Can The Ego Surrender Itself To The Light Of Consciousness?

Eckhart, my question is around surrender. I'm curious. Once the egoic shell has cracked open and the light of consciousness is peeking through, can the ego surrender itself to that light of consciousness? Or ultimately, must it be surrendered?

Thank you. The ego. I often talk of the ego as if it were an entity. It's not really an entity. It acts as if it were an entity. It seems to be an entity that has taken possession of you. But ultimately what it is, it's only a particular way of your mind to function, an identification with the mind. So the ego itself is that dysfunctional way in which the mind works. And when that comes to an end, the dysfunctional way cannot put an end to its own dysfunction. It can only dissolve when awareness arises. Awareness is not thought. Awareness is consciousness prior to thought. And you realize that you are that. And whatever the mind produces, says are thoughts, but the thoughts are then no longer endowed with the sense of self. And that's the end of the ego. When you no longer identify with every thought that comes, that's the end of the ego. So that's what happens. So I don't know, in the way you formulate the question, the ego cannot dissolve itself, but in the light of awareness, it dissolves.

Then what is that willingness, that willingness to allow it to be seen?

That willingness is the evolutionary impulse of the universe which created the ego in the first place in order to transcend it now. It was an evolutionary step for mankind. The ego was an enormous step for mankind, a great thing. And then it came, or is coming now to the end of its lifespan. That particular evolutionary movement or manifestation that we call ego, it had a lifespan. It has outlived its usefulness. Now we have learned a lot through it, and now it needs to go. And that's always a critical stage. The transition from one state of consciousness to another is always critical. There could be a falling back. There could be. We are at this transitional stage where the ego now needs to dissolve. The caterpillar has come to the end of its useful life as a caterpillar. It's been fine. The caterpillar was happy for a while, crawling up the tree and eating the leaves. Now there are no leaves left on the tree, and it's time for the caterpillar to cease being a caterpillar and turn into something incredible. That little slimy thing. Suddenly it doesn't know what's happening to it. Caterpillar doesn't say, I must become a butterfly, or I'm trying to become a butterfly. But the caterpillar suddenly notices that crawling is becoming more and more difficult and it's looking for leaves. It's eaten all the leaves of the tree, so there's nothing else to eat. Anyway, if it doesn't change now into a butterfly, it'll die. So that's what's happening to humans. The shift to a different evolutionary level or dimension. This is us being here. That's all part of it. It's part of that, the shift. The butterfly is emerging right here. The caterpillar is not totally gone yet. It's the transitional period. Thanks. Even you can notice in every one of you, sometimes you're still a caterpillar, and at other times you already a butterfly. Present, aware, non reactive, aligned with the present moment.