Am I wrong about the "ego"?

For years, now, I've been hearing these so-called gurus preach, "You need to let go of your ego! Let it go!" And to that, I reply, "Why?"

Without your ego, what are you? Isn't your ego what makes you, you? Isn't it... your individuality?

Which leads to the next thing... duality. What's that? The Yin and the Yang? Black and white? Good and evil?

Or is it also, the separation, or individual, from the whole?

I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, the more it sounds as though we're being told to stop being ourselves. And what happens, when you are no longer separate from the whole, and have no ego?

You're a soulless, mindless entity that merely exists. You have no free will. You don't even feel one way or another about this or that, anymore.

Tell me, am I wrong? And explain it well enough that my insanity can comprehend.

reply to post by MrUncreated


Actually, according to psychology, the ego is the one thing that balances your dark side and your righteous self. It helps your primitive instincts come to terms with your higher-thinking conscience.

I'm not sure what those so-called "gurus" were talking about, but start by realizing that everything is connected. If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself. If you help someone, you help yourself. Through these experiences, you learn, and you begin to understand the world better. You are truly a member of one great mass organism, and you are helping to keep it healthy and happy.

One act of random kindness at a time. Start there.

The third of the five essential life skills is “Transcending the Ego and Letting Go.” This concept always brings up the question, “What are we letting go of?” The answer is, “anything that is not in alignment with your true essence, your values and your goals." You are choosing to transcend the ego.

It isn’t really that the ego is “bad,” rather it is misguided. Unfortunately, most of us think we are our egos, rather than recognizing a deeper, more substantial aspect of our beings. The ego is the part of us that gets jealous, possessive, anxious, judgmental, fearful and self-conscious. In reality, the ego wants to protect us, but it manages to do so in unhealthy, often painful and inauthentic ways. Much akin to an overprotective parent who keeps their child in the house rather than letting them go out to play at the risk that they could get hurt.

www.spiritualityhealth.com...

This is kind of my understanding of the whole idea of letting go of the ego - this part of the article explains it better than I ever could.

I should say that if that works for a person, great but if it doesn't work for you, great. I think a person should do whatever it is they feel compelled to do as long as it's not hurting anyone else. If letting go of the ego sounds ridiculous to you, then don't do it, dismiss it and do what works for you.

In my opinion, ego is not the term I would use for our individuality or personality.

Ego is the dark part of each individual that allows pride and self-service to trump logic, common sense and good-will.

There are points in our lives where we must learn to set "ego" aside in order to develop personally beyond a certain boundary or situation.

reply to post by MrUncreated

Without your ego, what are you?

Hungry.

Isn't your ego what makes you?

No I make my own egos...I add syrup too.

And what happens, when you are no longer separate from the whole, and have no ego?

Again,you get hungry.

gurus preach, "You need to let go of your ego! Let it go!"

Leggo my ego!!!

reply to post by MrUncreated


I like the story in which a man's travels to see Buddha, and when he meets him he is outrageously angry with Buddha and spits on him. The monks ask Buddha why he didn't correct the man and why he didn't rebuke him for spitting on his Holiness.

Buddha's answer was that he wasn't the person who the man thought he was, he was projecting something onto Buddha that wasn't of him, so why should he be offended or correct him? The man's anger didn't have anything to do with Buddha.

I think our ego becomes a problem when we worry about other peoples' ego in comparison.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
For years, now, I've been hearing these so-called gurus preach, "You need to let go of your ego! Let it go!" And to that, I reply, "Why?"

Without your ego, what are you? Isn't your ego what makes you, you? Isn't it... your individuality?

Which leads to the next thing... duality. What's that? The Yin and the Yang? Black and white? Good and evil?

Or is it also, the separation, or individual, from the whole?

I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, the more it sounds as though we're being told to stop being ourselves. And what happens, when you are no longer separate from the whole, and have no ego?

You're a soulless, mindless entity that merely exists. You have no free will. You don't even feel one way or another about this or that, anymore.

Tell me, am I wrong? And explain it well enough that my insanity can comprehend.

(4) Pride - I do have pride. The saying goes “pride comes before a fall”. I learned this lesson recently. I was chastised vehemently for behavior and I felt it was unfair; my “pride” would not let it go. As a result I was punished, also, unfairly; I did gain something very important; humility. Whether I deserved to be punished or not, I was forced to deal with the consequences of my actions. Ego is pride. We sometimes make the mistake of classifying ego as self-esteem. I think of ego as false pride and self-esteem as what I truly feel about myself. This is where I made my mistake. I give myself a hard fought “B“. I really need to recognize the differences between ego and self-esteem.

reply to post by MrUncreated


For years, now, I've been hearing these so-called gurus preach, "You need to let go of your ego! Let it go!" And to that, I reply, "Why?"

