Think back to your earliest memory. Can you visualize what you were doing, can you recall who all was there? The thing that’s so interesting about your earliest memory, is that you know it cannot be your first true memory. Even though you don’t remember your first true memory, you are intelligent enough to know that what you do remember, isn’t your first true memory. Our brain records everything, and the way our brain inputs the information to us is through our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Everything you are currently, is due to what you have downloaded through your five senses. We are all “installed” into this life. Most of us find ourselves born into a family. You didn’t choose your family (if you did, you’re not aware of the decision). And yet, there they are. Your character is shaped by the values of your mother, and your father, your community, your school, your set of friends. Everything you download dictates your personality. As a teenager, you may find yourself acting rebellious, this is done because a part of you feels that you’re not free. It’s telling you to rebel, but you don’t even know what you’re rebelling, so even doing that isn’t freedom, because it’s always only in opposition to those things that are presented before you. Because you are not creating those things, you are merely responding to the set of choices presented before you. In other words, if you are going to have a dream about what your life is going to be, it’s going to be one of a number of things set before you to choose from. For example, you may choose to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a policeman etc. It’s like choosing items on a menu. If you really think about it, you had no choice in this matter. You may think you chose to take this route, or that route, but in actuality, it’s been laid out for you like food items on a menu for you to select from. What I’m trying to say is, we are all born into a system that’s purposefully designed to keep you in the system. The System is so ingeniously created that it even deceives the programs (us) into thinking they are the (programmers) ones choosing their own destiny. It’s created so well that you won’t even question the (programmer) dealer about the hand of cards being dealt to you, you just accept the cards dealt, choose one you like, then proceed to play the game of life. I bet I lost some of you already, and if that’s the case, it has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with how ingenious the system is. The best way I can describe the system is by wearing a virtual reality headset, except you don’t know that you’re wearing one. You’re born into this headset, so you don’t even conceive the thought to take it off your head, in your mind it’s a part of you, you can’t even conceive the thought of separation. Similar to the movie The Matrix. That’s the system, and that’s what has been done to everyone installed (born) into it. The only way to exit PACS (program and control), is to deprogram (question everything you think you know) and reprogram (replace what you thought you knew, with what you yourself now chooses to believe) your mind to find the exit. There’s an objective in every program written, and no program is completely free of errors. The only way out is with(in), and even then you have to be careful, because The System has influenced deep levels of your psyche. First you must undergo a cleanse. I will explain how in the following chapters to come.

