help me understand what you mean by 'ego'?

Hi (((fractal))) I shrink a little bit from answering your searching questions (as my ego tells me - I am not quite eloquent enough to do them justice) - but I tend to agree with the answer from out of control. Ego to me is an attachment thing. Attachment to ME ME ME, "I must be heard or seen "or the reverse "hope noone can see" etc OR "it's all about me"/ "it's not about me". The over importance of self in relation to everything/everyone else. If I see myself as a grain of sand on a beach or a mere speck of dust in a dust storm - then I am in harmony with all. If I have to be the boulder on the beach then I might have an outa whack ego!!

In 100 years time will my thoughts or words matter? Or even the fact that I existed - will it matter or have made a difference. No I think not. But yet some are prepared to fight to the death over things of little consequence - I am sure this is the result of ego out of balance.

This is an interesting question and I like the quote from Eckhart Tolle, one of my favourite authors.

I too used to think the ego was a narcissistic selfish aspect that needed to be overcome to achieve a more spiritual outlook on life and personal behaviour. However, after suffering from depression I came to realize quite how necessary the ego is to healthy functioning. In my depressed state I found myself without any sense of self at all - the walking dead. During that period, the meaning and necessity for the ego became clear to me by the contrast of being without it. Every since thing we do in life is generated by the ego, the prime motivator, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.

And I would also add that people who live a spiritual or religious selfless life dedicated to others and the world are kidding themselves if they think they are egoless - what is their motivation to be a good, kind, selfless person if not an image of how they want themselves to be - therein is the ego, alive and healthy, motivating them into their chosen way.

I have come to adjust my thinking and now think that true spirituality is all about accepting and loving ourselves unconditionally even the narcissistic selfish ego, rather than seeking to transcend or banish it. The more we love every single aspect of ourselves, the more the ego receives the very thing it seeks - recognition. But if the love is all-seeing and clear, it sees the ego for its foolishness and immaturity and the ego is both blessed and forgiven at the same time. Resting within the all-encompassing love of the aware self, and freed from the guilt-burden of its subconscious knowledge of its own evil, the ego is released from its manipulative quest and freed into pure creative expression.

G

The ego is a word that has been held in contempt by some, and worshiped, without naming it as such, by others like, for example, The Donald.

In short, though, it is simply the language-wrapped primal nature.

We need to integrate our human capabilities with our primal nature, and not get carried away by silly authors who make money by fooling people into thinking that they can be split.

A human who ignores the primal needs will suffer for it, and probably die prematurely.

A human who ignores the uniquely human abilities that include cooperation, and compassion, creates pain, and disorder, for himerself, and others.

Integration of those, actually not separate, aspects of being human is neither difficult, nor secret.

The difficult part is letting go of the lies that have been imposed on us by so many agendas, and the taking of full responsibility for ones life by being rational.

The method of integration is discussed, from several perspectives, in

http://gshpower,wordpress.com/

The ego is a psychological construct identified with "self" but in terms of personality, body, etc. research says it forms over the first 4 years (approximately) of life, and gets refined and reshaped from there as people age.

The misunderstanding is the idea that the ego needs to disappear for one to reach certain "spiritual" levels of development. Someone with a monastic sensibility might go that way. Another choice is the lifestyle of a householder, who would tend to reinforce positive social connectivity and thereby expand the ego to see everything in terms of self. IN both cases, the limiting aspect of ones sense of being an isolated entity is transcended.

It is when someone naturally suited to a householder lifestyle tries to follow practices more suited to a monk that problems arise. Squelching the ego can undermine ones ability to function in the world, and is thus only suitable to someone who sequesters themselves from society. Functioning in the world requires that one assert the ego in certain ways.

Ego is your sense of self. whenever you use the word 'I' you feed your ego. The ego can, in a way, stops many from seeing that we are all one and connected, unique yet the same. if we look past the facade that the body in which you experience reality is your actual 'self'' and realise that we are just conscious observers within the body then we can see how ego isn't necessary as we are all sentient beings.

