Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

The Ego, The Separation, The Illusion
By Christine Hoeflich


The human “ego” has been viewed as the root cause of human suffering by philosophers throughout history, and many New Age writers continue to jump on this ages-old, broken bandwagon. A number of popular books attempt to expose the “ego's insidious nature,” claiming that the ego mind is the only block to consistent happiness, peace and love that exists. We have been led to believe that the inflated ego must be “undone,” “negated,” or at least brought down a peg or two.
I feel that this “blame the ego” mentality is not only logically nonsensical, it is also irresponsible.
Firstly, three main but distinct definitions for “ego” exist:1. the “I” or self of a person, the personality2. the part of the psyche that is conscious, that experiences and reacts to the outside world3. egotism; conceit. If one was going to blame the ego for humanity's troubles, one would think that it would be extremely important to be crystal clear about which definition one actually was referring to. (Being vague here doesn't serve anyone. Besides, how does one “undo” the psyche anyway?)
Secondly, I assert that it's not the ego that's the true cause of “the way things are on earth” but rather the soul or the “higher self.” (This includes the current crisis conditions on earth.) Although this may be hard to believe, it's true. To be able to see this, one needs to begin viewing life from the perspective of the higher self–whose motivations are perhaps in direct contrast to those of the personality self.It helps to know that the higher self's primary motivations are to experience, and through a variety of challenging experiences, to grow.
In fact, our collective higher selves actually engineered what's known as the “illusion” in order to accomplish some highly noble intentions on this “Earth School.” These intentions include personal spiritual growth, “learning through contrast,” and service to others.The higher self is and always was in charge. Your higher self actually planned your life exactly the way it is, including your most difficult challenges, because it planned to learn and grow through challenging (and sometimes painful) experiences. The higher self saw this as the fastest way to learn and evolve.This is true for every one of us, and this is how we would come to discover for ourselves who we really are.
Souls cannot grow emotionally and spiritually if all they do is sit in (nonexistent) clouds, playing imaginary harps. They crave real-life experiences, especially those that promote learning and growth.Thus, the ego can be viewed as a vehicle through which the higher self experiences life and achieves its noble goal of spiritual growth and learning. In other words, the collective higher self designed the “illusion” (part of which included forgetting its divine nature) and ever since then the ego has been trying to do the best it could, given the soul agreements made beforehand and the circumstances in which it found itself.
So why would anyone blame the ego? The good news is that the ego isn't at all to blame and, lest we view the soul as the ultimate manipulator, it's important to remember that the soul's primary goal is (and always was) to grow.
Having said all this, I will now assert that just as Thomas Edison had erred a thousand times before he achieved invention success, all of us have been erring as well–which has been leading us toward growth and evolutionary success. It's just that it's high time now to see the bigger picture and get things right so that we can finally achieve our goals of spiritual maturity, wisdom, understanding, and eventual success.
When you begin to view life from the perspective of the higher self you will begin to see the perfection in the divine design, including the perfection in your own life. By reconnecting within and viewing life from this higher-level perspective, you can achieve all these goals most quickly and easily. Then your life can't help but soar.
my note: I just found this article to be rather intriguing as it goes against what I'm learning at the moment (I'm reading The Power of Now.)
 I feel that I connect with both analyses, but currently haven't worked out what a middle ground can be. Any thoughts? 

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Aliya, in that space whence thoughts originate, I've been wanting a discussion on ego for a while now; so your bringing it up shows me two things:
at the level of ego or separateness- that there is synchronicity and coincidence and more than one person with the same thought!
at the level of non-ego connection or unity -that we are facets of the one, facing different directions and together representing unity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd like to share some thoughts that came as I read Christine Hoeflich's article

1. Yes, it's very necessary to know what each person means by ego before trying to lump together all articles on ego by “New age writers” or “philosophers throughout history.”

I see ego as a level of functioning where the One Self is broken down into its constituents. The beauty is that here each constituent feels separate and individual. I feel it is beauty because it's a miracle if you think that a little finger can actually feel it is an individual entity whole and separate from the hair on my head! However different and functional they are, they are functioning as part of the whole body.

Each constituent is self-aware and has the possibility of Self awareness. That is another magical property!The metaphors commonly used of drops of water or grain of sand or hologram show that this is  not a new or even original thought. Yet, using the word 'I', I will say that I am aware that 'ego' is defined as 'a part of personality' - and each definition that Christine has described, is a valid use of the word.
~~~~~~~~~~~

“In other words, the collective higher self designed the “illusion”
(part of which included forgetting its divine nature) and ever since
then the ego has been trying to do the best it could, given the soul
agreements made beforehand and the circumstances in which it found
itself.”

yes, completely agree!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
“So why would anyone blame the ego?”

That is the irony. Who blames? Blaming is something that happens in the dimension of ego. Feeling in disharmony, dis-ease, imbalance, the struggling memory of self, an energy arises that seeks to pull the self out of a morass. We call those energies blame and anger and shame and guilt. They are needed at first to help the self remember that there is something beyond this illusion of separateness.

Once the collective memory of the human being has been ignited through those energies, we are receiving this information from many sources: don't blame the ego. So Christine is right, there is no need to do so, and certainly not to get focused on it. But this was a partial message given to the sleeping self to enable us to awake. Once it's done the trick, it's departing. We're seeing the back of these energies [but we've to know that some of us are still not there yet].
~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
“When you begin to view life from the perspective of the higher self you
will begin to see the perfection in the divine design, including the
perfection in your own life. By reconnecting within and viewing life
from this higher-level perspective, you can achieve all these goals
most quickly and easily. Then your life can't help but soar.”

Yes! And we look with compassion, mirth, joy and connection at the aspects of us that are still playing this game.Including the game of 'I thought of this first' or 'Only I'…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One last thought [for now] - when we drive on a highway, we can see many road signs. Some are meant for us and others we can see, but are placed for those exiting or entering the highway. Just because we can see those other signs does not mean they are meant for us.

When we're confused by conflicting messages it helps to go within and see: Which one is meant for me? It's the one that makes the heart sing.
~~~~~
so this aspect of the one thanks that aspect of the One for allowing this game of discussing to go on.
It couldn't have been done if we weren't in this illusionary ego world!

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

It's true what you say about following the signs in your life. As much as I agree with many points The Power of Now makes, the more I read, the more I've been feeling a struggle to rise above my thoughts and emotions. It feels like being above thoughts and emotions doesn't allow us to grow. Without some sadness, do we ever know happiness? Without bad relationships, do we know the good? Without lose, do we ever know true gain? The struggles in our life seem to be what makes us into stronger human begins, and without the pain, how do we know pleasure?

