It's common in Eastern-inspired New Age teachings to hear scorn poured upon "the ego", the idea usually being that it's something negative, something to be transcended. You may have noticed that I've referred to the ego in such a way on this very blog. Now, because of what I believe are misunderstandings and misinterpretations, there's been a fair bit of backlash against the concept of ego transcendence - people seem to lack a clear definition of what is meant by ego for a start, plus I'm sure false teachings are deliberately employing the term in a misleading way to distort the meaning and confuse spiritual seekers. For this reason I am giving my perspective on the matter to hopefully add some clarity to a confusing topic.
There appears to be a misconception that "overcoming ego" means merging into a hazy, homogeneous "oneness" or unity consciousness, and thereafter exhibiting no individuality or independent thought. But where did this idea come from?!... Look, if anyone is preaching "oneness" as a kind of sameness, where individuality and healthy diversity are eliminated, RUN A MILE. That's precisely the kind of false oneness the elite/dark forces would like to bring about, in order to squish dissent and have everyone thinking alike (i.e. not thinking, in other words) and blindly serving the same agenda. "We are all one" doesn't mean you accept everything & everyone in your reality uncritically. If it is a literal belief (as opposed to a healthy background awareness that all things are interconnected on a cosmic scale), then you are vulnerable to deception by negative forces, because you probably lack the discernment to know that there are instances when you don't want to be "at one" with certain beings or forces in this world.
Besides, even if you wholeheartedly BELIEVE that "we are all one", it's just a mental concept, it's dogma, without an understanding of what this truly means. It's tiresome to hear it mindlessly bandied about in New Age circles. I myself only properly internalized the concept recently, thanks to Jonathan AKA Adampants (who I keep mentioning in pretty much every post - oops). He explains it thus: the nature of our reality is SCALAR, i.e. it is comprised of different levels which are perceived differently by the conscious entities who inhabit each level. Let me clarify. Atoms are conscious of being individual atoms, whilst simultaneously being conscious of their part in a larger reality - a molecule. Molecules are conscious of being individual molecules whilst also being conscious of being part of a larger entity - a cell. Cells are conscious of being individual cells, but they are simultaneously conscious of being part of a larger reality - a tissue, or indeed, your whole body. On the next level up, human beings are conscious of being individuals, but are generally, er, NOT conscious of being part of a larger reality, that is, GOD. What Jonathan is really saying is that we are cells in the body of God. Just as you see the totality of your cells as "you", God (I don't like that word much these days, but hey) views all human beings as part of itself. (Jonathan builds on this analogy to explain the nature of duality, the consciousness of separation, the existence of evil/the Illuminati, etc. which he likens to a 'cancer consciousness' - all very useful & enlightening stuff, but tangential to the subject at hand.)
Back to the ego. When I hear the term or employ it myself, I mean the separate self, the 'little me' that has usurped your Higher Self and wants to play God in your reality; it wants its own way, it wants to tightly control everything, and it substitutes a false identity (based on your status, possessions, achievements, appearance etc) for your real one. It wants to be better than others but its worst fear is that it is woefully inadequate. It seeks to define itself based on the illusions of the material world. Does any of this sound familiar?! Personally, I'm painfully aware of the fact that there is a force within me that fits this description. By the way, I don't know if it's accurate to portray the ego as a conscious being in its own right - it's probably more like a conglomeration of false ideas and illusions about yourself that you've accumulated over many years, or indeed lifetimes, and which blocks the realization of your true spiritual identity.
This whole topic is complicated further by the fact that some spiritual researchers - namely, Rudolf Steiner - use the term "ego" in a different, but legitimate way. For a while I couldn't get to grips with Steiner's writing because according to his spiritual philosophy, the "I" or Ego is a neutral term, in contrast to the spiritual teachings that I grew up with; to Steiner, Ego is the higher spiritual self that is uniquely possessed by humans, and it's supposed to exercise its will and have dominion over the lower parts of your being, i.e. your physical, astral & etheric bodies. Ego-consciousness in this sense means having the ability to refer to oneself as "I", having awareness of being an individual looking out at the external world and at other people who have their own Egos as well. See, I really don't think Steiner's concept of "ego" is the same as in many other spiritual teachings. We should take into account that he did originally write in German and had no control over others' choice of words when translating his work. Now that I think I've figured out what Steiner is talking about, I can read his stuff and not get stuck on semantics.
