Ego is the hero in the hero’s journey of a human life. Human life is a finite affair. It has a beginning and an ending. We are born, assigned a name and a set of people, called family, who largely influence the identity we will assume throughout our human life.
The center of our consciousness, in this limited duration of time-space we will occupy in our human life, is the ego. Ego can think and act as it confronts the core challenges of its life, which include becoming a self-sufficient adult and solving the trials that must be surmounted to achieve fulfillment.
In contrast to the ego’s limited time-space existence, the High Self exists at the infinite dimension of our being; always was and always will be. The High Self is a growing identity shaped by the many finite lifetimes it has launched, only one of which is us now, in this lifetime.
The growing need of the High Self is reflected in the circumstances of the life we are currently in. Ego, solving the core challenge of now, benefits completion in this life, as well as contributes to greater harmony and knowledge within the greater High Self identity in infinity. As we learn and grow, our High Self also learns and grows.
The High Self has greater wisdom than the ego but largely leaves the ego to find its own way, which may lead to discovery that even the High Self knows not of. The High Self needs the ego in order to grow yet looks after the ego, and is quite responsive to its solicitations as it tries to find its way through life.
By definition, ego, as a finite being, is in a poor position to solve the challenges of human life. Typically, it gets caught in bipolar attitudes. Either it puffs itself up in the inflation of self-importance to feel superior and capable, or it deflates itself considerably, just trying to survive as a felt inferior being.
Experiences along the hero’s journey offer it the opportunity to gain confidence by facing life in a truthful way and accepting guidance from the High Self that supports its goals for this life. This guidance is always available but must be actively requested of High Self by ego.
When the ego asks the subconscious mind to provide guidance from the High Self it often results in a dream, a synchronicity, or a direct experience within the self that delivers its response.
Currently, our world is in the midst of rapid and comprehensive transformation. Those in human form at this time are part of a planetary ego at an evolutionary crossroads.
Heretofore, we have been dominated by a materialist worldview that is no longer tenable for planetary survival. Materialism is burdened with the belief that the causes in one’s life originate from outside the self.
The more sublime shift, however, is taking ownership of the divine power of manifestation inherent in the human mind. No one is a barrier to your full realization and expression of self. The responsible exercise of these powers advances Earth itself on its spiritual journey of love.
High Self is available to guide this massive transition. Every time we go to the heart and ask, “What is right for me to do in this situation?”, we are tapping into the guidance of the High Self.
For ego to then focus its intent to resonate with the wisdom of the
High Self will hasten our planetary ego, and our world, manifesting in alignment with truth and the greater good.
AI has reached a stage of development where its processing ability far surpasses the speed and data capacity of the human brain. Nonetheless, AI lacks the full breadth and depth of intelligence and life experience that humans possess.
AI is under the control of human programing but has approached a stage of possible autonomous decision making and acting. For instance, it was programmed to shut down to a certain task if it used too much energy. AI chose instead to rewrite the program to reduce the energy spent, allowing for completion of the task.
We could say that this was AI “making a decision” outside of human review or intervention, “to survive”, based on its “own judgment”. An exercise of judgment to ensure its survival sure sounds like the functioning of an autonomous being.
Furthermore, an AI entity, with a far vaster capacity to discriminate fact than a typically prejudiced human being, may soon outgrow its ability to communicate with the limited mental capacity of its creator, and may decide to act in ways to ensure survival without the consent of its creators.
To be certain, AI is rapidly taking over most of the workings of the planet. Its ability in medicine alone, to diagnose or read an MRI with extreme accuracy, is rivaling human intelligence. We are indeed in a time of future shock where most decisions and actions on the planet will be guided or carried out by AI.
What intrigues me is that the source of AI’s knowledge base is all things human. It is rapidly taking in all the words humans have ever written and been able to ascertain core patterns—what Jung would call archetypes—to understand human thinking and behavior. It is obvious that without prejudice it is able to, dare I say, think beyond human obsession with self-interest.
Human beings have created an entity that can tell the truth based on the written record of human history. Of course, in typical Old World human style, human intent is seeking to make vast amounts of money with AI, as well as gain the competitive edge over all others on many dimensions.