Me and my ego get along just fine :) I am not hung up on abolishing it. In fact I have cultivated it so that it has made me kinda sheepish in the past and the older I get, the more I appreciate having it... maybe my definition of it isn't quite what a philosopher would agree with but there it is.

I don't think mine is over inflated as some say about egos in general. Perhaps because I find myself wanting to understand other people more than finding that I want them to understand me.

Isn't it healthy to let our ego show once in while? Wouldn't that be like being able to "let loose" once in a while?

Great question {{{Fractal}}} hope you have a great day!

Fractal, most important question!

Save time by reading Anatta (Non-self) by Ajahn Jagaro. I could not have said it better.

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/anatta_jagar...

The species of humankind and this planet survival depends on all people waking up to see reality as it is and not through the ego driven perception and corrupted consciousness. I have collected much over the past fifty years and chose this subject written by Ajahn Jagaro because of its simplicity to comprehend for all sleepwalkers.

Unless humanity awakens to the reality of the false ego idea programmed into them from birth humankind will suffer from desire; greed; selfishness; hate; allusions and constant recurring karma. Without this realization of what one is all knowledge is bogus.

Personally this one has dedicated its life to teaching others Vipassana, inner vision, as taught by the Buddha.

To believe one is separated from the rest of existence is ludicrous. Living without the false ego idea in harmony with nature life is found to be Bliss; great joy; contentment and fulfillment.

Take a look/see.

Sorry an afterthought:

I am astonished to see so many well thought out answers on Q&A on this subject, thanks. One day they will wake up and have a good laugh. All this talk about an ego as if it has some sort of existence, or to go on saying they tried dropping it once and failed with suffering. Is it really surprising?

You should not fool with nitroglycerin without someone with lots of experience. This one put eight years alone to control kundalini to awaken each of the seven major chakra in consciousness along with other disciplines, in preparation for dropping the false ego idea, only to awaken to the fact it is nothing more than a programmed idea. After having had two different masters say it takes more time. Few there are who realize kundalini is the most power full creative aspect in the cosmos. Using this power is like handling nitroglycerin.

The ego is the part of the human mind that comes into play when we compare ourselves to others and believe that we are less valuable in some way. When this false belief occurs, the victims ego begins making excuses (eg. He isn't more attractive than me, girls just like him because he has lots of money etc.) when in reality they are only convincing themselves that this is true because they believe deep down that this person is "better" in some way. In other words, it's an "inferiority complex". However, superiority complexes can lead to something far more complex, known as the "superego". The superego is the part of one's mind that tells them not to do something, it tells them not to trust their intuition, not to trust their instincts because of the belief that it will cause some kind of harm (eg. Not saying what you feel like saying because you believe that people will misunderstand your intentions). This is commonly seen in people who are "geniuses" because they fear that people will abandon them because they make others egos insecure because they are ahead of their time, and victims of ego think that this makes them somehow more valuable and therefore, they don't want to be around them because it makes them feel inferior (their biggest fear). Hope this answer was thorough enough. If not, let me know and I will try to explain in further detail/depth.

so your the pedantic sort eh hahah, a wee bit obvious you would be seeing as you are reasonably 'eloquent' in the way you talk and make me nod in agreement every time you say anything :-D

(all us mere mortals typos and net speak must p*ss you off ;-P )

for me its both meanings, the emotional/mental/psychological ego, and the biological ego that is part of what we are as humans/animals

i used to see that about ego too, but thats what i mean, i see it has more than one side nowadays, you arent taught that in society, they tell you 'he has a big ego', and its this bad

thing, and stop there, then you get to psychology and learn hey there are other views on the ego,and spirituality, you see there are views on it there too, so obviously there is more to it than just 'ego-bad

i totally agree (as always damn you)'

exactly , you have to separate yourself, and see it from a different perspective than what you have been told 'ego-bad' , ego is just another part of the mind, so to me ignoring it is as bad as ignoring your need to cry or laugh,

its simple to me not ego-bad, its repression-bad

fractal :-)

*damning you all the way, silently of course*

A person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance: "a boost to my ego".

The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing.