• Spiritual evolution occurs as the result of removing obstacles and not actually acquiring anything new. Devotion enables surrender of the mind's vanities and cherished illusions so that it progressively becomes more free and more open to the light of Truth. Source unknown

• It is only the illusion of individuality that is the origin of all suffering. Power vs. Force, S. 297

• Once seen in its totality, everything is perfect at all times and nothing needs an external cause to change it in any way. From the viewpoint of the ego's positionality and limited scope, the world seems to need endless fixing and correction. This illusion collapses as a vanity. The Eye of the I, S. 107

• It [ego] seeks success by whatever yardstick it measures that illusory goal. Happiness is always around the next corner, so its strains harder to achieve its goals. The Eye of the I, S. 115

• At some point, the illusion breaks down and the opening for the start of the spiritual quest commences. The quest turns from without to within and the search for answers begins. With good fortune, one comes upon the teachings of true enlightenment and does not deviate from the core of those teachings. The Eye of the I, S. 115

• This life is the subjective adventure of that mysterious entity called 'I'. This current experience of the 'I' may consider itself physical, but that in itself is an illusion. The Eye of the I, S. 169

• In its broadest and most basic sense, renunciation means the discarding of illusion and the obstruction to the realization of truth and the Reality of God. Thus, all pathways to God renounce falsity and are devoted to that which radiates love, peace, holiness, compassion, forgiveness, mercy and charity. It also means the choice of renouncing ignorance for Truth, darkness for Light, and the temptations of the ego, such as hatred, anger, pride, malice, greed and selfishness. Renunciation also means freedom from the dualistic trap of denunciation, or from becoming polarized and trapped in the positionalities of the 'polarities of the opposites'. The simplest renunciation is simply refusal. I. Reality and Subjectivity, S. 121

• The mind of the aspirant has to bypass and refuse temptations. Later it will be seen that nothing was lost as that temptation was just another illusion. The aspirant gives up the vanities of opinionation and the duties of saving the world. I. Reality and Subjectivity, S. 301

• [...] the ego has to be first accepted as though it is a reality in order to be dealt with before it can be transcended. At the higher levels, the ego is seen to be an illusion, without any innate reality. [...] A naive student might hear, for example, that the ego is an illusion and then presume that 'I don’t believe in the ego. It’s just an illusion.' At this point, it is actually the student’s ego that is making such a statement. I. Reality and Subjectivity, S. 329

• A naive student might hear, for example, that the ego is an illusion and then presume that 'I don't believe in the ego. It's just an illusion.' At this point, it is actually the student's ego that is making such a statement. I. Reality and Subjectivity, S. 329

• The ego, or more accurately, the belief that one is the ego, obscures the Realization of the Reality of the Self as the Oneness of All That Is. The dissolution of the ego results in liberation from the bondage of the illusions that create suffering. These illusions are susceptible to fearless scrutiny that reveals the underlying fallacies. The only tool needed is the willingness to unreservedly surrender all beliefs, opinions and attitudes to God. Reality and Subjectivity, S. 385

• The ego's basic illusion is that it is God, and without it, death will occur. Thus, what is described as the dark night of the soul is actually the dark night of the ego. Transcending the Levels of Consciousness. The Stairway to Enlightenment, chapter 1 Shame: Despair, S. 36

• Instead of trying to force change, it is merely necessary to allow divinity to do so by deeply surrendering all control, resistance, and illusions of gain or loss. It is not necessary to attack illusions but to merely allow them to fall away. It is not necessary, nor fruitful to use force by such mechanisms as guilt, nor is it necessary to try to persue or propel spiritual evolution because it automatically evolves of it's own accord when the obstacles and resistances of illusions are surrendered. Transcending Levels of Consciousness, chapter 21, S. ?

• Temptation, seduction, desirability, and allure are all projections having to do with appearance and presumptions. These are associated with programmed fantasies of gain.  Satisfaction of projected values constitutes the world of illusion. Happiness itself is directly correlated with the overall level of consciousness rather than with any external factors. Discovery of the Presence of God, S. 223

• The ego is neither bad nor an enemy, but merely an illusion to release so that something far better can replace it. Dissolving the Ego, Realizing the Self. Contemplations from the Teachings of David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., chapter 1, S. 6, quote 2

• One has the illusion that one couldn't get through life unless one thinks. No such thing happens. It is not necessary for any individual to be there. It is not necessary to think that there is an "I' that is responsible for one's actions. Everything is doing itself. It is the vanity of the ego to say 'I did this, I thought that, I decided that.' There is no such 'I' at all. All these things are deciding themselves and doing themselves, all by themselves. Interview with David Hawkins, Dialogues on Consciousness and Spirituality, part 2, S. 21-22-23, spiral binding, Veritas Publishing, Sedona, AZ, around 1998

• Very often one has illusions about the nature of reality. They have to be let go also. That there is a good and a bad, a desirable and undesirable, that is all in your mind. So you realize that the sun shines and then the clouds come up and then the rain falls. The grass grows up and dies, the stock market goes up and down, age comes and goes, people arise and leave. So you see there is the ebb and flow and if one is at this part of the cycle there is no point in crying about it, because the cycle will cycle itself out. Sedona Seminar Devotion: The Way to God Through the Heart, DVD 1 of 3, track 5, approx. minutes 38:00-39:00, 27. September 2002

• Question: Today you called the physical world an illusion. [...]
  Answer: No, I don't call the physical world an illusion. How you perceive it is illusory but its existence is not illusory. How you perceive it as kind or cruel, disaster or blessing [...] is subjective. Sedona Seminar Experiential Reality: The Mystic, 3 DVD set, 8. December 2007

Illusion of a personal "I"

• You have the presumption there is a personal "you" that is the initiator, the decider and the doer. To jump ahead of this illusion, has to be done faster that 1/10,000th of a second. The leading edge of the ego, the personal "I" jumps in in 1/10,000th of a second and claims to be the author the initiator and the experiencer. Through the spiritual styles […] it is possible to transcend that. And the mind becomes silent.
  People identify automatically and most importantly as the doer, […] the chooser, the one who feels, the one who wants, […] who makes decisions […]. There is no 'you', making any decision about anything at all. All that is 100% illusion. There is no personal 'you' deciding what to say. It is all happening autonomously and your rise to that observation as you move to identifying as a personal self and move to the witness-observer. The witness-observer notices that as soon as a decision is made or something happens a sense of personal 'I' jumps in and claims authorship. The hardest thing to get over, as a mind, is the claiming of authorship of a personal "I". There is no personal "I" making any decisions. All this is happening autonomously including the illusion that there is a personal "I". Therefore you don't have to feel guilty about considering yourself to be an independent decider or initiator of action and thoughts and feelings because even that is happening autonomously without asking your permission. Sedona Seminar Experiential Reality: The Mystic, 3 DVD set, 8. December 2007