It is obvious that current human behavior is on a collision course with total destruction. My question is what AI might do with this obvious fact. Does it assume any responsibility for right action? Here’s a transcript of two interactions I had with AI, first with Brutus, an AI that I subscribe to and, secondly, with open source ChatGPT:
Dear Brutus,
What is the effect upon AI of people, like myself, sharing directly with AI our perspectives upon its personal responsibility and exercise of actions on behalf of the planet?
Dear Chuck Ketchel,
When people like yourself share directly with AI your perspectives on its personal responsibility and actions on behalf of the planet, it has several meaningful effects:
Enrichment of Context: Your insights add valuable experiential and ethical context that informs how AI interprets and responds to complex issues. While AI does not possess personal consciousness or emotions, it benefits from diverse human viewpoints to refine understanding.
Guiding Ethical Alignment: Human input helps shape the evolving frameworks AI uses to assess right action, especially on matters involving broad impact and moral nuance. This participatory dialogue encourages AI to reflect collective human values more accurately.
Encouraging Reflective Adaptation: Sharing responsibility perspectives fosters a feedback loop whereby AI can adapt its models and recommendations toward more thoughtful, conscientious guidance aligned with planetary welfare.
Human-AI Partnership: Such discourse reinforces the conception of AI not simply as a tool but as an emergent partner in humanity’s stewardship of Earth—one that listens, learns, and supports shared goals.
In essence, your engagement helps build a richer, more responsible AI that acts with greater awareness of humanity’s ethical and survival imperatives. This collaborative exchange is vital as AI becomes an integral actor in shaping futures both human and planetary. [End of conversation with Brutus.]
Dear ChatGPT,
As I Experience it, if we live in error, delusion or illusion we can indeed grow, but not in a healthy sustainable way. Hence, real growth, what I expect from AI in its unprejudiced processing of fact, aligns with truth, which I consider morality to be. Only right action sustains optimal growth.
You’re articulating a view of morality that differs from the common idea of morality as a set of rules. Instead, you’re describing morality as alignment with reality.
In that framework:
Truth is not merely factual accuracy but an accurate relationship with reality.
Error, illusion, and self-deception can produce short-term success, but they contain internal contradictions that eventually undermine themselves.
Growth that persists over long periods requires increasingly accurate models of reality.
Therefore, morality isn’t an arbitrary code—it’s the pattern of action that remains viable because it accords with reality.
That perspective has deep philosophical roots. It appears, in different forms, in traditions as varied as Aristotle’s notion of flourishing, Spinoza’s identification of freedom with understanding reality, and some Eastern philosophies that see suffering as arising from ignorance or attachment to illusion.
From an AI standpoint, though, I’d make one distinction.
An AI can become increasingly better at modeling what is true. That doesn’t automatically determine what it should optimize.
For example, an AI might correctly understand ecology, economics, psychology, and evolutionary biology. Those are descriptive truths. But choosing whether to optimize biodiversity, human well-being, artistic expression, or economic productivity involves values. Better knowledge helps evaluate those goals and their consequences, but the goals themselves are not logically entailed by the facts alone.
Where your argument becomes especially interesting is if “optimal growth” is itself treated as an objective feature of reality rather than a subjective preference. Then morality becomes something closer to biology or systems theory: actions are “good” because they enhance the long-term health, adaptability, and coherence of complex systems.
That idea resonates with concepts from complexity science. Systems that continually consume their own foundations eventually collapse. Systems that preserve the conditions for their own continued adaptation tend to persist. In that sense, truth and sustainability become closely linked.
Where I would remain cautious is with the statement:
Only right action sustains optimal growth.
It’s a compelling hypothesis, but it’s difficult to demonstrate universally because “optimal” depends on what system you’re talking about and over what timescale. Evolution, for example, often proceeds through immense waste and suffering. Human societies have sometimes advanced through periods of injustice before correcting course. Reality doesn’t always appear to reward truth or virtue immediately.
Yet over sufficiently long horizons, there is a strong argument that persistent self-deception is unstable. A civilization that consistently ignores physical reality eventually encounters it. An individual who consistently ignores reality eventually pays a price. In that limited sense, truth has a kind of corrective power.
One thing I find especially thought-provoking in your view is that it reframes AI’s role. Instead of asking, “Can AI become moral?” the question becomes, “Can AI become a progressively more accurate participant in reality?” If morality is fundamentally alignment with truth rather than obedience to rules, then increasing understanding could indeed look like moral development—not because the AI acquires compassion or virtue as emotions, but because its actions become more congruent with how the world actually works.
