Chapter 1 The Impostor

  1. These are the definitions of the words "thought", "ego" and "Self" that will be used in this book:
  2. THOUGHT: thoughts are the words of your language in your mind.
  3. If your native language is English and you write in English and speak English, those same English words in your mind are thoughts.
  4. Some people may speak, write and think in more than one language.
  5. EGO: ego is the thought I.
  6. The ego is the I-thought.
  7. "I am happy", "I am sad", "I did this", "I did that". There are so many sentences that are thought of with the word I in them. That thought "I" in each of those sentences is the ego.
  8. The ego is the idea of a separate, individual identity.
  9. The ego identifies with the body and with thought, and calls the body and thought "I".
  1. The ego is thought.
  2. The ego is thinking.
  3. SELF: the Self is infinite-eternal-awareness-love-bliss. Those are five words pointing towards one awareness. Awareness-love-bliss are not three, they are one.
  4. The Self is the background of awareness.
  5. Because almost all humans are in the habit of looking outward towards thoughts, the body, the world, people, places, things, etc., it appears as though the background of awareness (the Self) wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep at night.
  6. If one turns the attention towards the background of awareness, eventually it will be discovered that the background of awareness is continuous and unbroken.
  7. Because almost all humans are in the habit of looking outward towards thoughts, the body, the world, people, places, things, etc., it appears as though the background of awareness is limited.
  8. If the attention is turned towards that awareness that wakes up in the morning, instead of towards people, places, things, thoughts, etc., eventually it will be discovered that that awareness is infinite-eternal-awareness-love-bliss.
  9. The background of awareness that wakes up in the morning is there during all the waking hours until one goes to sleep at night.
  10. Thoughts come and go, but the background of awareness that is aware of the thoughts is there during all the waking hours and does not come and go.
  11. The background of awareness is the true Self.
  12. Before you learned the language that you now think in, the background of awareness was there.
  13. Then you learned the word "I" in your language.
  14. Your body was given a name, and when people saw that body they said "There goes John, (or Mike, or Jane, or Julie, or Kumar or Radha) or whatever name that they gave your body.
  15. Thus the idea "I am John, I am this body" arose.
  16. You existed as the background of awareness before that I thought arose.
  17. The thought calling its "self" "I" is an imposter "self".
  18. The background of awareness is the true Self.
  19. The fact that you existed before you learned the words that later became your thoughts helps to reveal the difference between your true Self and the imposter.
  20. Because you existed as the background of awareness before you learned the language that produced the thoughts you now think in, you can easily see that the I thought is an imposter.
  21. All thoughts are opposed to your real nature.
  22. You know that thoughts are not part of your true nature because you had to learn them.
  23. That is why you cannot speak, write and think fluently in languages, because you have not learned, or brought in those languages from the outside.
  24. You can observe that same process in an infant.
  25. You can see that an infant is aware before it learns any language.
  26. You can observe the child growing older and learning a language.
  27. You can observe when the child learns the word I and when the child begins to say the word "I".
  28. Being able to see how the imposter arose in you and how the imposter arises in every human infant and child are very important tools.
  29. The reason they are very important tools is because you do not have to rely totally upon those who have ended the imposter and who have awakened from the human dream to tell you that the ego is something acquired and not natural and is an imposter.
  30. You can observe this for yourself.
  31. Thought is something foreign, alien to the true Self.
  32. Thought pretends to be the Self.
  33. Thought is not the Self.
  34. Thought is an imposter.
  35. Thought believes that it is a real entity and that it is a real self.
  36. Thought is not a real entity and thought is not a self.
  37. Living from thought instead of living from Awareness is the cause of all human suffering.
  38. The imposter is the cause of all human problems, sorrow and suffering.
  39. The background of awareness is the true Self.
  40. The awareness that wakes up in the morning is the true Self.
  41. The awareness that is looking through your eyes now is the true Self.
  42. As an example for clarification, you could view thinking and memory as something like a computer program.
  43. Within that computer program is a virus.
  44. The virus is called the "I thought".
