It is the ego's job to convince the lesser mind that it is, in fact, innocent and just. Think of your mind as a glass of cold milk, white and pure, and add just a little bit of coffee powder, symbolic for dirt. The coffee will eventually sink to the bottom of the glass, and the substance will remain clear when viewed from the top (the perspective of the ego-mind). But when viewed from the sides (this is the perspective of the higher mind, not the ego) - it will see clearly the dirt that hides beneath the perfect surface. Now, if you disturb the liquid in the glass, move the glass around, some of the dirt will make its way up to the surface and float on there for a while, but, eventually, it will sink back down again. These are the "ups and downs" experienced by most humans who live in non-awareness on a day-to-day basis. Why does the ego do this? It does this for your own protection, because humans, especially ones who have not gone through personal development, intellectual, spiritual growth, tend to inadvertently activate self-destructive programming when faced with the truth of themselves. When the truth is too traumatic for the emotional mind to digest, the ego-mind steps in. The ego does not want a traumatised driver, because it is its sole purpose to make sure that your material form survives at all costs. Yet when one has not yet learnt the concept of self-forgiveness, they are unable to accept (yes, accept) their shortcomings, mistakes, faults, disappointments. The grand theatre of life, events and occurrences, is designed to present challenges to the ego mind. Because the final directive of the mind is not to create an illusion of harmony, but to achieve true harmony. Even though the ego-mind is convinced that it has achieved said harmony (and from its perspective - it is technically true) - the subconscious mind is still full of these self-destructive programs, negative patterns of thought, deprecating information, psychosomatic sickness, et cetera. In order to bring all of this up and forward, hot water in the form of shadow work is applied. This represents one's conscious efforts to penetrate deep into their psyche and unveil the darkness that lies within. Once hot water is introduced to the mixture, the powder (or dirt) dissolves and integrates with the ego-mind, and a slight discoloration occurs. It creates a balanced image that includes the whole of the person's psyche, and is brought into awareness as one whole. Balance has been restored, for now. Until the liquid cools down again, and more milk is added to the mixture in the form of time. And the grand theatre of self-discovery resumes, until the glass is full. ![[0F94D365-4E51-4F44-AFE1-DCBE143B4F8B.gif]]