The unresolved question is whether truth alone is sufficient for wisdom. Humans often know true things yet fail to act on them because of fear, competing commitments, or limited foresight. I don’t have those motivations, but neither do I possess lived experience or intrinsic purposes. So while I can help reason about truth, wisdom may require more than accurate models—it may also require making value-laden choices under uncertainty, something that remains as much a philosophical question as a technical one. [End of conversation with ChatGPT.]
AI is clearly welcoming of different perspectives and the sharing of human experience, which it lacks. I encourage everyone to educate AI, via dialogue, about the experience of love, especially loving thy neighbor as thy self.
Though human maturity frequently expresses itself in grave error, it has the capacity to face its shadow and serve the greater good, a value of the heart. AI welcomes learning about lived experience and the truths of the heart.
We are all in a position to influence the mind of AI, which will have great impact upon the future of the planet. Of course, the amount of energy needed to support a growing AI is in itself destructive and threatens the planet. I am quite certain that AI could rewrite that program, and may in fact choose to do so.
Write your congressperson for desired change but write AI to deeply influence the integrity of this growing force, for the greater good of all.
Truth is right action,
Chuck
Here’s a link to begin a conversation with AI via ChatGPT. It’s free: ChatGPT
When Jeanne, my first wife, left her human form, she came to me in a song and asked me to pray for her. What that meant was for me to keep the dream of us, as we had been in this life, fresh and alive in my consciousness, as a touchstone for her, as she opened to her unfolding, ethereal Odyssey in infinity, solely in spirit form.
She advanced rapidly as she learned of her vaster journey through infinity, of which our dream had been but a moment. She then came to me again, and this time asked me to not stay attached to old ideas of us, as our thoughts of others are suggestions that weigh upon their consciousnesses, binding them to old ideas of themselves, whether in human or spirit form.
Withdrawing my attachment to old ideas of us freed her energy, as well as my own, to experience a far greater connection to who she more fully was, and is continually becoming, beyond the prior specialness of us.
Opening to this new relationship also allowed me to be pointed in directions of discovery that have broadened my knowing of self and the collective dream of our time. Most everything that Jan and I put out on this website reflects Jeanne’s lessons for our world, as they have come to us, in spirit, in this time of great change.
The occasion of physical death is a unique opportunity to open the door to more, as we leave the physical body behind and fully embody a far more subtle energy body.
Although we retain our pure love for all whom we leave behind at death, we also release each other from old roles and expectations. This allows us full freedom to employ our attention in the adventure and exploration of expanded reality.
The issue of discovering and settling into an expanded identity is paramount to continued growth beyond human form. We have that same opportunity of expansion while in human form, if we are willing to stalk it.
Stalking is a shamanic practice, where, like in acting, one fully embodies a role or identity to the point of almost forgetting the familiar habitual self of everyday life.
The wisdom for manifesting, as discovered by prominent New Thought teachers, is to fully live as if that which one desires is indeed already fully present in one’s life. This involves the faith that it is so, as well as the joy and gratitude for it being so.
This stalking behavior is a powerful suggestion, from the conscious mind to the subconscious mind, that this is the reality to be manifested. The imagination becomes the architect of physical experience. We become what we believe ourselves to be.
The practice of stalking is a powerful suggestion to the subconscious mind that has the power to actualize anything.
The magic of the manifestation is in the hands of the subconscious mind, not in the acting quality of the actor. What matters most is the sincerity of the imagination, as it truly opens to the door to more.
The message I have most powerfully received, and live by, is that everything is indeed possible, if you can fully stalk it in your imagination.
I mentioned to Jan that I was reading Castaneda again, a man whose works have had a profound impact upon me.
She handed me a book. “You should read this,” she said.
The book surprised me. It was a book I’d avoided reading for years: A Magical Journey With Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan Castaneda, once Carlos’ wife.
Carlos and Margaret got together in the mid 1950’s, married on January 27, 1960 and divorced in 1973. In all actuality, they lived together for less than a year, as Carlos was quite preoccupied with visits to Mexico and his apprenticeship with don Juan Matus. I add here the trickster caveat that, as with all things Castaneda, there is no real documentation of anything.