I do agree that we should live in the present moment, as the present is the only thing we have any control over. I also agree that our mind does often control us, and through the higher self we can remember that everything in our life happens for a reason and there will be points we must learn to overcome. Getting in touch with our higher self seems to work almost as a reminder to not worry so much, as something greater than us is at work. And getting in touch with our higher self also works in helping us find clearer solutions to our life problems.

I also wanted to present something my ex wrote, that feels like it goes along the same lines of the article I posted, while still also being in the middle ground in a sense:

http://www.meetup.com/SpiritualEmbodiment/messages/boards/thread/6424397

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Aliya,

I read this essay by your love.  It is very good.  What struck me about it is the parallels to something else I wanted to share, from Colin Tippings' CD, where he expands a bit his thinking about the Ego, and the nature of Consciousness and why we exist, and how God needs us to experience all the things that humans experience to expand God's own consciousness.

I just wanted you to know, that I did read it and found it well written overall, to my own understandings and acceptances.

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Okay…after reading this post (thanks Aliya), I was originally going to reply to what Christine Hoeflich had to say about the ego. But I only got half way through the article (and still haven't read the whole thing) before I stopped reading, due to so many things that I could say in response. And because I did not want to write a 10 page pager on my comments, I refrained myself. But now after reading my ONEderFULLY BEaUtiFULL friend, Meenakshi's, response, and reading your reply Aliya, I feel that I should respond. No matter the length. :-0 So here goes…

Let me start out by stating that Meekakshi's definition of the 'Ego' (“I see ego as a level of functioning where the One Self is broken down
into its constituents. The beauty is that here each constituent feels
separate and individual. I feel it is beauty because it's a miracle if
you think that a little finger can actually feel it is an individual
entity whole and separate from the hair on my head! However different
and functional they are, they are functioning as part of the whole body.”) is spot on. Nice response girl.

With that said, I must state that I do not believe, for a minute, that the Higher Self created the state of 'illusion' so that it can experience its own personal growth through the 'ego' (which as already stated above, is a limited understanding of the Truth of who we really are - God). The Higher Self needs no fine tuning or 'growth.' It is perfect, whole and complete just the way it is; always has been, always will be. This is why it is said to give your attention to the NOW. Now is where you are, always. So when you are in the NOW, you are perfect, whole and complete, once again. This is the way out of the 'ego' sense of experience - through the realization of Truth that is always NOW.

So you might ask, “how, and why, did we get into this state of 'illusion' then?” The best way that I can explain this is to say - Being part of God, which is who we Really are (our Higher Self), we wanted to experience ourselves as the Creator (God) of life, on our own. But being a part of God, we can never be without, or create without God. And since God loved us so much, He gave us free will to experience whatever we wish to experience. Even if that experience is an 'illusory” one. So we were given the only power of creation that we can have without God - a partial, incomplete, illusory one. The reason that it is illusory, once again, is because it is not seeing the totality of what is Truly there. Like a shadow on the wall, we believe that we are looking at a living, breathing human being, but what we are really looking at is the wall which the shadow is projected on. If we would allow ourselves to see the Truth in this situation, we will being to realize that our projected beliefs (the shadow of our thoughts - 'illusions') are just that, 'illusory'. We can then allow those thoughts to go away and we will immediately begin to see the 'wall of Truth' that the 'illusion' was projected onto.

You see, the 'illusions' of life are not created out of 'thin air'. They are misperceiving of what is Really there. Like Meenakshi stated above, they are seeing the totality of something and only picking and choosing the 'best' parts, reformulating them, and trying to say that it is a full and complete creation of God. But you see, God was what was being used as the parts to make this 'new' creation. And since God had to be 'divided up', or separated, to make this creation, it is only a partial, and therefore, 'illusory' one.

Once we give up our meanderings around in our 'illusory' creations of partial Truth (God). We will immediately re-member (put ourselves back together) God. And in allowing this experience of the Truth of Who We Are, we will immediately realize (see with our real eyes - the eyes of God) that we were always perfect, whole and complete.

In closing, to do this, one does not need to transcend, rise above or defeat the 'illusion'. All one need do is close ones eyes, ask their Higher Self (God) to see the Truth behind all things, and then allow themselves to see through this 'new' set of eyes (our hearts) and the 'illusion' will dissolve, like a cloud of smoke, and what was always there, God, will once again be noticeable and experienceable.

Waking up is as simple as that. And it requires no time. As I stated before, NOW is All There Is. So why not NOW begin this practice of re-membering? And allow yourself to join with God once again.

Just my two sense. ;-)

Sending you all endless rays of RADIANT LOVE and LIGHT,
Brian     

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Brian,

How glad I am to have your thoughts here; and like you, I can well appreciate Meenakshi's analogy.  And you make the most excellent argument for living in the NOW and wanting to be in that place, that the Higher Self witnesses our life from.  Life does flow much more smoothly from there.

I think the argument hardest to reconcile is [a] what the illusion is or if it even is - an illusion.  [b] Who created it and why?  

Is the Higher Self really perfect ? or can it reach an even more perfect perfection, or an expanded perspective of itself, or greater capabilities for functioning through the human self (of which the Ego is at the least a survivalist mechanism - whether run amok or under-appreciated).  

In this contemplation, the hard question might be - if all of the above paragraph is true, then can it be? that GOD is not complete.  That God is still expanding and knowing itself through us?  Does God require this experience as us (whether good or bad in human terms) in order to fully understand what our lives as human beings entail?  In which case, although ALL is absolutely perfect from a spiritual viewpoint, God is not the Big Daddy in the Sky that can right all our wrongs for us - we are the Big Daddy in human form that have to find our own way.  Hmmm.

Colin Tipping has reached for himself a middle ground that encompasses both [1] Ego as an aspect of being human to be overcome and [2] Ego as a loving guide through the separation, suffering, emotions and senses that we experience life through having and feeling.  I am comfortable saying I currently agree with this “dual” interpretation of the role of the Ego or readily admit, simply, because I can't really know the absolute truth, that I don't really know - but I like the way “Ego as a loving guide to difficult life experiences” feels.

I definitely agree with you that we do not see the totality of what is truly there as our “spirit”.  Yet, I believe (that while extremely maleable and changeable and affected by our beliefs, emotions and needs) the Earth is “real” and it does exist and so as products of the Earth, we exist, that it is not all an illusion.  The only illusion to my mind is the limited perspective we have on the totality, even the limited totality lets say of what it is to be human or what Gaia herself actually is.

So, in my interpretation, the “wall of Truth” is seeing and accepting the Reality that we can know in our limited capability, while acknowledging it is limited.  Our thoughts and beliefs do “project” upon the canvas of life.  We do attract people and circumstances into our lives to play upon our personal canvas, when these are in alignment with what those other people and circumstances are projecting and needing as well.  We are not individually the sole projection, we are a minisule part.  We are our own center of that projection but we are not the center of all that is.

