The I, the Mind, the Brain and the Ego
Topics:
“The I, the Mind, the Brain and the Ego”
“Essence and the Mind”
“Witnessing”
Friday, March 21, 2025 (Private/Phone)
Participants: Mary (Michael) and Julie (Fontine)
[Audio begins partway through session]
JULIE: And an interest of mine, exploring what does it mean. What does the word “I” mean? What does…? Well, who am I? And what does it mean to exist? And what is…? Like “I,” what I say I am, is always changing depending on where my attention is.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: And so I am my attention. I mean, you’ve said that attention is the you of you. I’m whatever my attention is on, right?
ELIAS: I would agree. And yes, that is constantly changing. Although there is an aspect of attention that is somewhat consistent and THAT would be the piece that you’re asking about, the “I,” the “who are you?” In that, from the time you are born – and I make that distinction because in the womb there is a part of that “I” that is indistinguishable from the mother. But once you are born, once that tie is severed with the mother in a physical capacity, then you embark on your own journey and then you move in the direction of the “I.”
Now; in that, from that time onward you have somewhat of a continuous perception of yourself, which is your own perception.
Now; who is the “I”? The “I” is the mind, which is not the same as your brain. And in that, your mind is you. And that is projected through your body – and you have a very strong association with your body, which also is a part of the “I.” In that, the “I,” which is the same as the ego, which everyone seems to think that that is the villainous word of all time, which it’s not, it simply means you, it simply means “I.” And in that, that is the combination of your mind and your body, which then combine together in a projection of energy which moves through perception. And in that, as I’ve expressed, your perception projects and it creates the reality in front of you.
But that’s the reality in a considerable degree outside of you. The reality inside of you is, for the most part, generated by your mind. Which is, in a manner of speaking, the “you” of “you.” Because in that, your mind is what directs your perception. It directs your attention. It directs your concentration. It is the part of you that is non-physical, that is projecting through the physical. That is the essence of you.
JULIE: Would you say mind and essence are the same thing?
ELIAS: I would.
JULIE: Okay.
ELIAS: And in that, this is the reason that I have expressed from the onset that you cannot separate essence from who you are in this physical focus. You are one and the same.
JULIE: And all my other focuses of essence are a part of my own mind as this focus?
ELIAS: No.
JULIE: No.
ELIAS: You hold all those memories. All those memories are actually stored in the body but no, your mind is a specific focus of attention. That is reason that I chose those words, because as essence you also have attention. And as essence you also focus attentions. And each physical manifestation, each body, has its own focus of attention, and is unique in itself.
JULIE: Okay. So there’s this… I mean, I know the… or my aspects do affect me or can affect me.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: I mean, because of their memories. The memory, right? Or what?
ELIAS: Yes. And, and the energy. But that is not the mind, because your mind is unique to you. It is one specific focus of attention or direction of attention of essence.
JULIE: Okay. So…
ELIAS: But just as you can pay attention to… Mm… You can pay attention to one of your toes, and that toe is still a part of your body. It’s still a part of the whole, but that toe is also something that has its own manifestation. Therefore it could be severed and not be a part of that body or it could be severed and it could be reattached. And if it’s reattached, it’s going to be reattached in a different configuration of energy. It won’t be the same as it was previously.
But the point is that you can pay attention to that toe and focus your attention on that toe, and it will be something that is individual and unique to itself as you pay attention to it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t pay attention to many other things also. As essence, you have the capacity to pay attention to many, many, many things and many, many directions, even more so because there is no separation.
JULIE: Yeah. Okay. So distinguishing the “I,” that’s the body-mind. But then going farther, the body-mind is a part of essence. But then going farther past the “I,” is everything else, the other aspects, all the other directions and dimensions, right?
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Yeah. And really there’s no separation and the “I” can look into all… No, maybe not all of it, but a lot of, a lot of the other stuff.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Because it’s not separate from essence.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Yeah.
ELIAS: It actually can look into all of it.
JULIE: Okay. Yeah. And so that’s where the amazing, the amazing exploration is, is that as a body-mind and “I,” I can look into everything.
ELIAS: Correct. Everything.
JULIE: Including other body-mind individual “I’s”—
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: From a certain perspective, I can even do that.
ELIAS: Yes, you can.
JULIE: Yeah.
ELIAS: You definitely can, because you can move in the direction of no separation. And when you let down the separation, then you ARE everything.
JULIE: Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I was going to ask you: who are “others” in my life? Neville Goddard says “others” are simply you yourself pushed out, which I kind of take that to mean they’re the parts of myself, or they’re the possibilities that I’m not expressing. What would you say about that?
ELIAS: That is expressed in relation to other people?
JULIE: Yeah. Which I understand, other people are my perception. I perceive them. They’re coming through my projected mind.
ELIAS: That would be correct. That would be correct, but they are not your creation.
JULIE: Right.
ELIAS: Therefore, they are also their own unique “I.”
JULIE: Mm-hm. I do understand that. What I’m talking about, maybe the intersection when I perceive another person, they’re actually expressing something there that I’m perceiving that may not be anything… It’s always going to have a message for me.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: And it might not be the main part of them at all, but it’s what I’m seeing. Right?
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Yeah.
ELIAS: Yes. That is definitely correct. Nothing is an accident, and every individual that you encounter, every THING that you encounter, you have intersected with intentionally and for some reason. And in that, you are correct that their encounter with you and your encounter with them may not be the whole of them, but it’s whatever you are presenting to yourself at that time. And it may not be earth-shattering, but there’s always something for you to gain. (Pause)
JULIE: I actually would like to see, perceive and experience other individuals more as themselves than as something I projected onto them. Like I would actually like to perceive the actual individual in their energy, their genuine energy.
ELIAS: Which you can.
JULIE: And I think I do. I think I do.
ELIAS: I would say that it’s simply a matter of practice in relation to what you’re paying attention to, obviously. And in that what I would say is it also, in that practice, is a matter of time. Which, in your present time framework, can actually prove to be somewhat challenging because your technology encourages you not (chuckles) to be engaging time any longer. That everything must be moving fast or spontaneously: now, now, now, now, now! And what I would say to you is, what you are speaking about or interested in, in relation to that element of practice is also a matter of taking the time to stop and actually look at and see the people that you encounter, whoever they may be. The clerk at a shop. The postal worker. The garbage man. Anyone that you encounter, regardless of who they are, if you want to see them for who they are or more realistically, it’s a matter of taking the time to stop and look at them. This is the action of witnessing, my friend. That’s what you want to do. That’s what you’re asking, how to witness other individuals. And that’s how you do it.
JULIE: Mm-hm. (Pause)
[The timer for the end of the session rings]
JULIE: Beautiful.
ELIAS: (Chuckles) I would say with your talents and gifts, it should not be difficult for you to accomplish. (Chuckles)
JULIE: I will. I’m practicing slowing down.
ELIAS: Aha! And that will ease your way into it also.
JULIE: Yeah. And like I mean, it happens. I do allow it sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes I’m just moving too fast.
ELIAS: (Chuckles) And I would say that that’s acceptable also. When you think of it, you’ll do it.
JULIE: Mm-hm. Okay. Thank you very much, Elias.
ELIAS: You’re very, very welcome. And I would express great encouragement and support in relation to your family.
JULIE: Thank you.
ELIAS: And in relation to your movement forward with other individuals and your meditations.
JULIE: Thank you.
ELIAS: Congratulations. (Chuckles)
JULIE: Thank you.
ELIAS: Until our next meeting, in tremendous love and dear friendship, au revoir.
JULIE: Au revoir.
(Excerpt ends after 22 minutes)
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