If we want to fuel the fire of our own awakening, we need to envision all that is to be gained in doing so. We need to understand the heights we could reach if we were not listening to our egos. The problem that seekers of higher consciousness often encounter is that they do not know how high this elevator goes. They are thinking small, as an ego would, because they have not had much practice in perceiving any other way. They know they would like to get out of the rut they are in but that is as far as their imaginings go. They are still picturing their old selves (their ego selves) but just as a version that is much more polished.
What we need to launch ourselves out of ego consciousness is an image of who we truly are. If we could wrap our mind around it, we wouldn’t ever look at ourselves in quite the same way. We wouldn’t ever look at anything in quite the same way! It is like discovering that we have super-powers: once we slip on our red capes, nothing becomes impossible.
So who are we to assume so much? Well, let us start with who we are not. We are not the body that we occupy. It is just a vehicle, the same as the car that we drive. It is worth taking the time to care for it since it gets us around, but we wouldn’t want to derive our sense of self from it any more than we would our Toyota. We are not the brain that determines our budget for the week any more than we are our computers. Both are useful tools, but they are quickly outdated and prone to locking up. We are not the personality that comes across as smooth, charming, debonair, sweet, funny, or any other sought-after traits. And we are definitely not the opposite of those traits. All of the above is just window dressing. We are not even our beliefs. These will change throughout our lifetime. How could we be anything so transitory? That takes care of most of who we are not. Now for who we are…
We are extensions of the Creator, souls cut from the very fabric of the one who placed the stars in the heavens. Being extensions of the Creator means that we are creators ourselves, and no more limited either. How could we be? A cup of water is still water when dipped from the ocean. It does not lose any of its water properties just because it has been removed from its source.
The Nature of Our Spiritual Identity
Being extensions of the Creator means that we command infinite power. Jesus pointed out that we could walk on water if we were so inclined—a little hard to fathom when there are days we have trouble keeping up with our car keys. Walking on water really seems a stretch! A Course in Miracles would beg to differ though. It states, “There is no order of difficulty in miracles.”[1] They are all the same as far as Spirit is concerned, which is the force behind them.
This spiritual force is actually the energy of love. We experience this incredible energy in ourselves when we extend love to others. In doing so, we contribute to the growth of our souls. We give them the divine experience of Oneness. Every soul is on a mission to know itself at this depth. When we support our souls in this mission, we reap a practical benefit from it: we tap into our capacity for creating desirable conditions. This is how a Miracle Mind is formed, by putting the mission of our souls ahead of our egos.
Working toward the mission of our souls means identifying ourselves first and foremost as souls. Our ego identities, or personalities, are temporary. Their only purpose is to act as placeholders for our developing souls. They will diminish in importance as our souls find their way to the surface of our awareness. By imagining ourselves first and foremost as souls, we pave the way for our spiritual identity to come through.
Separating our ego identities from our spiritual identity can be a little tricky, because any kind of identity has the ego’s fingerprints all over it. As a Zen Master once taught, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” His point was that being Buddha is an ego identity too, and that eventually, even it becomes an obstacle to discovering who we truly are. Ultimately, all of our perceptions fall short of the truth, but some perceptions get us closer to it than others. Until we do fully awaken our souls, we can use our perceptions as a means to gain higher ground. Think of them as steps we climb to reach the truth, without mistaking them for the truth itself. With this in mind, let us reach for a perception of ourselves that would allow us to breakout of the limitations of ego and truly live a life without limits.
Courageous are the souls, who adventure into time and space to learn of their divinity. For while they cannot lose, they can think they have, and the loss will seem intolerable. And while they cannot fail, they can think they have, and the pain will seem unbearable. And while they cannot ever be less than they truly are – powerful, eternal, and loved – they can think they are, and all hope will seem lost. And therein lies their test, a test of perceptions: of what to focus on, of what to believe in, in spite of appearances. ”
–Mike Dooley, The Universe Talks