There are only two forces in the Universe: Love and ego. Ego is an illusion, so in reality there’s only one Force. If you’re identified with illusion— acting from illusion, from separation, from resistance—you can’t be in touch with Truth, which is the same thing as Love. You’re basically living in a dream of your own creation—you’re sleepwalking.
This is the core issue in this world—people are identified with ego/separation/illusion instead of Love/Truth/God/Peace. If you’re operating from an illusory self, you’re operating from fear. Deep down, under all the layers of ego—the anger, the pride, the self image, the will, the attachment to beliefs, etc.—there is fear. That’s the core layer of ego and its driving force.
It’s scary to take the leap from fear to Love, but that’s only because you’ve been so identified with illusion for so long that the thought of anything else is frightening. When there’s no Faith, there’s fear. The Faith I’m talking about is beyond belief. It’s a trusting in the benevolence of the Universe.
Without Faith there’s fear of letting go of the false identity, the false/separate self, the ego. Letting go means going through the fear layer, like a plane passing through a layer of clouds. Beyond that is Peace and Joy and Love. No fear. Fear can’t exist in the Joy/Peace/Love/Consciousness realm, which is Reality, it can only exist in the illusion, the dream realm. There is no one word for what is beyond the fear, beyond the ego. That’s why I use pick-your-own terms, like God/Consciousness/Peace/Love/Life.
Actually, I just realized Aloha is a beautiful Hawaiian word that pretty much encapsulates what is beyond ego. Here is Wikipedia’s definition:
Aloha is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a greeting. It has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a force that holds together existence.
Here on Maui, Hawaii, if someone is rude, people sometimes say, “He has no aloha.” And they often say “rest in Aloha” instead of rest in peace when someone dies. I love that! So, let’s get over our selves (our illusory selves) and rest in Aloha now while we’re still alive!
By the way, when I say “Love” I’m not talking about romantic love, I’m talking about divine Love—the divine Love that is the fabric of the Universe, the Aloha we were just discussing. Romantic love has its ups and downs and is usually egoic—people wanting someone that they think will make them happy. True Love, divine Love, doesn’t ask for anything and has no opposite. Ego is not the opposite of Love. Ego is the opposite of Faith—trust in Love/God/Consciousness/divine benevolence/Aloha. True Love has no opposite. Part of this definition of Love is the Unity of all things, the Oneness of Life and Existence—the Aloha, the force that holds together existence.
I was listening to an Adyashanti talk the other day about the two common assumptions of the ego/false self: feeling like you’re a victim of the world and the exact opposite state, believing that you’re the master of your universe—that you’re in total control. He says both are mistaken beliefs. Both assumptions are based on separation. If you believe you’re a victim of destiny/circumstances, you’re still separating yourself from the workings of Totality/Unity/the Oneness of all things, which is the same as Love/Aloha.
So whenever you’re feeling self pity or that you’re a victim of circumstances, you’re in your ego, in illusion. And, on the flip side, whenever you think you’re in total control, you’re also in your ego. Resting in Aloha now means letting go of the illusions of both control and victimhood. Both are based on fear. Letting go of ALL forms of fear is how you find your way back to Love, back to wholeness—back to the Garden of Eden! 🌺🌴🌈💖