In conclusion: I believe it's OK that we experience what Steiner calls ego-consciousness, i.e. individualized self-awareness, at this point in our evolution; but our highest goal is to manifest the Christ consciousness so that we are also aware of being part of something greater, more than just the 'little me' identity that we clothe ourselves in during our everyday lives. In reaching this exalted level of consciousness, we don't leave behind our individuality - rather, we become more ourselves than ever before.
There appears to be a misconception that "overcoming ego" means merging into a hazy, homogeneous "oneness" or unity consciousness, and thereafter exhibiting no individuality or independent thought. But where did this idea come from?!... Look, if anyone is preaching "oneness" as a kind of sameness, where individuality and healthy diversity are eliminated, RUN A MILE. That's precisely the kind of false oneness the elite/dark forces would like to bring about, in order to squish dissent and have everyone thinking alike (i.e. not thinking, in other words) and blindly serving the same agenda. "We are all one" doesn't mean you accept everything & everyone in your reality uncritically. If it is a literal belief (as opposed to a healthy background awareness that all things are interconnected on a cosmic scale), then you are vulnerable to deception by negative forces, because you probably lack the discernment to know that there are instances when you don't want to be "at one" with certain beings or forces in this world.
Besides, even if you wholeheartedly BELIEVE that "we are all one", it's just a mental concept, it's dogma, without an understanding of what this truly means. It's tiresome to hear it mindlessly bandied about in New Age circles. I myself only properly internalized the concept recently, thanks to Jonathan AKA Adampants (who I keep mentioning in pretty much every post - oops). He explains it thus: the nature of our reality is SCALAR, i.e. it is comprised of different levels which are perceived differently by the conscious entities who inhabit each level. Let me clarify. Atoms are conscious of being individual atoms, whilst simultaneously being conscious of their part in a larger reality - a molecule. Molecules are conscious of being individual molecules whilst also being conscious of being part of a larger entity - a cell. Cells are conscious of being individual cells, but they are simultaneously conscious of being part of a larger reality - a tissue, or indeed, your whole body. On the next level up, human beings are conscious of being individuals, but are generally, er, NOT conscious of being part of a larger reality, that is, GOD. What Jonathan is really saying is that we are cells in the body of God. Just as you see the totality of your cells as "you", God (I don't like that word much these days, but hey) views all human beings as part of itself. (Jonathan builds on this analogy to explain the nature of duality, the consciousness of separation, the existence of evil/the Illuminati, etc. which he likens to a 'cancer consciousness' - all very useful & enlightening stuff, but tangential to the subject at hand.)
Back to the ego. When I hear the term or employ it myself, I mean the separate self, the 'little me' that has usurped your Higher Self and wants to play God in your reality; it wants its own way, it wants to tightly control everything, and it substitutes a false identity (based on your status, possessions, achievements, appearance etc) for your real one. It wants to be better than others but its worst fear is that it is woefully inadequate. It seeks to define itself based on the illusions of the material world. Does any of this sound familiar?! Personally, I'm painfully aware of the fact that there is a force within me that fits this description. By the way, I don't know if it's accurate to portray the ego as a conscious being in its own right - it's probably more like a conglomeration of false ideas and illusions about yourself that you've accumulated over many years, or indeed lifetimes, and which blocks the realization of your true spiritual identity.
