Fourteen billion years ago,

something came from nothing. The energy and intelligence
that initiated that explosion is the same energy that is driving
this whole process right now. It is what I call the evolutionary
impulse or creative principle. And at the leading edge of
development, that same evolutionary impulse emerges
in human awareness as the spiritual impulse, the urge to
become more conscious. It is experienced as the
mysterious longing to develop spiritually, the ecstatic
compulsion to become more awake and more aware.
That impulse is what I call the authentic self. And
anybody who experiences this authentic self will
realize, upon reflection, that it is a completely
different part of the self than the ego. The ego
and the authentic self are parallel lines that never meet.

The ego is full of unresolved issues and unfulfilled desires,
deeply fearful and ambivalent about the very fact of being
alive. But the authentic self is only interested in creating
the future. And that part of your self and that part of my
self is not self-conscious and is not afraid of life. In the
authentic self, there's not a trace of ambivalence. There's
no hesitation. There's no doubt. There's no existential
confusion. And it's not a choice that needs to be made.
The authentic self, in you and in me, once we awaken
to it, is already completely committed. Absolute conviction
is inherent in the nature of the authentic self, and that is
why when any one of us awakens to that self, we experience
an intoxicating joy and confidence, a fearless passion and
pure doubtless conviction about being here and doing things
right in order to create a better future. Why? Because we
recognize that that is the very reason we are here.

Andrew Cohen