Let us consider what it really means to stop being ‘somebody’ – to become completely still and surrender totally. Our alignment with the ego is so habitual, so unconscious, we are rarely aware of the effort we are making, the will that we are using to keep control in place. To become conscious we must be quiet and have no agenda but to become quiet. Consider if there is anything you want to change right now you are choosing control. If there is anything you want to be different right now, you are choosing control.
The ‘you’ that is thinking these thoughts knows nothing of what is best for you or what is right. It will not guide you to truth. It is an act of will that keeps the separation in place. Our ideas, our thoughts, our beliefs, are all designed to keep the separation in place – to keep our will active. We know nothing of what is best for us, of how to know the truth. The only thing – and let us be clear – the only thing we know how to do is to keep the separation going.
Surrender means surrender – complete and total. Not with conditions, not with expectations or any idea of what it should be. Surrender means a total, complete giving up of having it our way. We have heard before that the difference between truth and illusion is absolute – there is no compromise or little bit of truth or little bit of error. It is one or the other.
Most of us do not know how or why we were called to undertake this journey. It is difficult, painful and challenging. There is a reason. There was that within us that recognized the need to be authentic, which recognized the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the ego and longed for clarity and authenticity. There is that within us which recognized the prison of the ego and longed for freedom. Most importantly, there is that within us which has never forgotten what we truly are.
So our journey is inevitable. There are times when we question whether it is worth it, but really there is no choice. Every one of us will make this journey. Let us remember the difficulty is of our own making and we can challenge that choice in every moment. There is no moment we cannot ask ourselves, “Is this really what I want? Do I really want it to be this hard? Do I really want to make things this difficult?” For it is our own choice. We must accept completely that we cannot do things of our own will and be happy. We can simply accept that the only thing we know how to do is to reinforce separation, reinforce our struggle and suffering. If we would accept that the only real choice we have is to surrender our will completely, our journey would be so much easier.
And so that is our practice in this moment, to come to terms with that simple fact that we can do nothing on our own. Eventually we must see that that ‘somebody’ is not real – it never was who or what we are. And then we will align with the truth and our life will be guided completely by the truth. Be aware right now that the only thing holding you back from the freedom, power, love and joy of being aligned with truth is your own decision right now to be in control, to be separate, to do your will – not the will of the authentic truth within you.
Notice what your will wants in this moment. It may claim to want peace but you can be sure it doesn’t. For anything that claims a lack of peace is not real – it does not want peace. Resistance is your will, the will of the identity, the ‘somebody’, the ‘me’. We give that will power; we energize it. Now we can see that we want to withdraw that energy. We want to surrender our will completely – the only way to end separation. So this is our practice. This is our intention – the ending of the separation with the surrender of our will.