The other day, I got to taste Enlightenment. Talk about life goal attained!
Within that experience, I finally understood, experientially, the above phrase. I cried and laughed simultaneously and exclaimed: "OMG... I AM THAT!"
I am a person who doesn't like to blindly believe. I like to experience! Which is my goal for myself and everyone I work with.
So how did I get to have this experience?
This happened during my weekly healing session. Like all profound experiences, I got to experience it right after I found and felt the part of me that was blocking it. This was a part of me from childhood that longed for a sense of "self". When our emotional needs are not properly met as children, in this case during our individuation stage (aka the terrible twos), we can grow up without ever feeling a true sense of inner authority or knowing who we are. This is how conformity came about and why so much of the world is stuck in it. We give our power and authority away to others just as if we are still children.
The irony is that once I healed that, I got to experience the enlightened state of "no self" and the realization that what we perceive as a separate self is in fact not.
Did it last? Nope. My ego actually kicked in more than ever afterward in an attempt to save its own life. But, I can now recall back to that experience and I feel a new level of security in my self having anchored in that knowing.
I also came out of the experience with a deeper understanding of the need for an ego. A strong, healthy ego is necessary if you wish to act in this world. Do not kill your ego, but do let it die over and over and over again to discover a healthier version of it. Often the ego is "inflamed" by wounded child parts and not truly who we are.
The goal is uncover the truest version of ego. The one who is solid in the knowing of who it is and what its here to do. It knows how to take action towards those goals and ALWAYS has the betterment of the planet in mind.