It is not that our life is an illusion, it is that our ability to perceive is limited, which reduces reality down, to a shadow of what that reality is.  Into that little finger that thinks itself individual or that hair upon the head or that mite upon our skin, who doesn't even know we (their host) exist.

The only error is saying that our interpretation is whole, full and complete.  I don't even think God can say it's interpretation is whole, full and complete.  And who's to say, that God doesn't have a creator of whom God isn't aware, and God thinks its consciousness of itself is all alone and so, starts splitting itself off into individual manifestations (the little finger, the hair, the mite) in order to know what It actually is.  Like a process of reduction and then reconstruction, over and over again to infinity.  Not even getting into the unreality of time and space and how plays into it all.

Even if we willingly want to open ourselves to see the Truth behind all things, our sight will never be more than partial.  The illusion will never dissolve, in my own personal opinion, because believing this life is an illusion is the Big Lie.  A Big Lie that started all separation, according to the place my understanding has of it all, at this moment.  That lie seeks to rob us of the bliss and enjoyment of living in this physical life, the pure blessing and gift that it is.  Yes, emotional heartbreak and painful suffering are a part of that life; and are what make bliss and enjoyment all the more sublime.

In closing - regardless of any points that we agree to respectfully disagree over, we are in agreement regarding this -

NOW is ALL there is.  Better enjoy and use it, or it is lost and that is a real sadness to see.  So many people never wake up to that basic, easy to agree with, truth.

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Hello Deb (all),

To answer your questions from the best of my ability, I would say:

[a] what the illusion is or if it even is - an illusion.

The 'illusion' is what we call the Ego. The Ego is a limited, structured sense of self that does not perceive the totality of God right were your form (body of light) exists.

To say it differently. The Ego is like a thin layer of transparent film (think of a bubble), that falsely encapsulates the 'entirety' of you (or tries to, anyway). Inside and all around this bubble is You (God), but the small, almost imperceptible expression of the Father inside of the bubble is a falsely perceived expression of You (God). Because of its lack and confinement it can hardly function like God because of its own limited self imposed belief structure of what it is.

The Ego then is a part of You, but is so 'caught up' in its own creation of lack, which it can only create for itself (therefore the idea and experience of separation is formed) that it feels that it needs to fight for, and defend its own created 'territory'. The funny part is that, this fighting for 'territory' that the Ego spends all of its 'time' fighting for, is like scrounging around on the ground for the scraps of food that 'might' fall onto the floor, all the while not paying attention or being curious as to where the scrap of food came from, while 'above' our heads (our limited perceptions) lay a table (of which the table scraps feel). And on this table (which can be seen as the area outside of the bubble) is a smorgasbord of anything and everything 'imaginable'. And all that we have to do to partake in this glorious, never ending, feast of sustenance, which is what we had been doing the entire time (eating the table
scrapes but at a severely limited basis) is to stand up and notice the
Truth of our environment. And then we will immediately re-cognize the
fact that we are, and always have been in our Father's house (heaven), eating from is table.
And nothing that we can say or do can change that fact, but, however, we are entitled to not look at certain parts of our birthright (the
endless feast on the table), if we choose to (this is what is known as free
will).

So all that one needs do is to look outside the limited 'belief' structures and take notice of the fact that even though one can experience oneself from a place of limitation, it takes the vantage point of the unlimited to 'perceive' the limitation.

You are the observer of all of life, not the victim of it.


[b] Who created it and why? 

Again, the 'Ego' was created the 'moment' that the desire to experience oneself as the 'creator' (Father) without the Creator's involvement was applied to life. But since this can never be, the experience of such an 'existence' must be illusory!

Nothing further needs to be mentioned as to why this all 'took place'. If one spends too much 'time' trying to figure out why, one will only prolong the experience of separation. Only the Ego wants to 'make sense' of life, in its own limited way, so that it can 'understand' its own limited creation. Which will never 'solve' the fact that one 'is' experiencing an 'illusion'. Simply put, spend every waking moment on desiring to see the Truth of each moment, and the rest will take care of itself.

 Is the Higher Self really perfect ? or can it reach an even more
perfect perfection, or an expanded perspective of itself, or greater
capabilities for functioning through the human self (of which the Ego
is at the least a survivalist mechanism - whether run amok or
under-appreciated).

To answer the first part of this. YES! Most definitely. It is the 'Ego' that looks to improve. And all improvement takes 'time'. And since time is an 'illusion', if one takes 'time' to perfect oneself, one will never be perfect. Thus, one becomes 'stuck' in a limited, never ending, experience of 'needing' to improve before one can be whole. This is wholly crap. Don't believe it for a second. You are perfect, whole and complete right NOW. Always have been, always will be. But you will not always experience this. But the good news is, that once you notice that you are not experiencing perfection, you know that you have been duped into believing, and therefore seeing, limitation.

Once you have this realization. All you need to do is desire to see and experience the Truth of what you are, and if you allow it, by not defending against it, you will.

In this contemplation, the hard question might be - if all of the above
paragraph is true, then can it be? that GOD is not complete.  That God
is still expanding and knowing itself through us?  Does God require
this experience as us (whether good or bad in human terms) in order to
fully understand what our lives as human beings entail?  In which case,
although ALL is absolutely perfect from a spiritual viewpoint, God is
not the Big Daddy in the Sky that can right all our wrongs for us - we
are the Big Daddy in human form that have to find our own way.


Of the above questions, I will only respond to the highlighted portion (all the rest is musing that the Ego would have you spend endless 'time' trying to figure out.)

Yes, God is forever expanding. But instead of thinking of it as improvement, think of it as extending. As growing bigger, so that more of itself can experience itself.

God is love, and love must be extended to be recognized. If one sits quietly in ones closet and never leaves - never thinks of, or comes into contact with, another human being, one will never have an object of its affection to extend love to. This is why God infinitely individualized itself into infinite parts, so that God could recognize, and therefore extend love to itself - expansion.

I could talk about these subject (especially the latter one) for hours. If you would like further clarification. Please do not hesitate to ask. Let me leave you with this for now.

