Mike was riding his bicycle. He had the “green light,” in the intersection so he started to go across. Suddenly, a car coming from nowhere cut off Mike’s pedaling. In a second, Mike had to rely on his brakes to stop before hitting the car!
The driver of the car was a young guy wearing his baseball hat backwards.

Mike was able to go across the intersection without further issues.
Bottom line: Everyone was alright. That is the “now.”

The above are the facts. However, what is going on in each protagonist’s mind is the drama to be aware of.

“What is the matter with that kid! I have green light! I am right! That starts things off. Then the ego uses that opportunity to grow in size thanks to using some “big” words learned through several sessions on conditioning: “ What the F… you SOB!” An angry face, a little shouting,  giving the finger… Isn’t that the “right” way to show how “right” you are?
“That should teach him a lesson to be careful!” Mike thought.
Amazing how the expression of our anger could teach a lesson to another on being careful. Part of the conditioning. No doubt.
Mike was hiding his fear through the “tough” look, topped off with some self-righteousness. But… “He could have gotten killed!” The mind defended the “I.”
… But the fact is that it didn’t happen. The “now.” 🙂

The ego has a great story to keep the momentum of growth! Mike told his wife about the incident, then his kids, some close relatives, his friends. Every time he related the story, the juicy details increased. Mike became such a story teller! but the “moral,” of the story every time was: “I am right. How he dared to mess with me.”

The kid driving the car forgot about the incident 5 minutes later, as soon as he arrived to the beach bar that he was heading to.

If Mike was aware of how his mind created that moment of ego boost, if he was aware of the illusion of having complete control of Life, he would surely have reacted in a different way. But the fact is that he wasn’t aware, and the consequence is that this incident supported his conditioning, his learned behavior. The importance of the “I.” Later in his Life, he may want to “conquer his ego” and his mind will allow him to think that this is “right.” 🙂

Ego is mind. If we recognize how the mind analyzes, dissects, separates, make distinctions based on sets of beliefs stored as past experiences; we could observe how the mind is never present in the “now.” It cannot be, for the mind interferes with the experience of the “now,”  which is no-mind.

Have you ever watched the same movie several times?
The mind knows what is going to happen in that movie. Why that isn’t boring? If you are aware, you will notice that when you are into it, into a particular scene of the movie; there is no thinking. You are in the “now.” The moment the mind takes over, by going into the past or the future, rewinding or fast forwarding the movie in our minds, while watching the movie, boredom appears. Suddenly, it is the same old thing.

Why a kid does not mind if the same bed story is told to him night after night? Just like a dog will fetch the frisbee many times even though it is thrown to the same place to be picked up. The activity will be enjoyed until physical tiredness sets in. Those activities bring joy, and they could be repeated as long as there is no mind.

Is the mind “bad”? No! It is necessary to remember things, faces, facts. It is necessary to make “educated guesses” also known as ” carefully thought out decisions.” The issue is that the mind has taken over our being… and we don’t even “know” about it.