Nisargadatta said, “You have not understood until you’ve solved the riddle of the one who thinks they’ve understood.”
This ego, the one who thinks they understand, has no actuality independent of totality. An ego has no independent existence. The arising of an ego is an activity; to ego is like to run, or to walk, or to swim.
Where is swimming when you are not doing it? It just arises in water. Where is running when you are not doing it? Where is walking when you are not doing it? They are all activities arising in movement: they appear and disappear.
Now this me, this ego, is simply thought-based and appears and disappears. And we know the truth of that. Look at what’s happening during the day. This me notion arises spontaneously at various times. As soon as you become absorbed in something, it’s no longer there. Whether that’s a task or something as simple as a good conversation.
There is nothing wrong with the arising ego. It’s not a problem to be got rid of. It just has to be seen for what it is – a spontaneous appearance. So much of daily functioning is facilitated by the arising of an ego, a reference point. Without a point of reference, none of us can even get out of a room. It is through a reference point, we know where we are in relation to the door.
Reference points are momentary appearances and can be very useful. They are not a problem. All that has to happen is that you see them for what they are. You don’t have to transcend the ego or beat up the ego or kill the me. All you have to do is see it for what it is – a pulsation, a momentary arising.
© Peter & Kalyani Lawry.
Edited extract from a recent Non-Dual Awakening programme