The best day of my life—my rebirthday, so to speak—was when I found I had no head. This is not a literary gambit, a witticism designed to arouse interest at any cost. I mean it in all seriousness: I have no head.

What actually happened was something absurdly simple and unspectacular: I stopped thinking. A peculiar quiet, an odd kind of alert limpness or numbness, came over me. Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down. For once, words really failed me. Past and future dropped away. I forgot who and what I was, my name, manhood, animalhood, all that could be called mine. It was as if I had been born that instant, brand new, mindless, innocent of all memories. There existed only the Now, that present moment and what was clearly given in it. To look was enough. And what I found was khaki trouserlegs terminating downwards in a pair of brown shoes, khaki sleeves terminating sideways in a pair of pink hands, and a khaki shirtfront terminating upwards in—absolutely nothing whatever! Certainly not in a head.

I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, the more it sounds as though we're being told to stop being ourselves. And what happens, when you are no longer separate from the whole, and have no ego? You're a soulless, mindless entity that merely exists. You have no free will. You don't even feel one way or another about this or that, anymore.

It took me no time at all to notice that this nothing, this hole where a head should have been was no ordinary vacancy, no mere nothing. On the contrary, it was very much occupied. It was a vast emptiness vastly filled, a nothing that found room for everything—room for grass, trees, shadowy distant hills, and far above them snowpeaks like a row of angular clouds riding the blue sky. I had lost a head and gained a world.

It was all, quite literally, breathtaking. I seemed to stop breathing altogether, absorbed in the Given. Here it was, this superb scene, brightly shining in the clear air, alone and unsupported, mysteriously suspended in the void, and (and this was the real miracle, the wonder and delight) utterly free of "me", unstained by any observer. Its total presence was my total absence, body and soul. Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.

Tell me, am I wrong? And explain it well enough that my insanity can comprehend.

Yet in spite of the magical and uncanny quality of this vision, it was no dream, no esoteric revelation. Quite the reverse: it felt like a sudden waking from the sleep of ordinary life, an end to dreaming. It was self-luminous reality for once swept clean of all obscuring mind. It was the revelation, at long last, of the perfectly obvious. It was a lucid moment in a confused life-history. It was a ceasing to ignore something which (since early childhood at any rate) I had always been too busy or too clever to see. It was naked, uncritical attention to what had all along been staring me in the face - my utter facelessness. In short, it was all perfectly simple and plain and straightforward, beyond argument, thought, and words. There arose no questions, no reference beyond the experience itself, but only peace and a quiet joy, and the sensation of having dropped an intolerable burden.

The best description I ever read about dropping the ego. Hope it helps.
On Having No Head

reply to post by MrUncreated

Without your ego, what are you? Isn't your ego what makes you, you? Isn't it... your individuality?

And what is it that differentiates you and me?
You like chocolate cake and I like yellow?

Ego says "this is important, this is me".. when in truth, we are still the same.

reply to post by MrUncreated


Ego is what makes every one of us post here, then click back in a few minutes to see if anyone responded.
It drives us to not want to feel the embarrassment of publicly failing.
It makes us think we are worth something.

I think it's indispensable. (IMHO)

reply to post by MrUncreated


Although too much profundity has been placed on the word ego, I would have to agree with you. It is, in fact, merely an aspect of the whole.

It is comprised of the memory one has of himself/herself and is physically manifested by all outward expression. It is how we superficially present ourselves to others. One needs to shape their ego as an artist to appear a certain way.

When the ego becomes more important than the one whose ego it is, the person has left the realm of common sense and entered into an abstracted and idealistic view of the world and themselves. This is how such superficial contrivances as soul, ego, consciousness and mind come about. With the ego paradoxically in charge, one can somehow invent other aspects of himself, maybe by tearing himself into pieces, ie. mind and body, for whatever purpose it may superficially serve.

Originally posted by MrUncreated

Which leads to the next thing... duality. What's that? The Yin and the Yang?

No, yin and yang are parts of a greater whole. The Tao. That would be the circle that contains them both. Yin is in yang, yang is in yin. Yin becomes yang, yang becomes yin.

Tell me, am I wrong? And explain it well enough that my insanity can comprehend.