“Genesis 1:31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

so what are you saying that the ego is? a thin layer of film? is that all you can come up with? everything else you are saying is true and makes sense but your perception of the ego is very vague….
we are trying to figure out exactly what the ego is. we don't need to learn all these lessons about god when most of us know this anyhow. the ego, though, is a question in itself. the only thing you answered for me is that there are still more questions and that it cannot be truly defined by your standards.
what is ego?
everything is connected, and matter is made up of the same energy so can we just accept that ego is a part of it all? does it have to be this limiting perception of ourselves that falsely create our limited realities?
Or can we look at the illustration and realize that ego is a part of us, and that it is much greater? greater than the black light? maybe greater than the spirit, soul, and intellect combined?
ego, by definition is everything that we are conscious of. does this trigger a battle? no. it is simply the sum of everything we are conscious of. it doesn't have a place in duality. it is part of who we are. if we look at Grant Wallace's drawing, we see that we don't have to perceive this evil ego that we've been taught to that way.
we can see it as the next best thing until we reach Divine Humanity.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

That's just it Ryon,

There is nothing to reach for!!!

The Ego, which is limited, is what tries to reach for perfection (as long as it never really gets there). This is how the Ego is able to maintain its apparent existence. The Ego tries to say that it is incomplete, do to its limited sense of itself, and therefore it needs to work to complete itself. All the while, the Real you, your God self, is observing this thought processes, knowing the whole time that that experience is just that, a thought! And your thoughts, which is the best way to explain what the thin film which can be called the Ego is, are nothing more than beliefs of something less than what you Truly Are. In the frame of mind that the Ego conceives of, one will never reach heaven. But once one realizes that heaven is what the Ego was working with to start with, one can immediately wake up to the Truth of there Real existence. God is All That There Is. And, therefore, You Are part of God. Perfect, whole and complete.

Again, the Ego would have you spending all of your 'time' trying to figure out why and how the Ego functions. All the while, you would be 'trapped' in a bottomless pit of senselessness. The Ego is what is vague, that is why it is easily confused (by the way, confusion can only take place in the Ego. God is incapable of Being confused). So to try and explain the Ego any further would be to set your sights on exactly what you no longer desire to experience.

It does not take understanding why and how you got where you are at to get yourself out of your circumstance. All that is required is the awareness of how to get yourself out of it. Focus on the SOULution, and the problem will be solved.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Hmmmm…..

I am going to go with the fact that the definition of Ego is simply everything that we are conscious of. So my question is…

What are you conscious of?

I am conscious that I am connected to my higher self in the invisible and that I have reached for it's hand many times…I am not reaching for perfection for we are all connected in some ways to our higher selves already. I think that your ego would tell you that there's nothing to reach for Nara! That's what I think! I am fully conscious that All is connected, so does this mean that the ego part of myself is actually right, and positive? If I choose it to be.


What are you conscious of?

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Ok…I see that what I have said needs some clarification. We are getting caught up in words.

The reason that I said that there is nothing to reach for is, because, to me this entails that you need to reach for something that you are not. And since you are perfect, whole and complete, right NOW, you need not reach for anything, really. But at the same time, you could think, from the Ego point of view, that you need to 'reach' outside of the 'bubble' to your 'Higher Self' (which is all that you really are already). But from the vantage point of the 'Higher Self' (which, again, is the place from which you are at already) all you need to do is 'align' yourself with its view point, if you will, and then you will see that there was nothing to attain (which is the way that I was using the word 'reach').

You have 'free will', which is what was given to you by God (your Higher Self), and when you choose to have a will separate form God's (the Ego) then you will experience of life of separation. Which is actually quite impossible, because no matter how hard you try, you can never get outside of God, and, therefore, be separated from Him. So by choosing, with your own 'free will', to align your will with the will of God, is to re-member (put yourself back into alignment with God once again) and, therefore, experience your perfection, wholeness and completeness once again).

You see, your 'Ego' is a part of you. It's just that it is a limited part of you, and therefore, in is an 'illusion'. The reason that this is is because, God (your Higher Self) can never be anything less than whole. And so, therefore, you can never really experience yourself from a place of limitation. So in all actuality, the Ego sense of yourself could be likened to you laying on a grassy knoll in the 'Kingdom of Heaven' while 'daydreaming' about what it would be like to live in the 'Kingdom of Heaven', all the while being completely encapsulated by the 'boundaries' (if you will) of the 'Kingdom of Heaven'. Seen from this vantage point, the Ego would seem quite useless and 'illusory' to me.

To answer you second to last question. Yes, please do continue to 'reach' outside of your Ego to your Higher Self, but realize that all you are doing, at that point, is no longer wishing, with your 'free will' to be apart from your True Self (your Higher Self). And, yes, you can indeed have a positive Ego. There are many successful people in the world with 'positive' Ego's, but a positive Ego will never give you the complete, full experience of what you Truly Are. You must 'reach' past, or align yourself with your Higher Self, once and for all, to experience your perfection, wholeness and completeness. Once this is 'accomplished' (and I use this word very loosely) you will be able to live in the world while seeing and experiencing the perfection, wholeness and completeness of it all. You life will seem to flow without your 'attempting' to make it so. This is when you know you are in alignment with your Soul. When I said, focus on the SOULution, this is what I was trying to convey:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” –Matthew 6:23

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Beautifully said Brian

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Brian,

Of course your “clarification” is to me all perfectly clear and what is, in this regard especially -

” you … live in the world while seeing and experiencing the perfection, wholeness and completeness of it all. You life … flow(s) without your 'attempting' to make it so. This is … alignment with your Soul.” 


And yes, words were “omitted” … deliberately for more clarity according to my understanding of this and life experience at the moment.


Brian, you are a treasure and 
I thank you for putting forth
all these explanations here in the group today -

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Ryon,

The Ego part of your self IS right and positive, if you want it to be.

That is absolutely correct.  There is no right and no wrong.  There only is - IS.  There only is you Being YOU in the most authentic way, and if that is what you are doing, even if being authentic is imitating someone or some teaching you have read or heard, it is still all perfect.

How do I know this?  Because you told me so here.

Wishing you only the most perfect Ego experiences possible -
Deb

BTW - I am conscious that I am conscious and don't “know for certain” much beyond that - really.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Hahahahaha ~~~~~~~ I don't know why I should feel laughing here a little but I do….

I believe that when we find our niches in life, meaning that we are multi-faceted in our interests and our abilities, that we find our Divinity, and that it takes positive ego to get there. Positive consciousness.

It's all connected you know. In a metaphorical sense :

Ego & Human Divinity can work together. You can't have one without the other kind of like Magnetism & Gravity. You can't understand one without the other because they are inseparable just like the ego, and the spirit, and the soul. Of course everyone knows this by  now.

I really just want to pop up this drawing one more time because it's the only real way to explain what I am newly comprehending here about ego, and gladly.

It shows Divine Human on the very outside….. a never ending, divine version of the self, which of course already exists….. but it doesn't exist without this experience that you are having now which we'll call, Individuality.