Have you ever asked yourself, who am I? Can you truly answer that question right now? Go on, ask yourself right now. Who Am I? What did you tell yourself, are those words you used to describe yourself what you think you are, or what other people would say you are? What’s the truth? Are they both correct, or are they both wrong? Does it really even matter? See, in order to find your I, your true self. You cannot look to others for the answers. I said previously the only way out is with(in), this is only partly true. You see, an individual who has yet to tame their Ego (lower mind), will forever be controlled by the Ego. Notice how I did not say kill, I said tame. It’s not possible to completely kill off your Ego, it’s a core code in your programming. Its function is to do a specific task, that task is simply to protect you, even against things you don’t need protection against. The ego doesn’t have the ability to discern that which you do, or do not need protection from. Your ego comes out when you’re being challenged, it comes out when you’re being ridiculed, it comes out when you become overzealous, it comes out when you’re insecure even. The Ego always comes to the rescue to protect you. Did you know, Ego is the Latin word for “I.” Literally translated, ego means “I.” (If you were writing “I love you” in Latin, you’d write ego amo te.)  I’m sure you’re all familiar with the story of David and Goliath. Let's go back in time, 1000 BCE, we’d find Israel and Philistine locked in a terrible war in the Valley of Elah. It would be the great Goliath who issued his bold challenge to the Israelites, offering to put an end to the stalemate between his army, the Philistines, and theirs. “Today I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other,” he shouted as he paced up and down the lines of soldiers. His offer was simple: if a man could beat him, the war would be over and his people would submit. If he beat them, the Israelites would be forced to submit to him. For forty days, twice a day, Goliath repeated this challenge. Not a single soldier stepped forward, not even the King of Israel, King Saul. In fact, the Israelites trembled in fear. They huddled inside their lines, believing it to be impossible to defeat this giant (who according to the texts was either 6’9’’ or 9’9’’ tall and incredibly strong). These were supposed to be the bravest men in all of Israel, but they were paralyzed, frozen in fear. This, if you’re wondering, is the definition of cowardice. It’s not like a different soldier tried every day for a month and all were defeated. No one tried. Of course they should have been afraid, but courage is what you do when you are afraid. It is the triumph of training and spirit over fear. It’s not as if the army came up with all sorts of different attacks and were repulsed. They did nothing. They just waited. They just hoped he would go away. Then comes young David. David is a shepherd and three of his brothers are serving in the army. He comes to visit and while he’s there with them, he hears Goliath’s daily challenge. He asks his brothers about it and they make fun of him, as if their little brother could even comprehend what was happening. David brushes aside their teasing and approaches King Saul about undertaking the challenge. Once again, he is dismissed. This is the power of cowardice, cowardice and ego. The other soldiers, including David’s own brothers, are so certain of their own limiting beliefs that they find it impossible to conceive any other reality, than the one dominated by the fears they feel. But David is not convinced by their cowardice, he sees the situation with fresh eyes. He responds to the king’s dismissal by pointing out that for years he has bravely kept watch over his father’s flock. “When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” This then is the definition of confidence. David has evidence (not simply belief) that he can successfully face this challenge because he has faced similar challenges in the past with bravery and strength. He has killed lions and bears with his own hands. He knows what he is capable of. He knows courage. Religious people would also say that he has the comfort and security of his belief in God and whether you agree with that or not, it’s undeniable that this was a source of strength and purpose for him. It’s part of his confidence. So how does Goliath respond to seeing this tiny challenger emerge in front of him? He responded like most egotistical bullies. He laughed. He said to him, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” Goliath could see only a small boy, not a threat. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” This then is ego. Goliath had gone unchallenged for so long, he had begun to see himself as invincible. David might have had strong faith in his god. Goliath, because of his size, his strength, his position, had come in part to believe he was a god. There is an argument that David was crazy. That Goliath was right to dismiss him, that it wasn’t ego but deserved confidence. Except subsequent events would prove that demonstrably false. And indeed it was this ego, this inability to see the threat that a smaller, nimbler, courageous opponent might represent that would be the opening that would make it possible for Goliath to be defeated. We often miss that in discussions about ego—that it sows the seeds of its own destruction—but here it is obvious and undeniable. I know you think you know the end of the story, and I know I’ve just hinted at it, but there is another variable to look at, and it has to do with how David