' Falling into Grace '...

The reality is that we don't have any control; the ego has no control over how reality unfolds and reveals itself. How is it the case that the ego doesn't have control? Simply because ego is merely a thought in your mind. It's an image. It's a way your mind references itself, thinks about itself, and creates a sense of self in the first place. If your whole egoic self is merely a product of imagination, a mechanical result of thoughts linking themselves together, then it's obvious that a thought doesn't have any control. A thought is just something that occurs. It happens and then passes away.

This is a very challenging and at times frightening thing to see, especially if we believe that we are our egos. Life, however, shows us continuously, over and over, that we really don't have the control that we want or think we have. Just look inside your own mind. You don't really have control whether one thought enters or exits your mind. If you don't even have control of the thoughts that appear in your head, how much control do you really have?

If you really have control, wouldn't you just decide to feel good all the time -- open, loving, and happy? And isn't it odd that even though life shows us over and over again that the ego doesn't have control, we keep believing that it does? We keep insisting that it does, because if it doesn't, that would be too overwhelming! It would seem like the worst thing that an ego could ever realize is that it doesn't have control, because if an ego doesn't have control, then it really has no hope. It has no way out. It has no way to make life into what it wants it to be.

It would be a terrible thing, indeed, if we actually were our egos, if we actually were the thought-created self in our mind. But we are not. Rather, what we really are is that which watches the mind, what notices the mind, and what is aware of all mental activity, including the desire to control. If you genuinely begin to look at the whole notion of control, it really begins to open up the mind. And that's what is necessary if we want to end our persistent suffering: we have to open up the way we think. Eventually, we may open up right beyond thought itself.

But initially, we have to open up what we are willing to think about and the conclusions we are willing to come to. When we are in our egos, we will naturally try to control each other, as well as ourselves. We are trying to control life. But I am sure you have noticed that you can't control life. The sun comes up when it wants, and it sets when it wants, not when you or I want it to set. The rain comes whether you want it to or not, and the moon rises whether you want it to or not, just like it sets. And the same is true with each moment, and with everyone we meet. We think we are in control, but it's an illusion.. It's a deception.


Adyashanti - Falling into Grace.