We have to use the ego to find Individuality, and to let it be known to God as we are. And then to simply, find our way back to the Wholeness again, and again until we reach a state of Life & Light on this planet…..

I am going to add that Mother Earth, or Gaia also has a Higher-Self….. maybe a discussion for another day(=

Much love to you All

Ryon

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Ryon,

I love all of this that you are and especially this part - 

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Brian,

No disagreement in me with your [a] point.

I disagree with [b] in that I believe that my being “here” is totally the Creator's desire and will.  The Ego is the persona created to live and move and have Being in this Earthy world.  I find some philosophies treat life as a “mistake” or error; and that troubled me greatly, when I was young and made me want my life to end early.  What an awful trick, to rob people of the bliss and joy, that living in this world can be ! ! !

I don't find I have a need to “make sense” of life beyond whatever is presenting itself for my attention in this moment and I don't struggle to make much sense of that either.  Just living in the NOW, accepting whatever is, as being whole, perfect and complete, is so freeing.

I guess where I really agree to disagree is that I will never say this Life is an Illusion.  Is it all there is to Reality?  No, but it is not an illusion.  Is it maleable?  Yes, isn't that wonderful?, I can “change” things for myself.  Halleluia ! ! ! that it is so.

I can say all this and still say your “advice” is accurate with my personal experience -

”spend every waking moment on desiring to see the Truth of each moment, and the rest will take care of itself.”


I don't need to improve anything to be Whole but I can ever experience MORE of what I am capable of.  This is not a lack of perfection but an ever-expanding mode of Being, much like the universe continues to expand.


LOL “(all the rest is musing that the Ego would have you spend endless 'time' trying to figure out.)”  No, but that's okay anyway.  I'm not spending endless time trying to figure any of that out.  It's just my long way of saving, I don't “know” anything but the present moment - but I have fun letting my imagination soar into new spaces.  Lots of fun doing so, actually.  I may seem quite serious, and I am quite serious about my spiritual nature, but I am fun loving as well.

OK, I will agree to drop the “concept” improve but expand means only that there is more to be discovered and that all is not set in stone already.  If it is, all it is - already, how can it experience “more of itself”?  Really?  Please say how that statement works.

We agree - Love is the good effect of knowing God.  However God does that work, I will take Love any time, and any day, over other possible experiences.  It is good and very good indeed.

Thank you, Brian, for taking this time to share your perspective with us.  I am enjoying the conversation immensely.

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Deb,

I never said that 'us' being here was not the Creator's will. What I said was that the Creator did not create the world that we are experiencing. Everything is within the Creator's will! What I was trying to convey is that, because we are not experiencing Heaven on Earth, which is where Heaven resides, we are not in alignment with the Creator's will. The Creator's will is always our will. This is why it is called free will. But our will is not always the Creator's will. This is called an 'illusion'. But you see, the 'illusion' has it's substance in the Creator's will. Therefore, the Creator's will is still the underlying Truth behind the 'illusion' of this world that we experience. So when we align our will with the Creator's, we will see and, more importantly, FEEL the Truth and BEaUty that is Life.

The Present Moment is All That There Is. And any 'time' that we spend out of it, is just musings of our own imagination. To stay in the moment, means to be open a empty to God's will, so that we can hear and Know what is appropriate in any given moment.

The Greatest Truth of the universe was stated in the Bible:
“Behold, I make all things new.” –Revelations 21:5

That verse goes perfect with this one:
”For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” –Isaiah 65:17

These two Truths state within themselves that, indeed, nothing is set in stone and every moment is a brand new, never experience before, moment. This is why the universe continues to expand. It is ever Creating itself anew. Giving itself a newer grander experience of itself. This is the function of the Creator. In this sense, Knowing is ever flowing. And what you knew two minutes ago, no longer pertains to the NOW Moment.

The Ego, on the other hand, likes to hold on to knowledge so that it can be prepared to 'weather the storm' in the future (which it creates). This is what is know as the 'illusion'. Since nothing is set in stone, nothing can be known before it happens. And, therefore, nothing can be 'figured out' before hand. This is why imagining what may come and how one might respond is musings of the Ego imagination.

God does not imagine. God Creates. There is no room for imagination when one Knows how to Create.

If we wish to Create like the Father does (Heaven on Earth), then we need to align our will with the Father's once again, and we will Know the world like the Creator does.

Expansion is What God Does. The best way that I can talk about this subject is to say, every time God expands, which is forever NOW, He is experiencing more of himself, in new and exciting ways. But while this is 'taking' place, God is not, in anyway, improving, or even getting larger. That which is infinite cannot get larger.

You see, that which is infinite, knows no limits. So how can something without limits Truly expand. This is a concept that cannot be truly understood from a limited frame of mind, which is the context in what our language uses. The only way to know that what I am saying is True, is to FEEL it. A better way to think about what I am trying to convey, would be to think of it as if God were breaking Himself into more individuation of Himself, so that he could experience the Totality of What He Is in 'more' ways.

Again, this all falls short of the entire Truth, but it is the best I can do with the tools that I currently have to use (words). 

Much LOVE for you, and everyONE here,

Brian

p.s. There are no 'mistakes' ever. Everything is within God, and God is perfect. If there ever were something that could be called a 'mistake', it would be our mis-perceived notion of 'duality' (more than ONE). God Is All There Is. Nothing else exists. And since God is All That There Is, there can be no 'mistakes'. Not really anyway. That is why an experience of 'duality' is an 'illusion'.  ;-)

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Perhaps it's both..
Divine Dichotomy

Is Duality Just an Illusion?

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

The Law of Duality is a reality for those who fight wars, and for those trying to live in a competitive world. They use the excuse of Oneness as their reason to fight and compete when what they are really doing is far from Oneness. We live in a diverse world where a Law called Duality exists…

Oneness on the other hand is about living in Diversity with everyone and establishing peace and a new Law. A new consciousness that is on its way…

Duality is not an illusion to some, and simply is to others. How are we coming along is my question?

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Every sweet hath its sour, every evil its good. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Tao Te Ching, Verse 58

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Brian,

Thank you for taking the time to elaborate.  I really liked this one -

Since nothing is set in stone, nothing can be known before it happens. And, therefore, nothing can be 'figured out' before hand. This is why imagining what may come and how one might respond is musings of the Ego imagination. 

As that is my understanding too, it resonates easily.  And this one, too -

“God does not imagine, God creates”, I am going to keep that one in my repretoire of “good” sayings to have on hand, for those times when the “illusion” tries to make me believe that change isn't possible.  It is our Ego that imagines, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  How often do we in our human experience imagine the worst?, never to see it happen (that's not to say that some people actually are not imagining, but pre-conceiving, the worst that IS coming).  

