Just because we have a "truthful" feeling, it doesn't mean that is who we truthfully are. Mostly we are imposters, and our feelings can't be trusted. We pose as this and pose as that in search of who we really are. Unfortunately, we believe our feelings, and our feelings constantly change. My angry self is not the "real" me; however if I am in denial of my anger, my greed, my jealously, my pain, I can never get past it and my awareness of my angry self grows.

The ego is a fictional character, but it is often who we believe our self to be. It is quite difficult to get handle on who this character is, as we are constantly creating and recreating this personality based on an image we would like to project. It is our belief in this fictitious character that feeds it and wears the grooves of our psychic patterning. Beliefs are fueled by our emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more rigid the belief. Our emotions are like a computer program and it's language is our conditioning.

When we can recognize our patterning, we can go beyond our conditioned responses. To go beyond our conditioning, we must accept that our perceptions may need to be corrected. We are not who we see ourselves to be. We are who we know ourselves to be. We do not have to believe anything about ourselves to be. If we are trying to convince anyone that we are anything, then we can rest assured we are still trying to convince our self. Believing does not lead to conviction. Believing is a feeling. Acceptance leads to conviction. When we are convinced that all we will ever be, we already are right here, right now... we are free.