Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Buckley leaves his mark ... Mochas, midrash and mysteries: Skorka and Francis — a model interfaith friendship ... SOU Ashland campus closed because of unconfirmed threat ... Our View: Buckley leaves his mark ... Mochas, midrash and mysteries: Skorka and Francis — a model interfaith friendship ... SOU Ashland campus closed because of unconfirmed threat ... INNER PEACE Inner Peace: You can change your self by reworking your ego Comment By Jim Hatton DailyTidings.com By Jim Hatton Posted Jul. 24, 2015 at 6:05 PM By Jim Hatton Posted Jul. 24, 2015 at 6:05 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Inner Peace: Finding yourself through film » Social News Your Ego is a set of thoughts that define your universe. It likes a familiar room built of thoughts. You see the Universe through its windows. You are secure in it, but to the extent that you are afraid to venture outside, it has become a prison. You ego has you conned. You believe you need its specific thoughts to survive. The ego controls you through the fear of loss of identity. To release these thoughts, it seems, would annihilate you, and so you cling to them. —Unknown Sometimes it seems like the ego will fight to the death to hold on to its existence. To this extent it has the appearance of a life of its own. Could this be the real, or at least contribute to the, survival instinct? Indeed the ego is a familiar set of thoughts, a sort of inward set of mirrors reflecting back to us what we think we are. This is much like our outward mirrors, comprised of the people and situations around us. Both reflect back to us that which we call “I” in the physical experience, the personality. This is both good news and challenging news. The challenging news is that when these mirrors change or go away, it seems that we lose part of ourselves. This is much like a divorce or death of a loved one. We feel lost, that a part of us is gone, and we sometimes take disparate actions to regain that familiar reflection of who we are. When someone has left our life, we often say “I don’t know what I will do without them.” What we are really saying is, “I no longer know myself as I was any longer.” This can be very frightening and sometimes devastating as we can be very dependent on those “mirrors” to remind us who we are. The good news is that these “sets of thoughts” are just that — they can be changed. It usually takes some time, and great intention, but that framework of thoughts can be changed. With this change, the view of our world will change also. We can choose what we experience and what is familiar and comforting to us. It has been said that “Everywhere I go, there I am.” Oh yes, we can go from place to place, even around the world, but if our thoughts, our ego, our consciousness does not change, we as those set of thoughts and ideas will always be there with us creating the same thing over and over again. But we don’t have to go anywhere to change our habitual thoughts. We can change them one by one, right here were we are. When we practice this over time, with the idea of the ability to change ourselves, there comes a very deep peace. The knowingness that we are no longer “trapped” or “imprisoned” by the ego gives us a new reality — instead of the ego owning us, we own the ego. The ego is a tool to help us identify who we are in the physical realm. It is a great and important tool. So, what if we start to change that ego identity to something other than identifying just the physical? What if our identity was, or also included, the Divine? If the reflection of who we are becomes the Universe, would not that identity be of an infinite and eternal nature? We would never have a fear of losing our identity. We would always know who we are, in this physical expression and beyond. We'd have more inner peace. One might ask, “How do we start to identify with the Divine?” Simply look for the Divine in everything and everyone around you. Jim Hatton is the author of “A Spiritual Master's Guide to Life,” available on Amazon.com . The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit 600- to 700-word articles on all aspects of inner peace to Sally McKirgan at [email protected]. By Jim Hatton DailyTidings.com By Jim Hatton Posted Jul. 24, 2015 at 6:05 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501