I am in agreement with most, if not all, of your concepts from my own perspective of these things.  I hear you asking “which ones are you not”.  Since I 'm really tired today, I'm lazy about this idea of trying to locate which ones I might not, but only leaving room for a possibility and - oh, heck - I'll see what I can point a finger at the Full Moon of this Passover day at …

OK, where I pulled back a bit was “aligning our will with the Father's once again” because I don't think it's possible, to not be in alignment - but it is possible to not know one is.  ;-}  And likewise, the very beginning statement, 

”the Creator did not create the world that we are experiencing.”

I pulled back from that a bit within my own self (now I will quickly disclaim, that only means I'm not there personally, not that it is wrong or right, per se).

Towards the end of your concepts, I am thinking it is one of those paradoxes that we sometimes come across on the spiritual path, like a Koan that puzzles the mind -

”God is not, in anyway, improving, or even getting larger. That which is infinite cannot get larger.

You see, that which is infinite, knows no limits. So how can something without limits Truly expand. This is a concept that cannot be truly understood from a limited frame of mind,”

In total personal agreement with your PS actually, so I'll close my response at this point, for now.  I would say that it is only our misperception that can not see perfection within any circumstance; or our limited perception might be more accurate, in some situations.

Unconditionally supportive of 
your presence & comments in this group -
Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

My opinion of the role of the Ego has been radically changed by contemplating and practicing Colin Tippings Radical Forgiveness program, which I will outline for this group in a thread of it's own for easier access.  Aliya, what you have shared rings with truth, in my opinion, and I'm grateful that you took the time to share this with us.  I have thought long and hard about the Ego since going through the Oprah / Eckhart Tolle webclass last year.  It's not that Tolle is wrong, that we need to wrest control of our lives from the Ego and place it at a higher level.  Much of what motivates him in that regard is noble in purpose as regards humanity's survival.  The lessons Tolle teaches in The Power of Now can be very helpful to most people and then, one matures a bit more, and goes beyond that, as this article and your own thoughts indicate.  There is a middle ground that you can eventually feel your way to for your own self.  No one can accurately describe it but I am certain you will locate that place, by how it “feels”.

Tipping describes the Ego as follows.  He says “I see the Ego as a loving aspect of my own Spiritual Intelligence.  It is there precisely to serve me by taking me to those places in consciousness where there are lessons to be learned and growth to be fully experienced.  It is said that the Ego is held together by the belief in separation and is bent on its own survival, not yours.  It helps you believe in separation; that's why you came here.  Your Ego has a vested interest in your awakening to the truth that separation is an illusion, but only when you are ready to do so.”

“The Ego's job is to convince you that all the illusions of life and this world are real and important - money, power, status, material wealth, success, and so on - precisely so that you can eventually awaken to the fact that they are only illusions.  The Ego teaches you Victim Consciousness in order for you to learn that there are no victims.  Without the Ego, we would not grow.  There would be no point in coming here, if we didn't experience that, all our Ego has to teach us is a prelude to remembering who we really are.  It's part of the process.”

“Seeing the Ego as an enemy that is separate from ourselves only turns it into something else to project onto, reinforcing Victim Consciousness and prolonging the journey toward wholeness.  If you are projecting, you are still asleep.  If we maintain that we are perfect, just the way we are, as perfect expressions of God, then our Ego must be part of that perfection.”

It isn't in the “study guide” that the above has been taken from, I'll have to listen to the CD for that part of his discussion but he says something to the effect that the Ego is part of our dual nature, the Higher Self / Witness / Observer being the other part.  The Higher Self will not intervene with the “work” of the Ego but is recording the results.  Once awakening occurs, the Higher Self is the active aspect of Being that controls and guides one's life, and the need for suffering (the Ego's role is to supply those opportunities to suffer) has passed.  That the Ego and the Higher Self come into our individual life with an agreed to “plan” that they carry out simultaneously with each other.

Deb

PS - There are great guided Forgiveness sessions on the CD.  I highly recommend it.  You can purchase The Power  of Radical Forgiveness (from Sounds True at the link). 

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

This is most stimulating, I see it expanding…

One difference between artists and ordinary people is that artists have big egos. In some cases, it's the only difference. (Charles Atlas)

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Even greater than the illusion that “I have ego” is that “you have ego”.

How's this, FastDart:
“I have no ego, but he/she/you have a big ego.” The most ironical statement! ;p

As they say, you can rise very  high, but if it's with  ego [read the feeling of separation] you can fall even lower.

This statement has so many layers and underpinnings that it makes me dizzy!

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Deb,
This is great!

“The only error is saying that our interpretation is whole, full and
complete.  I don't even think God can say it's interpretation is whole,
full and complete.  And who's to say, that God doesn't have a creator
of whom God isn't aware, and God thinks its consciousness of itself is
all alone and so, starts splitting itself off into individual
manifestations (the little finger, the hair, the mite) in order to know
what It actually is.  Like a process of reduction and then
reconstruction, over and over again to infinity.  Not even getting into
the unreality of time and space and how plays into it all.”


But about this:
How would you reconcile
“NOW
is ALL there is. ”
with
“Better enjoy and use it, or it is lost and that is a
real sadness to see. ”

Actually as with “The only error is saying that our interpretation is whole, full and
complete”; I'd say, that the only error is in thinking we are ever anywhere other than the Now [which is past-present-future or rather pasts-presents-futures]

And coming to think of it, perhaps this is the gift of ego: to stretch out that now into such a delightful trichotomy!

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Meenakshi,

Actually, I reconcile it the same way you do.  Now is all there is - better enjoy and use it, or it is lost.  Yes, that is the error, that causes us not to enjoy NOW, and to “lose” the only moment we had.  

OK, not that it's really lost, we just sleep-walk through it, huh?  Lost in musings of what happened in the past or what we will do about it in the future.

The past is only what we think it was NOW, the future is only what we think it will be NOW.  NOW is only “time” we can experience Past or Future.  Thanks to that word from you, “trichotomy”, tickling my memory ( I have to give Eckhart Tolle credit for having made that point, about when we experience the past and future).

It's such an important point, I'm glad you zero'ed in on it and have now stretched that concept out for me, to be much fuller and richer by making me think a bit more about it.

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

I wanted to include Colin Tippings longer explanation of his alternate interpretation of the Ego which is on the Radical Forgiveness CD program from Sounds True.  He is entertaining to listen to and speaks at a level most any average person can follow.  He gives a rather lengthy but easy to follow description of the conventional interpretation of the Ego, which he has previously supported in his writings and still lends credence to.  
At the end of transcribing this for you, I had my own A-Ha moment, which I share at the end of this long article.  If you wish, you could simply go to the end and see it's impact upon me, without wading through the whole thing.  So now, I turn it over to Colin -

Alot of spiritual philosophies make it sound as though the Ego is the overarching problem.  That it is the Ego that makes us do such bad things and keeps us separate and disconnected from our Source.  That the Ego is our enemy and that in order to grow spiritually and become enlightened, we must constantly do battle with it and eventually annihilate it, in order to get back to Oneness, peace and harmony.

