Most of the time we do this unconsciously
as a result of social conditioning. This superstition of materialism
relies on sensory experience - what we can see, hear, smell,
taste, or touch - as the crucial test of reality. If information
is not available to our senses, we tend to think it isn't there.
And the intellect, with its linguistically structured system
of logic, serves to justify this mistaken perception of reality.
The essential you, your real essence, is a field of awareness
that becomes both mind and body. The real you, infinite consciousness,
is inseparable from the patterns of intelligence that permeate
every fiber of creation. And yet the intellect divides infinite
consciousness into a world of objects separated by space, time,
and causation. As a result, we lose touch with the true nature
of our reality, which is powerful, boundless, immortal, and free.
We are all prisoners of the intellect. The intellect mistakes
the image of reality for reality itself. It squeezes the soul
into the volume of a body, in the span of a lifetime, and the
spell of mortality is cast. The image of the self overshadows
the unbounded Self, and we feel cut off or disconnected from
infinite consciousness, our source. This is the beginning of
fear, the onset of suffering, and all the problems of humanity.
To one who is trapped in the prison of the intellect, all is
indeed suffering. Ignorance of our real nature causes the inner
self to be obscured. But when ignorance is destroyed, the powerful,
unbounded nature of the inner self is revealed. Once you fully
grasp this understanding, not only will you have the power to
accomplish all that you want, but you will also have true freedom
and grace. This means you will never experience fear, not even
the fear of death.
Excerpted from Power Freedom, & Grace: Living from the Source
of Lasting Happiness Published by Permission of Amber-Allen Publishing,
Inc., San Rafael, California © 2006 by Deepak Chopra Publication
Date: August 2006
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by Dr. Deepak Chopra