Article by Ralph Miller

Life is uncertain and unpredictable. There are times in our lives when we experience difficulties or crisis. When we see chaos around us, our minds become uneasy. We think about all kinds of possibilities. Danger. Uncertainty. Actually this is the way that life is. To hope for anything else is to be endlessly projected into an idyllic future that will never arrive.

In other words, in the midst of everyday life, we still have to live our lives. We have to choose everyday a course that will guide us through our highest evolution. This is what life is all about. It was never about where we are eventually going. It has always been about the journey itself.

We are right in the middle of our individual heroic quests. Right now. Real time.

When we react to life with uncertainty and fear it is because we are trapped in an illusion created by ego that is telling us life shouldn’t be this way. Ego is the survival tool we inherited and then was refined as we compared ourselves to others. Ego is the illusion of self ... who we should be; or who we ought to be. When we experience our ego-self having difficulty coping with life we feel insecure.

The ego/personality is born out of survival mode. If we experience a traumatic abandonment when we are very young it reinforces our need to be accepted. We feel the pain of rejection or indifference, and we don’t want to feel it ever again. Out of this need, we create a new version of self that is more acceptable. It works better for us. We would rather feel safe than feel fear ... in order to not feel fear we decide to become very guarded and cautious. Each construction of the ego came for a reason, but it also comes with a consequence. For example, a person who is very guarded and cautious can also feel a lot of isolation and loneliness.

It is within this ego/personality ‘field’ that addiction, envy, lust, greed and fear exists. If part of our ego is framed around being safe by being very guarded, then the ego is also feeling the resulting isolation and loneliness. Alcohol or drugs can act as a temporary medicine for the loneliness. The drug is a salve for the loneliness. A drug can be anything that you use to ‘medicate’ yourself ... it can be a co-dependent relationship ... it can be food ...it can be television. Unfortunately using drugs in this way often brings addiction and psychological dependency.

Fear is only an opinion that the ego agreed to. F.E.A.R. False Evidence that Appears Real. It is like a program that we installed. It is our habitual attachment to an opinion. The programming has us hooked into fear. Our reaction to fear has us hooked into our coping mechanism ... cravings and addictions.

The journey ... the heroic quest, is a journey of remembering. It is a reconnection to a place in us that has no comment or judgment about anything. Real love is free of any conditions. It exists without any requirements. Our journey is a return to a place where we came from ... it is a return to love. We entered the earth plane with pure spontaneous life force. The natural desires of curiosity, play, rest, affection, touch and beauty are deeply familiar to us on some level. We can remember what it was like. Our journey is back to an inner childlike state before we attached to any opinion about anything ... spontaneous, awake, and present.

The Ayahuasca experience offers a vantage point far away from ego. You see yourself authentically. You experience a connection to a primal source that is in all of us. The ayahuasca journey teaches you that the reactions of the ego are small and unnecessary. Your sense of self is expanded by a quantum leap while at the same time your ego is collapsed.

The process of confronting the ego is a process of off-loading the programming that you have used habitually. When this happens you move into an incredible stillness ... you feel empty of all the mental commentary that you have listened to for years. It is at this point that you are empowered to choose what it is you want to do with your life. You are free of the expectations of others ... free of guilt driven motivations. The voices of the past are perhaps still accessible, but they are so much quieter.

Infuse your life with your own energy and the rewards that you agree to. There is nothing outside of you that will approve of you or disapprove of you ... actually you no longer even care. You realize that you can reward yourself. You are cutting the umbilical with the old life and its addictions ... its dependencies ... and you are becoming a living, breathing life force of your own. Only then do you become a true creator. You can believe in your vision and choose to believe in yourself. Really believing is a volitional action ... you decide to believe.

The famous theologian, Soren Kierkegaard said, “purity of heart is the will to do one thing.” It’s interesting because many people talk about what they will do in life, but few actually ever do anything. They are constantly tossed to and fro by a sort of double-minded mentality. It takes a lot of courage to act. Deciding to do ‘one thing’ comes from the core of your being.

This is the way of the heart. Your higher self is taking control of your mental process and you are beginning to direct your life. The amazing thing is you don’t actually have to do anything ... it will come to you. Creativity will come to you. Your vision will unfold as you stay still. Opportunities will present themselves. You only have to choose to act.

I have faith that many people are beginning to wake up. I wrote an article a few years ago about this called, The Gathering. It describes a time when people from all over the planet are 'waking up' and beginning to hear their own inner voice guiding them to a purpose. I think more and more people are learning the way of the heart. They are learning to listen to the sure guidance that has always been there. This gives me great hope.

© Ralph Miller 2006