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The ego manufactures a new world because it cannot tolerate the Real world. Believing we are a personalized, separate self or ego, we constantly try to change the world to serve us. We attack reality in an effort to form a world to our liking. Our efforts are driven by guilt, fear, and vulnerability. We deny the truth and create, in our minds, our own version of reality.

Our self-created version of the truth is believed to be real, continues to expand, and becomes a perpetual substitute for reality. As this delusional reality continues to expand, it increases our guilt, fear, and vulnerability, thereby seducing us deeper into our self-made illusions. At the same time all this is going on there is an extraordinary force, far beyond our imagination, continually offering forth a reality that is perfect and beautiful exactly as it is.

Our ego’s attempts to triumph over the world repeatedly fail which offers two alternatives. One alternative is to invest more energy into attacking Reality and changing it to better suit our ego. The other alternative is to recognize that we are unsuccessfully fighting with Reality by substituting our fantasy of a fearful world.

The Real World is within clear grasp of our mind. We can awaken from our self-created illusions and discover the Real World by devoting ourselves to always being deeply honest with ourselves and facing our moment-to-moment truth to the best of our ability. We must be committed to vigilantly perceiving the difference between what is actually appearing in the here–and–now and the streaming thoughts inside our heads which continually distract us from reality by evaluating, assessing, denying, criticizing, judging, planning, managing, and reorganizing reality.

Recognizing that our thoughts are simply thoughts and not Reality, is an enormous step in a helpful direction. This practice allows us to gradually detach from our illusions and fantasies about the world and begin to see the world as it truly is. Eventually, our thoughts about the world become less seductive and more readily recognized for what they really are – mental reactions to reality and not direct experiences of Reality itself. To a greater and greater degree, the True Reality that was always there in the first place will be spontaneously and freely revealed. Subsequently, the mystery, splendor, peace, and glory of the Real World will increasingly pervade our awareness.