One morning during the month L had been engaged in complex work, and the phone rang. He did not take the call, and picked up his messages in the evening. No voicemail had been left, but there was an email asking if L was able to meet for coffee that afternoon. After sending a friendly email back hoping to meet another time, an email came back which was quite nasty. It complained that L didn't have time to see him, and dwelt at length on what a bad person L was. L thought this was strange, and felt pain at that time, having received an abusive email from someone whom he had thought liked him. He thought that this pain was connected to ego, because he thought he was of some worth, and that it was not right that somebody should belittle him.
M2 observed he had a feeling of dizziness before he got into his job every day. It was helpful in that moment to be aware to cross the fingers, to get him out from the mind and back to physical sensation and the present. He was worried, at the present. He was in a situation that was just a projection of his mind, that something bad would happen at the workplace. In the present moment we are our body, and outside is what we have in front of us. It is like an opportunity to discover a side of ourselves. He asked himself why he felt better. Maybe it was because he was not confident about himself, and perhaps he should do more to learn better, to become a better person, to try to overcome this experience.
N said there had been one experience during the month which had brought his ego out in its full flavour. He had had to work with an awkward and complaining customer. Part of his ego had been rising up in rebellion, and he had found himself pulling it back, but he had been able to sense that his sense of vanity, his ego, was bristling under this scenario. He had also tried to work with a concept he had found in Taoism, that we should be like water, highly adaptable and flexible, and let these things flow through us.
T had experienced pain during the month in association with family and with work. It was difficult to know whether it was ego or essence which was really upset, particularly with family. The easier to explain, and less painful, was the work one. She had been finding herself staying late practically every day, because of having to write copious notes on a computer system which was new and fallible and lost data. There were all sorts of excuses to show it was not her that was at fault but she had come to the conclusion that it was ego, because what would people think if she did not do great notes. The essential part of her believed the essential work was with the patients, and nothing else really mattered but her ego functioned differently. During the CHALLENGE, she had been remembering to think about what it was that was in pain, but then she forgot to cross the fingers.
During the time allocated for responses, there was much discussion on philosophy and a forthcoming event organised by one of the attendees, but nobody said anything which pertained to instances of doing the challenge.
The reading continued from Chapter 27 of Beelzebub's Tales.
... when the data arose in the common presences of your favourites for engendering this ‘Unique-particular’ being-impulse egoism and when gradually evolving and giving rise to factors ensuing from it for other also particular but now secondary strange being-impulses, this said ‘Unique-property’ egoism usurped the place of the ‘Unique-All-Autocratic-Ruler’ in their general organisation; then, not only every manifestation but even what is called the ‘desire-for-the-arising’ of such a Divine being-impulse became a hindrance to the actions of this ‘All-Autocratic-Ruler.’
"R" asked what was the 'Unique-property' egoism that usurped the 'Unique-All-Autocratic-Ruler'.
My later detailed researches and investigations very definitely and clearly showed me that, in that consciousness of theirs, which they call their subconsciousness, even in the beings of the present time, the said data for the acquisition in their presences of this fundamental Divine impulse conscience does indeed still continue to be crystallised and, hence, to be present during the whole of their existence.
N asked if he was also saying that the divine was never completely eliminated, even from people who were so autocratic. From time to time they had these feelings of remorse or conscience, despite all the lies they had told themselves.
| If you experience suffering during the day, see if that relates to ego, rather than the apparent cause, and cross your fingers. |
M2 observed he had a feeling of dizziness before he got into his job every day. It was helpful in that moment to be aware to cross the fingers, to get him out from the mind and back to physical sensation and the present. He was worried, at the present. He was in a situation that was just a projection of his mind, that something bad would happen at the workplace. In the present moment we are our body, and outside is what we have in front of us. It is like an opportunity to discover a side of ourselves. He asked himself why he felt better. Maybe it was because he was not confident about himself, and perhaps he should do more to learn better, to become a better person, to try to overcome this experience.
N said there had been one experience during the month which had brought his ego out in its full flavour. He had had to work with an awkward and complaining customer. Part of his ego had been rising up in rebellion, and he had found himself pulling it back, but he had been able to sense that his sense of vanity, his ego, was bristling under this scenario. He had also tried to work with a concept he had found in Taoism, that we should be like water, highly adaptable and flexible, and let these things flow through us.
T had experienced pain during the month in association with family and with work. It was difficult to know whether it was ego or essence which was really upset, particularly with family. The easier to explain, and less painful, was the work one. She had been finding herself staying late practically every day, because of having to write copious notes on a computer system which was new and fallible and lost data. There were all sorts of excuses to show it was not her that was at fault but she had come to the conclusion that it was ego, because what would people think if she did not do great notes. The essential part of her believed the essential work was with the patients, and nothing else really mattered but her ego functioned differently. During the CHALLENGE, she had been remembering to think about what it was that was in pain, but then she forgot to cross the fingers.
During the time allocated for responses, there was much discussion on philosophy and a forthcoming event organised by one of the attendees, but nobody said anything which pertained to instances of doing the challenge.
The reading continued from Chapter 27 of Beelzebub's Tales.
... when the data arose in the common presences of your favourites for engendering this ‘Unique-particular’ being-impulse egoism and when gradually evolving and giving rise to factors ensuing from it for other also particular but now secondary strange being-impulses, this said ‘Unique-property’ egoism usurped the place of the ‘Unique-All-Autocratic-Ruler’ in their general organisation; then, not only every manifestation but even what is called the ‘desire-for-the-arising’ of such a Divine being-impulse became a hindrance to the actions of this ‘All-Autocratic-Ruler.’
"R" asked what was the 'Unique-property' egoism that usurped the 'Unique-All-Autocratic-Ruler'.
My later detailed researches and investigations very definitely and clearly showed me that, in that consciousness of theirs, which they call their subconsciousness, even in the beings of the present time, the said data for the acquisition in their presences of this fundamental Divine impulse conscience does indeed still continue to be crystallised and, hence, to be present during the whole of their existence.
N asked if he was also saying that the divine was never completely eliminated, even from people who were so autocratic. From time to time they had these feelings of remorse or conscience, despite all the lies they had told themselves.
