Stage Two: Transcending the Ego
More from Dancing with Life, by Phillip Moffitt:
To reach the transcending-the-ego stage [of awareness], you continue to practice, but now you have your transformed ego as a foundation, so you create less suffering, encounter less inner resistance, and have more faith…
At this stage of liberation you cease to primarily identify with your ego sense of self. You are not suddenly a perfect person; you still have your quirks and shortcomings, but you are not longer thinking, speaking, or acting in ways that are likely to cause harm to yourself or others.
…The particulars of how your transcendence manifests do not really matter. What matters is that you have transcended ego. Therefore, in relating to life, you spontaneously and consistently respond to what is called for, and you do so from a sense of being part of the mystery of the unfolding of your life rather than from your ego. You have not become someone new–you have become more your true nature.
…Many people believe that transcending the ego is the highest human potential. At this stage of being, you cease to identify with the duality that arises in your mind, although there is a “knower” (the subject) and “that which is known” (the object). You are still dancing with life, but the dance is not longer a struggle; it is effortless and natural because you have stopped clinging.
Tomorrow: Stage Three (when your mind becomes transparent to ordinary reality)