| T3:2.5 | While you have believed you are the self of the ego, you have believed in a need to both glorify the self and denigrate the self. These beliefs have shaped your dualistic view of the world and all that exists with you within it. For every “glory,” gift, or success you have achieved you have believed in a corresponding cost that was, in essence, a cost that came at the expense or denigration of the self. You believed that for every gain there was also a loss. For you believed that every step in the advancement of your separated state was a step away from God and your real Self. This belief was based in logic, but the logic of the illusion—in which you believed you chose to separate from God out of defiance and a desire to be one with God no longer. This could not be further from the truth and is the cause of all your suffering, for contained within this belief was the belief that with each successful step toward independence came a corresponding step away from God. As independence seemed to be your purpose here, you could not keep yourself from attempts to advance in this direction. And yet, neither could you keep from punishing yourself for this advancement. |