To be and not to be – that is the answer.

We have two primary and distinctive aspects of our being.

One feels like and is most commonly identified with as our selves. This is our ego. Our thoughts and emotions, our wants and worries, our likes and dislikes, our perceived strengths and weaknesses – in short, everything that constitutes our images and ideas of who and what we are, personally and in relation to the rest of our world.

The other is an awareness which may feel like and be imagined as other than ourselves. In fact, it is other than our selves, when one adheres to the ego definition of self. Terms like “the mind of God”, “universal consciousness”, “shared awareness” and the like have been applied to this aspect of our being. However it's labeled or interpreted, it's ever present for, and with, each of us. And it's far more consistent and enduring than any notions about who and/or what we are.

Most people get trapped in their egos, so my teaching is primarily steering others in the opposite direction. This may leave the impression that the ego is an obstacle or burden that should be eliminated. This is not the case. If I were to see people using only their right hands, I would encourage them to use their left hands. And habit being as it is, I would have to say it over and over, ad nauseum. Obviously, I wouldn't be asking them to remove their right hands; but simply to find a balance, to use and value both sides with equal importance.

With all of one's eggs in the ego's basket, action and attitudes are primarily geared toward short term self interest; and therefore, are generally not in the best interest of the whole. If they were all in the non-personal awareness' basket, patience and acceptance would prosper to the point that little action would happen and creativity would be greatly curtailed.

In finding a balance between our personal ambitions and timeless, non-personalized observation, we become optimally productive and effective – for our selves, in the bigger picture and over the long haul.

To be and not to be – that is the answer.