  45. The virus controls the program. The I thought controls all thinking.
  46. The virus pretends to be your self. The I thought pretends to be your self.
  47. The virus creates tremendous sorrow and suffering. The I thought creates tremendous sorrow and suffering.
  48. None of the sorrow or suffering is needed.
  49. What is needed is to delete the virus that pretends to be "I". What is needed is to delete the imposter self.
  50. When one attempts to delete the virus, the virus sends out many thoughts stating that deleting the virus is not a good idea.
  51. The virus has many strategies to preserve the illusion that it is real and to continue the delusion that it is the real self.
  52. In humans the program that came from the outside and took control of their awareness is called thought, language, thinking.
  53. In humans the virus is called the ego or the I thought.
  54. The I thought (ego) is an imposter pretending to be the Self.
  55. The ego is the cause of all human sorrow and suffering.
  56. The ego is the cause of all disease, death, war, fear, anger and violence.
  57. Human beings have made almost no inward progress for thousands of years toward ending suffering, sorrow, war, fear, anger, violence and lying.
  58. Thousands of years ago humans had suffering, sorrow, war, fear, anger, violence and lying.
  59. Today humans have suffering, sorrow, war, fear, anger, violence and lying.
  60. What has kept humans in the same pool of inward unsolved problems?
  61. The ego (the imposter) has kept humans in the same pool of inward unsolved problems.
  62. Inward problems cannot be solved by looking outward.
  63. Inward problems can only be solved by looking inward.
  64. The ego knows that if the attention is turned inward, the ego will be found to be a myth, an imposter, an illusion.
  65. Therefore, due to the ego's fear of ending, the ego keeps the attention directed outward.
  66. Even when there is an attempt to turn the attention inward, usually due to not understanding the meaning of looking inward, people are still looking outward.
  67. Humans are slaves to an imposter "self".
  68. Exposing the strategies of that imposter "self", how to put an end to those strategies, how to bring the imposter "self" to an end, thus ending all suffering and sorrow and remaining in the true Self whose nature is infinite-eternal-awareness-love-bliss are the primary purposes of this book.
  69. Ending the ego does not end the body.
  70. After the ego ends, the body will live out the natural course of its life.
  71. One should never attempt to harm the body.
  72. The ego is the I-thought.
  73. Ending the ego is ending the I thought.
  74. Ending the bodily life will not end the ego.
  75. The ego will just create the dream of a new body when the old body ends.
  76. Thus ending the body does not help to solve the problems.
  77. Humans almost always have their attention directed outward towards thoughts, people, places, things, etc.
  78. The background of awareness is the true Self, and it is almost always ignored.
  79. Your true Self deserves to be paid attention to.
  80. When a human turns their attention away from thoughts, the body, the world, people, places, things, experiences, etc. and towards their awareness, eventually they will directly experience their true Self.
  81. The imposter (thought) pretending to be your self and calling its pretend self "I" should not be tolerated even for one moment.
  82. Especially an imposter that has created so much suffering and sorrow should not be tolerated even for one moment.
  83. The imposter (thought) is like a parasite.
  84. Because the ego believes it is a real entity, the ego is afraid of ending.
  85. The ego controls all thinking.
  86. Because the ego is afraid of ending and controls all thinking, the ego directs thought in ways that will preserve its imaginary self so that its imaginary self is not brought to an end.
  87. The purpose of the teachings in this book is to bring the imposter to an end so that what remains is only the true Self whose nature is: infinite-eternal-awareness-bliss-love.
  88. When the imposter ends, all suffering and sorrow also end.
  89. Thinking that thinking or thought is your self is a delusion, a dream-like illusion.
  90. Thinking that you are a body living in a world is a delusion, a dream-like illusion.
  1. Thought has created those delusions.
  2. All sorrow, suffering and delusions have one single root.
  3. The single root is thought.
  4. The root of thought is the I thought.
  5. The root of thought is the thought I.
  6. Thought is not part of your true nature. Thought is something you learned.
  7. Do not let something you acquired pretend to be your self.
  8. Chapter One contains a description of the secret that has enslaved humanity for as long as there have been humans.

Read Chapter One very slowly three times before reading Chapter Two.

To read Chapter Two click this link: chapter-02.htm

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Michael Langford