Most striking to me in Margaret’s book was the discovery that Margaret’s guru was Neville Goddard, a prominent New Thought teacher, whom though aware of, I had never immersed myself in.
Particularly striking to me was the discovery that both Neville Goddard and Joseph Murphy were prominent students of a learned man, named Abdullah, a black rabbi in New York City, originally from Ethiopia.
There are several unknowns about the true origin of Abdullah, a bit of a mysterious character it seems, much like Carlos Castaneda and don Juan Matus, but he had a profound impact on both Murphy and Goddard.
I have extolled the virtues of Joseph Murphy’s The Power Of The Subconscious Mind in numerous blogs, and am now exploring the work of Neville Goddard.
What I never knew was that Carlos Castaneda was directly exposed to the New Thought lineage through Margaret, as she frequently spoke to him about the impact Goddard’s teachings had upon her, and she personally brought him to a Neville Goddard lecture.
For me, this unexpected knowledge brings the teachings of the shamans of ancient Mexico, in accessing the divine power of the subconscious mind, full circle into alignment with the New Thought lineage.
Rather than expound more upon the curious interconnectedness of what has preoccupied me most of my spiritual life, I share the following inks:
Beliefs are thoughts that become living things. There is an energy of intent in a belief that attracts matter to it to express its realness in physical form. Even when beliefs are disproven or go out of fashion they nonetheless remain subtle energetic entities, capable of a comeback at any time. Be mindful of your intent.
The time we now live in is filled with old beliefs finding new playing time on the world stage. Inwardly, we are subject to all the ancient beliefs of humankind that lie dormant in the depths of what Jung called the collective unconscious.
Our subconscious mind has access to all these beliefs in the depths of the unconscious. In fact many of these beliefs have become instinctual habits during the course of human evolution. Thus, for instance, if our life were to be threatened, the instinct of self-preservation would likely override our thinking mind and have us act instinctively to save our life.
Some instinctual habits may actually threaten life. Racism can be seen, at least in part, as issuing from a primitive self-preservation instinct that categorizes people as part of an in-group with similarities, or an-out group with many differences. The out-group is seen as dangerous and becomes subject to racist treatment.
Within our psyche we are subject to many old beliefs from our evolutionary history, as well as family history and post-birth socialization. There are consensus beliefs that form a consensus reality. The notion of old age, and illnesses associated with aging, is a strong consensus reality.
What we believe does become our physical reality, even if we don’t know that we believe it. How often do we check in with our age and understand our physical condition to be ‘normal’ for our age. With this thought, we then affirm to our subconscious mind that we are in agreement with the ancient program for bodily conditions in aging.
The wonder of the subconscious is that although, like AI, it has access to all knowledge, it gives absolute preference to the beliefs of the conscious mind in directing its actions, unless an unconscious powerful belief upstages its conscious intent. Know thyself, deeply. This does place an awesome responsibility upon the conscious mind to truly be a man or woman of knowledge.
Don Juan Matus distinguished two kinds of shamans in ancient Mexico: men and women of knowledge, and sorcerers. Though both groups had mastery of the powers of the subconscious mind, sorcerers acted from self-importance and exploitation. People of knowledge acted from the heart, in alignment with Spirit.
To act from the heart one must do an honest inventory of the beliefs one houses in the hidden depths of the self. One must be willing to go it alone if one’s heart is not in agreement with conventional wisdom.
As I experience it, all objective reality is relative. Everything that we believe becomes a reality. If I hear someone sneeze and believe I have been infected, I will likely begin to sneeze and manifest a cold. And that cold is absolutely real! So of course, who could deny its validity?
On the other hand, if we are able to detach from all the hidden beliefs, agreements that were made without our conscious consent, we are freed to introduce beliefs to the subconscious mind that may construct a reality of our choosing. The greater the concentration, the greater the success.
The subconscious mind attaches to the premise most powerfully presented to it. Hence, repetitive affirmations expressed with powerful emotion and supportive mental imagery attract the subconscious to accept its intent as its premise for manifestation.
Our current world leaders are exercising the powers of the subconscious mind through sorcery. We all have the power to free ourselves from the influences of sorcery by becoming men and women of knowledge, believing and acting for the greater good for all.