Even in Colin Tipping's original version of his book, Radical Forgiveness, written in 1997, he presented this conventional argument, of what the Ego is, himself.  By the time he came to write the second edition though,  he added an alternative point of view, which has now come to be his predominent and preferred interpretation of the Ego's role.

In matters of a spiritual nature, it is seldom long before the conversation turns to the Ego.  Radical Forgiveness is no exception, since the Ego does seem to play a central role.  So, what constitutes the Ego and what role does it play in Radical Forgiveness?  Colin Tipping feels that there are at least 2 ways of answering that question.  He prefers to think that there is truth in both of these ideas, even though at first blush, they seem to be 
incompatible.

Original interpretation  

This casts the Ego as our enemy.  In this viewpoint, the Ego is responsible for keeping us separate from our Source, out of self-interest for it's own 
survival.  Consequently, it is our spiritual enemy and we are at war with it.  Many spiritual disciplines take this as their central idea and demand that the Ego must be dropped and transcended as a prerequisite for spiritual growth.

In this model, the Ego is said to exist as deeply held beliefs about who we are in relation to Spirit, formed when we experimented with the thought of separation from the Divine Source.  The Ego is the belief that separation actually occurred.  As the story goes, at the moment of separation, the Ego had us believe that God became very angry about our experiment.  This immediately created enormous guilt within us.  The Ego then elaborated 
on its story by telling us that God would get even and punish us severely for our great sin.  

So great was the guilt and terror created in us by the belief that this story was true, we had no choice but to repress these emotions deep down into our unconscious mind.  This spared us from the conscious awareness of them.  This tactic worked quite well but we retained a great fear that these feelings might rise once again.  To remedy this problem, the Ego developed a new belief, that the guilt lay with someone else, rather than within ourselves.  

We began projecting our guilt onto other people, so we could be rid of it 
entirely.  They became our scapegoats.  Then, to insure that the guilt stayed with them, we became angry with them and kept up a continuous attack on them.  Herein lies the origin of the Victim archetype and the human race's continual need to attack and defend against each other.  After attacking the people on whom we projected our guilt, we fear them attacking us in return.  So, we create strong defenses to protect ourselves and what we see as our complete innocence.  

At some level though, we know we are guilty.  So, the more we defend against the attack, the more we reinforce our guilt.  Thus we must constantly find people to hate, to criticize, to judge, to attack and to make wrong simply so we can feel better about ourselves.  This dynamic constantly reinforces the Ego's belief system and in this manner, the Ego insures it's own survival.  

Using this behavior pattern as a reference, we can see why throughout history, human beings have had such a high investment in their anger and such a high need to break the world into victims and persecutors, villians and heroes, victors and vanquished, winners and losers.  Furthermore, the perception we have of a “we / they” world, reflects our own internal split between the Ego on one hand, which is the belief in separation, fear, 
punishment and death and Spirit on the other, which is the knowledge of love and eternal life.  

We project this division onto the physical world by always seeing the enemy as “out there”, rather than within ourselves.  While all belief systems quickly become resistant to change, the Ego is no ordinary belief system in this regard, it is extremely resistant to change.  It holds incredible power in our unconscious minds and carries an enormous block of votes, when it comes to making decisions about who we think we are.  This belief system is so very powerful, that it appears to be an entity in its own right and we have 
named it the Ego. 

We have become trapped in the belief of separation to such a degree that is has become our reality.  We've been living the myth of separation for eons.  Making real the idea that we chose separation by naming it, the original sin.  In actuality, no separation ever occured.  We are as much a part of God as we always were.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience, remember?  Consequently, there is no such thing as original sin in this sense.  Contrary to what the Ego would have us believe, the truth is, we actually come into the physical plane with God's blessing and his unconditional love.  God will always honor our free will and our choices at the highest level and will offer no divine intervention - unless asked (deb's note - the reason for prayer).  Fortunately, Radical Forgiveness provides the perfect tool for 
asking for such assistance, because in the process, you demonstrate to God that you have seen beyond the Ego and glimpsed the truth that only Love is real and that we are all One with God, including those who seem at first to be our enemies.

That is the first interpretation and it is pretty convincing, it is in fact, the basis of A Course in Miracles, the work channeled by Jesus through Helen Schucman.  (deb's note - A Course in Miracles is a unique, universal, self-study spiritual thought system
that teaches that the way to Love and Inner Peace is through Forgiveness.)

Alternate interpretation 

The Ego is our friend model, sees the Ego as part of our soul, that acts 
as our loving guide for this human experience.  Colin Tipping finds this other way of looking at the Ego, equally tenable.  Far from being our enemy, the Ego is a part of our soul.  A part that splits off to play a guidance role in the world of humanity and in absolutely perfect and purposeful opposition to the Higher Self.  That role is to provide an anchor in the world of humanity to fully test our ability to be a spiritual being having a truly human experience.  

The only value in having a human experience is precisely to experience such things as the Ego provides - a belief in duality, separation and fear.  Futhermore, we need to experience these feelings fully at the feeling level in order to wake up and remember that the opposites are true.  The Ego in this model is the guide that will take us on all of these journeys into the illusion and try to teach us many false lessons that will keep us stuck in the illusion.  It does so, not out of malice nor even for the sake of its own survival but because it loves us and knows that we need this experience for our spiritual growth.  

But the Ego does not do this alone.  The Higher Self is our other guide who waits patiently, while we journey into the illusion with the Ego, until we are 
ready to hear the truth.  It is through the gentle whispers of the Higher Self that we wake up bit by bit until we finally remember who we are and then go home.  

(deb's note - this section made me wonder about what spiritually mature people often refer to as their guides, as though these were external influences and perhaps, they are.  Taking an alternate perspective on that idea - what if we give “names” or “concepts” to our ability to communicate with our Ego guide and our Higher Self guide and it is only a perception that these are outside or external to us.)

That's what transformation is and enlightenment, too.  This is our soul's journey while in the physical form and there exists no shortcut.  Without both the Ego and the Higher Self working their magic, we simply wouldn't get there.  Colin Tipping invites us to consider that both definitions may be true at the same time.  Colin believes his first interpretation is true in terms of the initial descent into physical form and how we came to see that event, 
“falsely”, he believes in retrospect.  