This whole topic is complicated further by the fact that some spiritual researchers - namely, Rudolf Steiner - use the term "ego" in a different, but legitimate way. For a while I couldn't get to grips with Steiner's writing because according to his spiritual philosophy, the "I" or Ego is a neutral term, in contrast to the spiritual teachings that I grew up with; to Steiner, Ego is the higher spiritual self that is uniquely possessed by humans, and it's supposed to exercise its will and have dominion over the lower parts of your being, i.e. your physical, astral & etheric bodies. Ego-consciousness in this sense means having the ability to refer to oneself as "I", having awareness of being an individual looking out at the external world and at other people who have their own Egos as well. See, I really don't think Steiner's concept of "ego" is the same as in many other spiritual teachings. We should take into account that he did originally write in German and had no control over others' choice of words when translating his work. Now that I think I've figured out what Steiner is talking about, I can read his stuff and not get stuck on semantics.
In conclusion: I believe it's OK that we experience what Steiner calls ego-consciousness, i.e. individualized self-awareness, at this point in our evolution; but our highest goal is to manifest the Christ consciousness so that we are also aware of being part of something greater, more than just the 'little me' identity that we clothe ourselves in during our everyday lives. In reaching this exalted level of consciousness, we don't leave behind our individuality - rather, we become more ourselves than ever before.
3 comments:
I like the way you explained awarenesses. Its a level I hadn't thought of. I considered if you were a circle you couldn't understand a sphere unless you were able to expand into that next dimension. So a cell understands its part of a aggregate body but it can't understand what the body is a higher aggregate of. But it can understand the concept of higher aggregates. I write a blog on embracing the planetary consciousness shift. www.grosenberg.com. I have not even dealt with the ego. I sidestep the issue I guess by taking the mind bound ego and by bypassing it. When considering actions to take I suggest going to the sacred heart and from that space deciding action. So acting from intuition rather than mind calculation.Geoffrey
It just occurred to me this morning that erasing the self, merging with the "oneness" of the crowd, is pretty much the central idea in basic training for the Army. So clearly this philosophy can be used for indoctrination in a big way. I've come to think of the "ego" as the part of myself consumed by petty impulses: greed, envy, the desire for revenge, etc. But this has nothing to do with the higher self at all, which tends to be looking out for the greater good and has a purpose here that goes far beyond those paradigms. And it's interesting that examining Eastern cultures where the idea of eradicating the self is prominent reveals places where conformity is very important for success. Of course, the West has the opposite problem in social structures defined by ruthless competition. But I still really feel that human nature can transcend these false dichotomies despite what appears to be a nearly ubiquitous spiritual control system. These days I'm more interested in the belief systems of indigenous cultures which, while not perfect, at least recognize the importance of community and the natural world while still maintaining a concept of the sanctity of individuals.
we are cells in the body of God. That is a perfect way to explain the individual and God/life. I like to refer to "God" as that which is, everything that is, Life, Love, then there is also the term collective unconscious, that is what most religions confuse to be a person or man in the clouds, but it is a higher consciousness or energy.
I really enjoy your blog. I am with www.truthcontest.com and you whould check it out. Truthcontest has a top entry called "The Present" in which it explains the whole picture of our past, being in the present to be fulfilled which is our main goal and gift of life, and our future. But the most important is the present because it is all we always have.
Anyways, please check out www.TruthContest.com.
I keep an open mind and seek and learn truth daily so I dont get stuck in my beliefs. I had read about the Illuminati agenda and the new age "we are one" agenda and I now have confirmed that www.truthcontest.com does not follow this agenda because the truths on their website speak of finding truth for yourself, serve one another but dont lose your individuality, and also to control your ego instead of transcending the ego or self. The ego is useful because it got us to were we are but the negative aspects of our ego are an illusion such as hate, anger, discrimination, depression, jealousy, etc...
Also it is best to stay in the middle (not rich or poor) because of the law of duality. When you dig a hole in the ground, you may create a hole but you also leave a pile of dirt on the surface. So, if you do something good, something bad happens to balance it out. With all of the positive thinking and laws of attraction coming out, they become harmful instead of helpful when others dont understand the law of duality.
Anyways, thans for your perspective on the truth. I always enjoy learning another person's perspective.
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