In modern society there is almost no choice but to follow the demands of your ego. Self-interest is a driving force. What do I need? What do I want? How can I get more of the good things in life? But a lifelong campaign to become successful, prosperous, and happy doesn't have to be based on ego. As we saw in the last post, "I, me, and mine" has built-in flaws. The world's wisdom traditions teach that the ego is insecure, isolated. As a lifelong guide, it proves extremely unreliable.
The essence of the problem is this: the ego seeks to increase pleasure and decrease pain, without realizing that the source of pain is itself. As long as you see yourself as a limited "I," fighting to gain a share of life's rewards while every other "I" is attempting to do the same thing, you will think, speak, and act from a constricted state of awareness.
There would be no alternative way to live if awareness couldn't expand, but it can. Wisdom traditions both East and West speak of a deeper level of the mind. This is your true self, and when you access it, your thoughts change. Once thoughts change, then speech changes, and finally action. Life consists of thinking, speaking, and acting; therefore, finding your true self creates a total transformation.
To find out that this is true, you need a