challenged Goliath. When King Saul allowed David to fight Goliath, he first insisted that he wore the standard armor and helmet of a soldier. David tried them on, but found it impossible to move, being so small. “I cannot go in these,” he replied, “because I am not used to them.” Instead, David went in his shepherd’s clothing and fished a few stones out of the river. Believing that he couldn’t beat Goliath in an even matchup, David knew he needed to move quickly. He ran at the great man, reached into his bag, and with his sling, threw one perfectly aimed stone from a great distance. Within seconds, the fight was over. Goliath pitched forward, stunned by the blow, and while he was on the ground, David cut off his head—with the man’s own sword. If confidence is knowing your strength, humility is an awareness of one’s own weaknesses. Let me say that again, If confidence is knowing your strength, humility is an awareness of one’s own weaknesses. David possessed as much humility as he did confidence. It must be said first that he never sought out this fight—he’d have preferred that the army took care of it. He’d probably have preferred the war never take place at all. Once the challenge came his way, however, and he saw that no one else was doing anything, he asked himself what he might do if he had to. David knew that he was too small and weak to fight in traditional armor. He could see how it slowed him down. He knew that his courage was hardly sufficient to compensate for the massive size differential and that his lack of fighting skills made a direct challenge next to impossible. He knew that if Goliath got his hands on him, it was over, that his flesh would soon be fed to the birds and animals. Yet also aware of his skill with the sling, he knew he had an advantage. If he could get one shot off, time it right, there was an opportunity. He was confident enough to take it. It is here that David’s faith also plays a role. Just as his belief gave him confidence, it also makes him humble. He sees himself as a servant of the lord, and also a servant of his king. He believes he’s been called to answer this challenge—his will is strong because it’s not his will—but conversely, if he were to lose, he would see that as being God’s plan as well. In a sense, he’s willing to proceed knowing full well that it could go horribly wrong for him. There is real humility, real courage in that. In Caravaggio’s great painting of David with the Head of Goliath, there is a detail that most people miss. The painting shows David holding Goliath’s head in one hand and his sword in the other. On the hilt of that sword, in small lettering, is the acronym, H-AS OS, humilitas occidit superbiam. Humility Kills Pride. Pride is a sin for a reason—because it makes us think that we are better than God, or than other people. Humility kills ego as well. Or rather, humility and confidence, in concert with each other, are an unstoppable force. Another great fighter and champion, Frank Shamrock, would say many centuries later, that ego is a sort of false idea, a kind of mental garbage. “If you’re running on ego,” he said, “you aren’t running on good clean emotions or cause and effect.” Is that not the story of all great boxers? The scrappy underdog beats the overconfident champ, only to become the overconfident champ who is defeated by the next scrappy underdog? “Champ-itis” is what they call it. That was the problem for Goliath, and the moral of his story. He had gone far beyond confidence, he had gone well into pride and hubris. For forty days, twice a day, he was right. No one could beat him. He was invincible. An entire army cowered in front of him. But like the famous story of the turkey, it only took one day to change everything. David’s life changed too. His quiet confidence, his creative humility not only made him victorious over Goliath but soon enough it would make him king. The moral of David’s story is there to counteract that timeless worry, expressed so well by the Reverend Dr. Sam Wells, that if we are humble, we will end up “subjugated, trodden on, embarrassed, and irrelevant.” In fact, humility makes us powerful and it can be the source of great strength. As for David it transformed from servant to leader, challenger to incumbent. One can imagine he soon felt the pull and corruption of ego once he held power, putting him firmly in the shoes of Goliath and Saul…as it always seems to go. And so in this way, ego is always the enemy—of who you are, where you are going, and what you want to do. The reason the story of David and Goliath survives is not simply because it is the tale of the underdog, which we all love. It survives because it is the rich interplay between the traits and virtues every person must wrestle with in their own way in their own life: Where does my confidence come from? What does it mean to be humble? How can I avoid the dangers of ego and hubris? The answer is in the text if you look for it: It’s that we need confidence or we are weak and afraid. We need to be wary of ego because it makes us vulnerable and self-destructive. Most of all, we need humility to guide and direct us. And these three variables are in constant flux and flow with each other, bringing us success and honor and heroism when they are in balance but pain, suffering and disaster when they are not. Now let me ask you, are you really you? Now that you have this awareness of the Ego and how it needs to be balanced with humility, this is a step on the path to finding your true self. The true self is connected to everything, and everything is connected to it.

