We are born into this world naked and naïve. With only our basic instincts we are helpless for the first several years. Right from the start everything we experience comes at us from the outside. Our eyes open and we see a world full of wonder. Sounds from the world fill our ears. Our senses pick up the world and we are trained to fit into this world, if we know what's good for us. We are simple creatures really, we just want to be loved and accepted, and we want to avoid pain and rejection.
We have many influences as we grow and learn. Everyone wants to tell us how to behave, what we can or cannot do, etc. We are required to fit into society. If not we are trouble makers and they have ways of dealing with them. So the first 40 years or so we are focused on the outside world. For some of us that is all we ever focus on. You see the world must train you to live with it. Otherwise too many things go wrong. (As if we need more of that.) The world is not concerned with who you really are, you belong to the world.
From the beginning you are given a mask to wear when interacting with others. We all have our different masks. The work mask, your social mask, your family mask, etc. We are always giving the world what it expects. I know some people argue that they do not wear a mask, or they don't care what other people think, but fantasy land gets you no where. The world gives you an ego. This is your false self. This is the only you most people know. We get so use to it we forget it's not real. This is the one who buys name brand clothes, or caps with logos on them so everyone can see that you are hip and with the crowd. Otherwise you would only buy what you really need. If you spend time in really cold weather, you want to invest in something that keeps you warm and dry. You don't need Coleman brand clothing or other rip off designs.
We all want to be seen at our best no matter what you say or falsely believe. There is always someone we want to impress in some way. That's why we buy the best of the best, at least that is what the advertisers tell you. And we go through life believing that the person we have dialog with inside our head is the real us! Nothing could be farther from the truth. No one is immune. And that's a good thing really. You see, the only way we will find our true self, our divine center, is to eliminate all the false in our minds. You have to know the false so that truth can manifest for you. You can't walk along the road and discover truth. Truth doesn't exist in this world. You want to know who the anti-Christ is? It's society, culture, all the things that continue to alter you and keep you from knowing yourself.
When we look in a mirror we see a reflection of our earth bodies. Someone who didn't know you were standing in front of a mirror for a moment may mistake that reflection for the real you, but you know it's not you. Go out in the sunlight when the sun is at an angle and turn your back to the sun. Look at that shadow on the ground. If you stand just right it makes a very good silhouette of you and you can tell it is your shadow. But it is still not the real you. Of course everyone knows that. But here's the thing, you are not who you think you are. You are a product of this world. Don't just shake this off and dismiss it because you know for certain you are smarter than that. I'm telling you without a doubt you are being deceived. Maybe not as badly as some, but you are being deceived by your ego. You are really convinced that it is you. It even pretends to know it is false and needs eliminated to trick you into believing ego is not speaking to you all the time..
The opposite of Ego is your Shadow. Ego is the many mask you wear in public and the Shadow is that part of you that knows who you really are but does not want anyone else to know. Maybe you were told it's a sin, or shameful or ugly, or just wrong for some reason so you dumped it in the shadow. The Shadow causes some real problems for people because it remains mostly unconscious. In other words you do not consciously know what is in your Shadow. Here is where being born again comes in, this is what it really means. You have to let Ego die, because it is world made, and bring forth your Shadow in a born again kind of way, and it is then that you realize that the Shadow was the Divine Holy Spirit in you the whole time. Our dreams is where the boundary between God and ourselves is. God tries to get messages to you through dreams, which is really God trying to communicate with God, because God is manifesting through each and every one of us whether we like it or not. And because of free will, as God manifest through us we can only hope we have a kindness about us so God's love can show. Otherwise God manifest in those who hate, kill and murder.
Oh how we have forsaken the one true God of creation by remaining ignorant of the truth. I may not have explained this like I received it because visions in the presence of God are mostly unexplainable. Words fail to give it the proper awe that it truly is. Somehow I have been able to feel the presence of God or the Holy Spirit or whatever name you want to give it, and those times have been so overwhelming, I walked around in a daze for several days after.
But those experiences left me with some weird curse of visions. I can't control them, I never know when they are coming or what they will reveal, but I've had dozens over the years and they have always come to past. Twenty five years ago I even seen my own death. I'm not there yet, and I'm not really looking forward to it, because like others, I have become attached to my body and life experiences. But I will have to get over it like everyone else. Death is born with you. Birth could not be if not for death. I may have to add to this later as needed, because I want everyone who reads this to know how important the true meaning of this is. Peace, icthetao Part two coming soon.