However, Colin believes that the second is grounded in a deeper truth, namely that there exists within us, no separation of any kind.  Whether he is right or not, he doesn't feel it matters because each definition helps him to make sense of this human experience in terms of spiritual truth.  He now holds it more firmly in his own mind that the Ego is an aspect of his own Spiritual Intelligence.  It is there precisely to serve him, by taking him to those places in consciousness, where there are lessons to be learned and growth to be fully experienced. 

The Ego's job is to keep him from seeing the truth, until he has come to a place where he has completed the lessons he came here to learn and he is ready to awaken.  In the beginning, the Ego's job is to convince him that all the illusions of life and this world are real and important.  Money, power, status, material wealth, success and so on, until the time comes for him to realize they are all illusions.  It teaches him Victim Consciousness, so that when the time comes to awaken, he can learn that there are no victims.  Without the Ego, we would not grow, there would be no point in coming here, if we didn't experience all our Ego has to teach us as a prelude to remembering who we really are.

It's all part of the process.  When we arrive at the point where we begin to awaken, the part of our Ego that has been creating all those learning experiences relaxes and lovingly begins to guide us in the full experience of our awakening.  The fact is, the Ego and the Higher Self are one and the same.  It is only the job description that changes during that 
awakening process.  It is simply our Spiritual Intelligence, acting it's part in all it's many disguises.  If we maintain that we are perfect, just the way we are, as perfect expressions of God, then our Ego must be part of that perfection.  God does not make mistakes.  

Seeing the Ego as separate from ourselves and an enemy only reinforces our Victim Consciousness, which can only slow down our progress.  It is just something else to project onto.  And if you are projecting, you are asleep.

deb's note - After transcribing this, I suddenly “got it”.  Just like there is a blueprint for our physical unfolding - infant to child to immature adult to mature adult, there is a “blueprint” for our spiritual unfolding as well.  Just as some children “mature” early, some spiritual unfoldings occur young - I would put Aliya in that category of being spiritually wise at a young age.  Others mature on the average timetable and some never mature.


So, the Ego is our infant and child and perhaps even immature adult phase of spiritual unfolding.  If we learn our lessons smoothly, we are then able to transition into the Higher Self and the Ego is transmuted in the process.  Not abandoned but matured, the Ego becomes our “servant” in the ordinary, external world.  It is absorbed into the higher vibrations of our inner essence and that vibration smooths out our paths and yields its wisdom to our conscious mind, that we may share that with others and speed their own maturation process.  

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

I was thinking of that conversation we had in Ego- whence, how and whither a while back in this group! How the Vedanta shows that both are true: duality and non-duality.

I like what you've said above, Deb: ”what if we give “names” or “concepts”
to our ability to communicate with our Ego guide and our Higher Self
guide and it is only a perception that these are outside or external to
us”. and ”there is a “blueprint” for our spiritual unfolding as well.”


I tend to think of guides in this way too. The aspect of us that is lost in illusion, separates guide from guided, self from not-self. The wholeness of us sees the connection and is the connection.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Meenakshi,

This thought, this morning in the shower, had me thinking “Abraham”, a collective of “guides”.  Could this be? could it be the sum total of the wisdom of all the incarnations that are now Esther Hicks, coming through the Higher Self by another “name”.

This does not negate the validity of the change in voice or demeanor, nor in the wisdom embodied and shared.

Whatever, it is fun to go flying high at times, and risk sharing such, whether nonsense or no …

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Oh not nonsense at all , Deb. Many of Abraham's teachings resonate. And they're like the other 'group minds'  or group consciousness that have been speaking to us - Kryon [you might like About Channelling if you scroll down], Arcturians and so on.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Check out this drawing from Grant Wallace.

It clearly presents the Ego as being the very outside of our existence outside of intellect, spirit and soul.

In the middle is “Black Light”

I think that Ego has been confused, purposely or foolishly in my opinion, with this “Black Light”. Still Light though.

Their seems to be a barrier between Divine Human Being and the Ego from the drawing. If we find our truest paths, I believe, we will not have a need for this misinterpreted, misperceived myth of a thing.

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

Ryon,

Interesting drawing.  Not sure I see the clarity in it that you suggest.

I would like to read the interpretation in words that Grant Wallace gives this (perhaps just a larger version that can be read).  I'll see what I can find before I comment, beyond my initial reactions to your thoughts.

I do not believe there is a “barrier”.  An amnesia after birth more likely.  The Ego strengthens in childhood and becomes an entity in its own right by early adulthood.  Many people never question if it is their “truest” Self or a “created” self (by parents & society).

That the Ego is misinterpreted or misperceived is without question.  That it is a myth would not be correct in my opinion; but that is only an opinion, that I personally hold at present.  It seems very real from my perspective and observations.

Deb

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

If you click ON the picture, it will come up much bigger.


Thanks for sharing that picture!

Denise

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

How do you perceive ego, Ryon?

Re: Grant Wallace - Man as Ego drawing

Grant Wallace : Mysterious Artist / Mystic (1868 -1955) 

Deb's note - There is only some very limited and sketchy information about Grant Wallace.  It is hard to know exactly what his thoughts were, in a way that we could interpret easily.  It went pretty “far out” into a dimension few visit during a human sojourn.

“One of the most fascinating stories is that of Grant Wallace, born in Missouri in 1868. After the First World War Wallace, working alone in a small laboratory in the forest near Carmel, California, produced hundreds of drawings, charts and diagrams dealing with life on other planets, telepathy and re-incarnation. One from the 1920s shows “Man As Ego: His 6 Bodies,” a series of concentric circles enclosing a human figure, the outside circle being “divine man.” Many of the pieces in the book are in the form of such diagrams.”

“These images, and literally hundreds more, were discovered by a relative of Wallace's in an abandoned cabin in rural California. They were the result of Wallace's private research (circa 1920s) into the worlds of philosophy, metaphysics and cosmology.” 

Here is a link to a larger drawing of  Man as Ego: His 6 Bodies from that site just quoted.  Other drawings from this man are at this site

 There is also this blog She Walks Softly on Grant Wallace.

The blog says -

“History is peppered with a number of eccentric geniuses and it’s always a pleasure to peek into their worlds.”

“Grant Wallace (1867-1954) was an artist, journalist, screenwriter and occultist. After his death, hundreds of meticulous charts, graphs and illustrations were found in his abandoned rural California cabin.”

“Wallace used his cabin as a laboratory for experimenting with telepathy. His countless drawings, charts, diagrams, and writings attempt to reveal the patterns of life (including reincarnation, communication with intelligent life on other planets, and with dead spirits).”

Re: Bursting the "Blame The Ego" Myth

This is what I was waiting to manifest so I'll tweak the dream.
I love the way this thread expanded…
When one rises we all rise..