I want you to pinch yourself on the arm right now. Did you do it? Notice how the pain radiates from the exact location you pinched yourself. Do it again, this time pinch yourself even harder. Notice again, how this time the signal is increased in light of the information it’s receiving. This, ladies and gentlemen, is by design. Now, logic states, if there is a design, there must be a designer. I certainly do not recall designing myself, and yet, here I am. Not only was I created, the designer purposely injected a self preservation code into my very being. One that quite literally ensures that if I were to try and defy that code by inflicting self harm, it would undoubtedly be an unpleasant experience for me. Suddenly your “free will” doesn’t truly seem like free will does it? Well, it is, but it really isn’t. Let me explain. The vessel (your current body) you’re currently occupying is actually your training wheels of sorts. Think about it, if this was to be your true and final form. There would be no need to die, I call our “death” here, “the shedding of the first skin.” Currently our most obvious senses are: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. What do all these senses have in common? I’ll tell you, they all serve to protect you. The creator gave us eyes so that we will be able to avoid any potential dangers or obstacles in our path. He gave us hearing so that we will have awareness of any danger that isn’t picked up by our sight. He gave us the ability to smell so that we can detect danger even if the danger is not visible to our sight. He gave us taste so that we can detect if something we believe to be nutritious is harmful to us. Lastly, he gave us touch so that we can interact with the creation, then  intelligently discern what is pleasurable, and what is harmful to us. The definition of Sin is anything that is done against nature, to commit acts against nature is to act in ignorance, sin is to fall short. Or more specifically, the Will of the creator, and his ordained laws of nature. A sin can be committed knowingly, or unknowingly, even worse if knowingly. Because that means you believe your actions to be correct, this is the worst type of sin (ignorance). It is written that “there is none else besides Him,” meaning that there is no other power in the world with the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, namely, that there are things in the world, which deny the household of above, is because He (God) wills it so. In other words, it is purposely built that we see a system that we feel that there are good and bad events that occur. And this causes us to feel like there is an opposing force to our good, and that there is something that prevents us from feeling good. The reason that this occurs is because the upper force itself wants this to happen. There’s a purpose. He wills it so,  understand that there is no other force that can actually make this occur. Any unpleasant experience is deemed a correction, this is called “the left rejects, and the right adducts,” meaning,  that which the left rejects is considered a correction. This means that there are things in the world, which from the beginning aim to divert a person from the right path, and these occurrences reject him from holiness. It’s done to create a feeling of not being able to sense the Creator directly, this feeling of this force that is pushing us away, this is called “the correction”. You may be thinking, this is a bit confusing? Why would the Creator purposefully create forces that would act to keep us from holiness. If you think about it, how can one measure his or her own merit if there is nothing to tempt or challenge  it? Or better yet, how can one be sure that the path of light is the path they truly wish to take, if they themselves never traveled in darkness? In my book Escaping Saṃsāra, I speak of Yin and yang, and the duality of life. When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created. When people see things as good, evil is created. Being and non-being produce each other. Difficult and easy, complement each other. Long and short, define each other. High and low, oppose each other. Fore and aft, follow each other. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, this goes for everything. It’s simply the balance. The force by which a negative event occurs that allows us to transform is part of this system of guidance, remember “the left rejects [that is, pushes away] and the right adducts” [draws closer to the Creator]. These events happen to a person who wishes to feel the Creator, not just the normal events of life, even though they’re structured the same way, because all of the levels of nature work by exactly the same principles. But “this means that there are things in the world, which from the beginning aim to divert a person from the right way, and they reject him from holiness.” That means, when a person desires to feel a sensation of the Creator, to know the laws that govern their life, to taste holiness, which is Kedusha, which means to be separated, to be apart, that quality of Kedusha is the quality of the will to bestow. It is completely separated from this world. It is completely above it. There are things that are purposely in this system that causes a person to be unable to sense this holiness. And the benefit from these rejections is that through them a person receives a need and a complete desire for God to help him. This pushing away happens to cultivate a deep desire to connect with the Creator, to form a need for him. The desire that’s being built is the desire directly for God, directly to God (in Hebrew, Yashar Kel), the desire directly for what is above, since this person sees that otherwise he is lost. In other words, you spawn a need for a connection with the higher force that guides everything in your life. Not only will you see that you will not progress in your work for this connection, but you’ll see that you will regress. This too happens for a reason as well, the more one needs this connection, the more the Light exposes the difference between the person’s inner condition. The realization of your current state is called, “the revelation of evil”. What do we need this for? We need this because this is our means of measurement. It’s by contrast that we know something. We measure the scope of love, the completeness of the Thought of Creation, against the barrier in which we begin to sense our own nature. So, not only is the nature of the Creator and the upper world revealed to us through this process of contrast, our own nature is revealed. And the greater the desire to receive grows, specifically with this desire to establish contact with the Creator, the greater the amount of the sensation, the greater the amount the Creator can fill it. To reiterate, not only will you not progress in your work, but you will see that you will regress. This happens to show you the difference between You and the Creator. A person feels that not only can they not sense the Creator directly, but they can’t even fool themselves into thinking that they’re doing it. This makes a person feel the greatest degree of difference. This too is a blessing as well, because it’s only by this realization, that true correction can occur so that we may actually progress. That only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles in our path, above reason, can one observe his or her condition, and work to correct it. That is not by our own strength, not by our own knowledge, not by any kind of ideas or theories you were taught to believe, but only by the tangible reception of the Light, which has to come from above. This connection is above your base nature of the will to receive, this is a connection with the one who will grant us all the thoughts needed in order to get the things that we want. This force that we experience as good and bad events, is the left and right hand of the Creator, guiding us by means of ups and downs through the normal events of our lives. When we finally understand this truth, once we develop a yearning to go directly to God. He will eventually encompass, and swallow the entire imaginary world, and bring us into a complete contact with reality. Only then, will one have achieved true freedom out of this place. Or as I like to call it, successful Escaped Samsara.

