From Living in the Now by Gina Lake, now available as an ebook for only $.99.

Most of you reading this are pretty clear that you aren't your personality. Spiritual experiences bring us the realization that we aren't just physical beings, but spiritual beings in a physical body. The human vehicle that Consciousness is inhabiting includes a mind, conditioning, an ego, and a personality. This human vehicle is programmed to behave and respond to life in a certain way.

Part of this programming is the ego, which every human being has. The ego gives us the sense that we are an individual. Without this, we wouldn't answer when someone called our name or be able to function. So the ego serves the Creator, the Oneness, by creating the illusion that we are separate individuals rather than all One, as we are in truth. In addition to causing a sense of being separate from other human beings, the ego causes us to have certain desires—the desire for money, power, security, safety, recognition, comfort, superiority, and so on. These desires actually stem from the sense of separateness, and they result in the various human emotions: anger, hatred, greed, lust, jealousy, pride, shame, guilt, fear, hopelessness, depression, resentment, envy, and sadness.

Each of us also has other desires and drives that are unique to us, which also are part of our programming. These desires and drives are reflected in the personality, and they can be read in the astrology chart. For instance, Aries represents a drive to pioneer, lead, initiate activity, and try new things, and these drives are reflected in a personality that is courageous, individualistic, bold, and independent. The programming represented in the astrology chart determines, to a large extent, the personality, which is different from the ego.

The personality is the costume we wear. This costume is unlike anyone else's costume, and we don't lose it (our personality) after we awaken and realize our true nature. The ego, on the other hand, is what prevents us from experiencing our true nature. As we evolve spiritually, the ego falls into the background and Essence expresses itself through our personality more. When that happens, our personality becomes more loving and likeable. Our costume becomes colored by the love, peace, contentment, and wisdom of Essence. On the other hand, when the ego expresses itself through our costume, it (our personality) is colored by the self-interest, drives, fears, and other emotions of the ego.

The experience of our true nature is an experience of emptiness, of no qualities, no gender, nothingness. The Nothingness needs a costume to be seen, heard, and felt! How can Nothingness be seen and express itself in the world without a costume? It needs some clothes, so it takes on programming (a personality, as represented in the astrology chart) to give it some clothes. And since it makes no sense for the Nothingness to look the same and have the same expression in every human being, each person is given unique programming/clothing. What fun it is for the Nothingness to play with itself in all these different forms! It really doesn't know how this is all going to go—how all these expressions of itself will play and what they will do together. That's really fun too.

From Living in the Now: How to Live as the Spriitual Being That You Are by Gina Lake. This book is now available for only $.99 as an ebook.