Your ego is like a mask that God is wearing. God is sleep-walking through the act of being you. When you wake up from that act, you will take off the 'Clark Kent' aspect of yourself and become the 'Superman' aspect of yourself.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by MrUncreated

 

Actually, according to psychology, the ego is the one thing that balances your dark side and your righteous self. It helps your primitive instincts come to terms with your higher-thinking conscience.

I'm not sure what those so-called "gurus" were talking about, but start by realizing that everything is connected. If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself. If you help someone, you help yourself. Through these experiences, you learn, and you begin to understand the world better. You are truly a member of one great mass organism, and you are helping to keep it healthy and happy.

One act of random kindness at a time. Start there.

edit on 19-11-2012 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

two different meanings.. ego in psychology is the description of mad ppl.

ego by gurus is basically the flesh. give up the ghost etc..

seperate from flesh and stand independent of it.. temporarily or permanently .. ur choice once u learn how.

Meditation helps integrate the brain to enhance, not eliminate the ego.

Originally posted by network dude
reply to post by MrUncreated

 

Ego is what makes every one of us post here, then click back in a few minutes to see if anyone responded.
It drives us to not want to feel the embarrassment of publicly failing.
It makes us think we are worth something.

I think it's indispensable. (IMHO)

I disagree. This is not 100% ego based. Not for all of us, at least.

"The ego" as it is being described by OP is not just the part that makes you post and check back. It is the part that makes you want to post before carefully considering the issue, or maybe before even reading the whole post. It is the thing that makes you believe that your answer is the right one, and anyone who thinks differently is stupid. It is the thing that separates you from compassion and understanding.

Ego can have its uses or benefits, sure. But it must be carefully monitored, controlled, kept in check if one wants to avoid folly and/or become a truly enlightened person.

reply to post by MrUncreated


Ahhh Ego, another one of those highly misunderstood things in our human condition. And no, you are not wrong.

The whole "destroy the ego" thing is a Concept, a theory created maybe in the East where much of the new-agey mumbo-jumbo originated.. not saying all new-age stuff is mumbo-jumbo.

Consider Life in the world.. we have to balance everything we do, so why would balancing ego be any different ?

Answer: It wouldn't.

Ego is just another spectrum... and it is the part of us that Recognises Ourselves. At one end of this spectrum you can see the over-blown ego type.. we all know people like that right. At the other end you can see people with severe lack of self-worth and related issues.

In which case the most effective place for us to target would be in the middle of that spectrum, so that we maintain a healthy ego that is not under-powered nor over-powered but Just Right... the Goldielocks Spot on the spectrum.

So the soul is a thermometer, the spirit is a glass tube, and the ego is the mercury within...?

(according to what I have read, the soul and the spirit are not the same--the soul is the physical body, and the spirit is the unseen force that drives it).

Meditating upon having no head does not in and of itself negate the fact that it is being accomplished by a conscious being,

This is an ancient concept consistent with the conclusion that one is headless in meditation.

One way of looking at it, is that it is a leap of faith.

Any thoughts?

Originally posted by MrUncreated
For years, now, I've been hearing these so-called gurus preach, "You need to let go of your ego! Let it go!" And to that, I reply, "Why?"

Without your ego, what are you? Isn't your ego what makes you, you? Isn't it... your individuality?

Which leads to the next thing... duality. What's that? The Yin and the Yang? Black and white? Good and evil?

Or is it also, the separation, or individual, from the whole?

I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, the more it sounds as though we're being told to stop being ourselves. And what happens, when you are no longer separate from the whole, and have no ego?

You're a soulless, mindless entity that merely exists. You have no free will. You don't even feel one way or another about this or that, anymore.

Tell me, am I wrong? And explain it well enough that my insanity can comprehend.

"Letting go" was not meant to be a solution to the problem of life. Western so called gurus still preach this nonsense, in these so called paths to liberation. Letting go is a type of yoga or vehicle one would use, in order to realize a deeply engrained truth. One of which is the fact that you can not, and have never, held onto anything, either physically, emotionally or Physiologically and as such, if you can't hold on, and if you've never been able to hold on....then there's nothing to let go of.

So 'letting go' is meant to be a spiritual excercise, a yoga. Not a solution to suffering. Beware of new age 'spiritualists' who teach this yoga as a solution to suffering or a pathway to so called enlightenment. It has nothing to do with either.

It is supposed to facilitate certain self realizations...or certain truths within you. But my post is remarkably insufficient in addressing this matter in full. The yoga of letting go.. encompasses so much more...

Your are told to let it go not because you will loose what you are, but you will attain a higher level, encompassing that ego and much, much more of what you are. You won't be losing anything, but gaining so much that it is pointless to cling onto something that is holding back true enlightenment.