I know this chapter may have been difficult to understand, so I’ll provide this summary to help digest the picture.

Point 1 - The first law of nature is self preservation, this isn’t something we choose to abide by on our own accord, it’s a program we were born with. And because we were born with it, it’s something we naturally do. My point in saying this, is to show the reader that we have programs in us that we didn’t give ourselves, but we follow these programs because it feels like it’s the right thing to do. We all feel as if we must protect ourselves from anything that may be harmful to us. We are designed to survive.

Point 2 - The definition of Sin is anything that is done against the environment. The environment means the earth, as well as our own bodies. When we commit negative environmental acts against the Earth and its inhabitants (animals and all the like), we are also committing those same acts onto ourselves. I explain to the reader that sin is anything that has a negative effect on humankind as a whole. Nature was created perfectly, and it has a program to work in the positive evolution of our species, and if we do harm to it, we are committing sin. God placed us here as a Vicegerent over the earth.

Point 3 - “The left rejects and the right adducts.” Here I speak on the negative events that happen throughout a person's life. When these events happen, sometimes we think we are being hit with a stroke of bad luck. Or that some demonic entity is playing a part in the demise of our lives. I try to convey to the reader that this isn’t the case, that actually it’s all God’s doing. He is the master orchestrator. He is all knowing, and all encompassing, and to suggest or think that there is any other force other than him at play, is essentially to worship or believe in false gods. Remember, a sin can be committed be it knowingly, or unknowingly. All is his will, we are the actors, and audience in our own lives, and God is the director. We must trust that all that happens is to our benefit, and done to ultimately bring us closer to him, even if it seems like we are going further away. We must learn to trust in God with all our heart, and in having this unyielding faith, will our stations in heaven be secured.

One of the great misconceptions man believes, is thinking that they are a separate entity unto themselves. The notion of separateness in itself directly sows the seed of competition in the hearts of man. Competition is all around us, it injects into every fabric of our reality. And due to that, the world that we live in today is designed to be consumer based. That’s all we do, consume, consume, consume. Why are there so many different car companies, why are there so many different grocery stores, why are there so many different suppliers for every possible thing? Any reason you may think of is futile. The reason being, the world simply doesn’t need competition, what the world needs is creativity. Creativity advances society in a positive way, and takes into consideration the condition of everything and everyone that exists within it. Competition on the other hand, does the exact opposite, competition doesn’t care about the condition of anyone else, because its ability to survive is dependent on the suffering of everyone else. This is why competition needs to be done away with. It’s simply not the natural way, when all a person's needs are accounted for, there’s no need for competition to exist. No person in their right frame of mind would choose discord over harmony. I’ve composed a simple, yet effective test you can run on yourself to determine if you currently have a mind that’s attuned for harmony. Look at a tree, do you see yourself in the tree? Now look at the insect in the ground, do you see yourself in the insect? If you found your answer to be no for each of these questions, you’re not yet where you need to be spiritually, and consequently mentally as well. See only when you see yourself in all things will you respect all things.  If you view yourself as a separate entity from all things, you will inadvertently destroy everything you touch. When you see an insect, do you immediately try to kill it? Why not capture and release it instead? Does this thought even cross your mind? See, to commit sin, is to be ignorant, to fall short. Rising from ignorance (sin), if how we can again salvation for ourselves. It’s exactly how the biblical Jesus rose from the dead, and we too can do the same.

The Bible details out how to attain salvation, but it’s written in code. And like any coding language, if you aren’t familiar with the syntax it’s written in, you’ll misinterpret the whole thing. That’s exactly what has been done, in church the bible is taught literally. The Bible is a physiological book explaining the inner workings of the body, and in it outlines how man can go about obtaining salvation for himself. I’ve already detailed what needs to be done on this matter in a book titled The Blueprint. Once you read and apply that, return back here and continue on.

Once the truth has been stated, nothing else needs to be said. The truth stands on its own, it’s undisputed and grounded in reality for all to see. Regardless of what you may feel about the truth, it doesn't change the fact that it is the truth. If you don’t believe the truth, you’re simply a disbeliever of the truth. Too many of us make decisions based on emotions, emotions will never lead you down a consistent path. Because emotions are forever changing, if you feel this way you do this, if you feel that way you do that. Emotions are forever subjected to changes in mood. Whereas logic remains solid no matter what is being felt, the choice is precise and exact each time. Wouldn’t you rather make the right choice each time, every time? This is only possible if you act from a place of logic and reason. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. Watch how much better your life improves when you stop acting from emotion. When someone shows you who they are, you believe them. That’s logic, no emotion. Emotion will have you giving chance after chance in hopes things will change, and you wonder why you end up hurt. Because the God in you knew all along what the right course of action was, but the weakness in you acted on emotions in hopes things would be different. We disappoint ourselves when we ignore the God in us who steers us right every time. That’s why it’s vitally important to lose emotion and adopt logic.