“Unless you know the basic mechanics behind the workings of the ego, you won’t recognize it, and it will trick you into identifying with it again and again. This means it takes you over, an imposter pretending to be you.” Eckhart Tolle (from The Power of Now)

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Watched a documentary on Bob Hope last night, and the conclusion was that Hope over his years of trial and error in the spot light, created a successful comedic Persona. He was always ON. He was always performing. And his Personal reaped huge rewards of fame and wealth. But no one knew who the real Bob Hope was. He never broke the con. Once your successful Persona becomes crystalized, the free flowing awareness that is you takes on the shape of the persona, the role.

The Hope Persona was a clever characterization of everyman: Hope’s character was always full of bravado, but when challenged, he ran for the door. He was always full of Hope that one day he would win the Oscar, and always successful incorporated his weaknesses into his persona. With Hope you always knew what you were going to get.

But Hope’s Persona didn’t change with the 60s and the anti-war movement. A persona is a role, and roles can’t change to fit a new play that wasn’t written for the character.

“How “spiritual” you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness.” Eckhart Tolle (from The Power of Now)

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It is very difficult to separate spiritual from religious because we are conditioned by Christianity’s 2,000 year history in the West that right Belief is the admission ticket to salvation or right relationship with God.

Christianity is a credal or belief religion, not an ethnic religion like Judaism, which you are born into. Christianity is open to anyone who believes in its creeds. Belief makes it so.

Belief is not a practice but a refuge from uncertainty. Spiritual practice is the practice of uncertainty, of asking what the Truth is. Spiritual practice is questioning belief. While religion creates security in belief and the end of questioning, spiritual practice invites disbelief so that you discover that which is beyond belief. Who is it that believes?