love itself -- when you are not afraid.

 

 

 

http://www.celextel.org/otherbooks/iamthat.html?page=6