The Answer

 Every effort of any individual being is taken with the ultimate goal of realization Christ Consciousness. We are often not aware this is what we are doing. We think we are doing many other things. Everything that we do, everything that we aim to do, has it's root motive as conjuring Christ. The truth is that each of the infinite number of aims we may have is an arrow going on a journey, a train of thought an intent heading to a destination. We imagine arriving at one destination and finding fulfillment, yet once we get there, the road stretches out again towards some new horizon. Our mind begins churning again, we are mobilized into action, we seek another reservoir of desirable substance, our thought subtly evolves, we forget what we were doing before and that we have done it a thousand times, dissatisfied with each arrival at a new port. Yet throughout all of this expansion of our searching, something is building. An arc is ascending towards realization of Presence, the Dharma. Which is like recognizing your own face in a mirror, or remembering your name. We realize that this is what we have been looking for all along, across the universe, in the world, in our mind and in our heart. We discover quite humorously that it has always been right under our nose. It in fact has been what we have been stepping in. Poop or no poop, realization is present. What we gain is direct awareness of our true nature. This awareness is powerful. Seeing this we lose interest in searching for our soul, which takes so many different forms. We gain greater clarity in distinguishing what is healthy normal behavior, and what is irrational striving for something we have already found and that we have always had. The Dharma naturally forgets itself, and then rediscovers itself. This is not something achieved through egoic might. It flowers naturally as the cultivation of insight, virtue, and wisdom. It is the soul blossoming apart from the ego, or the Dharma rising amid the tension of suffering. The Dharma eventually recognizes itself and knows itself. It then knows that the world is an illusion and that all the efforts of the ego are fruitless. The ego is attempting to do what it can never do, because it will never give itself fully to the task, and it will always have hidden motives that are it's true aim, which is always selfish greed. The ego is a bottomless pit that promises the greatest treasure you can imagine. It really wants to steal the life of the soul and feed it's insatiable thirst that continually drives it insane. The soul or the Dharma can be consumed by the ego when it is permitted to dominate our behavior. It seems to me that the ego is really an insane part of our soul, or a corrupted part of our soul, that through the trials of the world is driven to madness. The darkness of the shadow of this portion of our being is dangerous because it is untrustworthy with malintent. It constantly seeks to deceive our better judgment to gain for itself, which never proves to be wise. The madness of the ego, the irrationality always leads to stunted growth, disease, and unfulfillment. The degree to which we listen to it, is the degree to which we err. This pertains to each choice we make, and to the overall condition of our soul from day to day. While we have a choice, the best choice we can make is to starve our ego, and feed our soul. Which I know isn't always easy. It is often very difficult, and can make things more difficult. This is why learning of God, and having faith in God is paramount. Life will test us, and if we are not secured deep enough in God, we will be shaken, or worse, uprooted. The Dharma moves to firmly establish itself in human consciousness. Given the proper attention, we can completely rid our consciousness of the evil that is selfishness. Selfishness and sin are not tied to specific things, but come from the way in which we do things. The difference between wisdom and selfishness is a difference in the condition of our mind and heart. Are we dwelling upon God, or on thirst? It is our attention that produces good or bad results. When we awaken to truth we can very clearly how our actions and attention produce good or bad things. We can watch how our thoughts and feelings turning into awareness conduct our behavior towards manifesting good and evil in the world. With this awareness, we see how misguided selfishness is. Selfishness needs to be guided like a poorly trained pet towards upstandingness. It needs both gentleness and firmness. If we are too firm, it will fight us and be uncontrollable or it will flee. If we are too gentle our efforts will be wasted and it may overcome us. We must approach it directly and match it's movements until we have it under our power. Then through wisdom we can maneuver it until it is eliminated and skillful behavior is restored. It is necessary to do this with every aspect of our being, and to be committed to doing so. We must let evil know that we are determined to uproot it. Seeing this, it will only become more and more terrified as our presence grows. 

It is important to remember that this evil is apart of our own nature and as much as we are ending it, we are repurposing energies and attention. It is evil, yet it also isn't. It is intensely misguided intelligence. At the end of the day, it needs wholesome embrace. We must be courageous as we stand up to it, especially when it appears to tower over us. Remember it is only in our mind, and is not real. It is imaginary, and has the power we give it. We do need to tangle with it to gain control of it. When we are tossed off, it is our job to hop back on. It is the only way forward. This beast is our own life, how precious is this? It will make the man out of us. It is a reflection of who we are, so if we don't like it, we don't like something about our self, and it is us that needs changing. The real battle is in the mind, and in the heart, for the sake of our soul. In this day and age we gloss over this supremely important detail to fixate on how much belly fat we have. Only through wisdom do we realize it's utmost importance, and do we begin to cherish the Dharma and pay attention to it. The Blade of the Dharma is always at hand, what we need is the skill and the courage to wield it.