De-Mystifying the Ego
05/24/13 Categories: Ego
Without the Ego, what would the Soul ride on?
“The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.”
—Carl Jung
“The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.”
—Carl Jung
Why vilify the Ego?
Do you have an ego? I certainly hope so, and I trust that you truly love this small bit of self that you have been developing over time. Where does the ego live? Look in the mirror and you will see it in the expression of your eyes and your face. We are all very well acquainted with our egos. It is the soul that we don’t have as much experience with.
On the day you were born you didn’t even have an Ego.
Can you remember that first little bit of consciousness and awareness that you had as an infant? Perhaps you discovered your fist, your thumb, or your toes? Then you became aware of what made you feel uncomfortable, what made you feel safe, and the warm taste of milk from the breast or a bottle.
You began to focus on hearing the voice of your mother, on seeing her face and her smile. You were constantly engaged in gathering and inputing information about your surroundings.
On the day you were born, all that you possessed was a bit of ‘consciousness,’ that spiritual component that arrived with you as pure simple awareness. As an infant it was simply your job, 24/7, to become aware of sounds, sight, scents, touch, and taste.
With constant practice and association throughout your childhood, you developed preferences for what felt good, warm, and comforting. And you developed aversions to what you didn’t particularly like, or what was uncomfortable to you.
In this way you accumulated a vast number of associations over time that helped you ‘make sense’ out of the world around you. Over time, these associations, preferences, and aversions became what we call the ego persona.
Looking at the ego this way, the ego is simply the ‘physicality’ of you that has become a part of the hardwiring of the nervous system over time.
Ego becomes a false hero in the story.
The ego-self grows a consciousness as ‘me’ and goes on to develop profound sensitivities to criticisms, comparisons, and all sorts of judgments about good and not good, right and wrong, pretty and ugly. Our egos are just an acquired collection of thoughts, preferences and opinions that add up to a false ‘sense of self,’ good or bad.
Where it gets messy!
Working with the Ego, from the Ego, to ‘fix the Ego’ just doesn’t make sense. We need a fresh point of view in order to make sense of who we truly are, a view from a perspective that is much ‘higher’ and more aware than the ego.
As we all discover, sometimes the ego’s preference is to get by with as little as possible. Since the ego is all about pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, the ego can be downright lazy, stubborn, undisciplined, unwilling, and headstrong. Yet, at the same time, like a superb athlete, the ego possesses great power and potential greatness! If only we could ‘harness’ all this greatness.
What’s missing in this picture?
The truth is that on the day of your birth a more subtle and conscious part of you pre-existed the construction of the ego; a spiritual component belonging to the more ethereal realms. On the day of your birth, both parts of you existed in several worlds at once. This is such good news! You and I are so much more than the ego persona and our bodies.
The ‘real you’ lives in a magnificent high-rise building composed of many floors. The ‘real you’ fully encompasses the astral, causal, and intuitive worlds of spirit at all times. This spirit part of you and I is often referred to as the soul, or as the higher self.
The winning team: Bringing earth and heaven together
There is nothing more beautiful for me than watching a well-trained horse and rider performing a dressage routine. I am breathless at the symmetry, power and beauty of such a magnificent animal easily following the slightest touch and movement of the rider.
As I watch the team of horse and rider, I seem to see a metaphor that belongs to the Ego and the Soul. For me, the ego represents the power of a magnificent Thoroughbred, possessed of power, beauty, and amazing potential. The soul, as the rider, has the joy and the responsibility of training the vehicle of the body to respond to the subtle power of the soul/spirit in all of its forms. When the training is complete, the power of ego responds beautifully to the leadership of the soul with grace and ease.
A picture of complete harmony!
Dressage is the art of training and riding a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance. I can’t help but think of the ego and body personality in the same way as the horse. So we wouldn’t want to destroy the horse and we wouldn’t want to destroy the ego either!
It's about time that we had a love affair with our own Ego.
What we are in need of is a special training school for our amazing rider/soul. Training for that higher part of us that is meant to be part of a magnificent team in this life. Just like the horse and rider while performing the art of dressage, when ego and soul are in harmony, we have a profound picture of power and poise from both!
Blessings,
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