There has been a lot written about human conditioning and the need to get beyond it. I have heard from people who think in order to live an awakened life we have to go beyond all conditioning. This idea can stress people out and make them feel they just can't make it. I am sure there must be some, perhaps many, who just give up and think that awakening is for those with super human control over their lives. This is not true.

It is very important to understand conditioning as far as how it has created the misunderstanding that has brought about the separation of ego and the rest of life. If we don't see the problem clearly, it is far less likely that one will awaken. There is a lot of conditioning we humans’ carry in our heads that means nothing. In a sense, everything we do is from one form of conditioning or another. The way we dress, what we eat, where we prefer to live and a million other things can be seen as conditioning, but they are not a problem.

The only real problem is that part of our conditioning that keeps us thinking we are somehow special, or not special, or that we hate this person or that, this group or that, and all the other nonsense created by our misunderstanding that has put us in this state of hypnosis we see as ego. As we see this process clearly, we start to step out of its limited view of reality. We are objectifying that which has objectified everything else in our lives. It will in time be seen that there is no such thing as ego. When we deeply awaken to this fact, not just accept it or come to a conclusion that it is nothing, we will no longer be caught in such mind games as religion, racism, hatred, nationalism, etc. We become new beings. We realize our wholeness with all Life; we become holy. We are that right this moment. We could be nothing else.

Ending that conditioning is all you need to focus on. Not as a practice, just observing the way your mind works. We have to be very honest with ourselves in this process. Don't just accept what I am saying. Find out for yourself if this is true or not. Watch your reactions in every situation you find yourself in. See how protective the mind is to its identity. Watch how we want to protect those things in our life that give us a sense of security and how we can identify with them to support our belief in our identity. See how anger arises when our image of ourselves is put into question. When we say we love someone, really look at it and see if it is true. Question what it means to you to die. What is it that fears this? Is it the body, or the identity?

At first this will seem like a great effort, but in time it becomes just pure seeing of what is taking place without regard to any conditioning. It will even go on while the body sleeps. A lot can be learned through dreams.

Don't worry about the little conditioning problems. They will work themselves out soon enough. By worrying over the little things, we can keep the ego process going longer than need be. If we beat ourselves up because of something we hate to see ourselves doing, we just keep the ego alive, as the judge who says it must get beyond this. Just watch the ego in action. It is an activity of the past. The past is never real, nor is the ego.