Ego-less
 

I've written about this elsewhere but what the heck........
It may seem obvious to many that dropping or eliminating the ego or separate self-entity is very important and necessary for one to be "spiritual" and "liberated" but I've only just discovered what I am now calling ego-lessness.
If I pursue the question: Who/what am I?, I will arrive at a point where there are 2 possibilities: I am me - jim, the ego/person/self, or I am me, an indescribable essence that feels like "jim" but is something or someone way beyond any ego, self or person. I suppose I could call this "something": Awareness, Consciousness, Being, Divinity, the Absolute, All, This, That and on and on but the point is that I am either an ego or just me.
So, in looking over my life, I can now see where and how I occasionally lost this ego and awakened to a very different and better me - at least for a short time.
It often happened during a very frightening or stressful event but I didn't recognize exactly what happened (the ego ran away!) so I was soon right back in and AS the ego while I sadly pondered what had happened and why I couldn't "stay" in the magic or euphoria.
Now it is so obvious!
I left the "wonder" by unwittingly returning to the ego's spider web which was more comfortable or customary to me than the "wonder". I allowed my ego to once more take me over and make me believe that I am the ego while my real self was forced to step back and wait FOR YEARS to come forwards again!
I'd feel bad and stupid about this but I can see that, in the Play of Life, this is just how it is (for me) and finding relief from being an ego is such a joy so I hope I can stay out of the ego's web this time.
Just having a few tools to stop the ego or refuse to believe in it helps a lot.

How about you? What are some of your tools and/or techniques for staying out of the ego's web? How did or do you recognize your Real Self as compared to the false or egoic self?

I guess the best situation is for the ego to simply drop dead but mine seems not to be willing to die just now. I'd like to never again be sucked back into believing in my ego and just let it die so, please wish me luck, gang, and I wish all of you an "ego-less" life from now on.
:) jim

Jim,

I've pondered on this and found the ego to be a fairly useless way of describing any aspect of self other than the most superficial, the front we present to our environment. I believe that self is an emanation of the driving force of our lives, the soul though the term is a bit ambiguous (it means different things to different people, and to many it's the source of delusion: they think they are au fait with their souls when their outward expression (awkward though words are) suggest otherwise. I can't pretend to know my own soul though I hope to get closer as days pass).

But anyway, it drives us - or tries to, working through conduits and/or layers to our fronts. We have what the systems people call "requisite variety" the ability to adjust to ensure our survival. We can adjust the way we transact in society to meet the demands of the moment, the people we meet and their relevance in our lives. So I see us as playing roles much of the time.

Therefore I conclude that ego is a social process. We adjust it as we go, learning, adapting, diverting. At times people transact with awkwardness or misgivings, going against their intuition etc, so deliberately distorting the connections with Self.

So ego isn't a fixed thing. But there has to be a bedrock on which this can happen: a very real self, close to the soul. It's what we would be if we could find it. Alone therefore it wouldn't allow us to interact with others in our environment. Within it (or connected to it) is the repository of material (experiences, perceptive interpretations) that allows us to make those external adjustments. There's traffic from our sensory inputs to this repository, cross referring, reaching into other archives, as we go.

I see our fronts not as disconnected from the "real self" but an extension of it going through processes that connect us with the mundane world. Awareness of this processing gives us more power and scope over how we interact because we can adjust our roles to our advantage (not in a selfish way as much as to make transactions simpler, more appropriate for our (spiritual) needs and less vulnerable to the vagaries of emotions).

Generally I don't hold with the Freudian model of psyche. It was revolutionary in its time but needs revisiting. His model is still useful for situations where compartmentalising mental processes is enough but once we move into the realms of assimilating experiences, creativity etc, it fails.

An interesting discussion.

...

Is this thread in reference to the Buddhist concept of ego?

the Selves
 

There is a branch of psychology that studies and works with our sub-personalities such as: the Critic, the Pusher, the Inner Child, the Parent, the Boss, the Hero, the Devil, the Play Boy, the Beach Bum, the Tramp, etc. which are all aspects or dimensions of our ego(s) as revealed in the work of Hal and Sidra Stone. You might like there teachings at: www.voicedialogueinternational.com/
The Stones can explain how our rarely noticed nor understood sub-personalities produce much of our behavior.

Yes, we are an interesting collection of subs or selves and the "bedrock" self is called the Aware Ego which can be related to the Source, the Absolute, God, Reality, and/or a lot of other esoteric/divine titles to separate the Real self from all of our sub-personalities which is why most folks just refer to one ego in relationship to one real self.

The real us is very easy to find if and when a person can look past of around their ego(s) or subs. We are quite often in our real self but don't notice it - hence the term Aware Ego, meaning a me that is aware that I am not IN the ego at any given moment. We unconsciously go in and out of our sub-personalities all day (and night) long but rarely ever notice the shifts. Have you ever wondered what "came over you" when something bad happened out on the road and you "lost it"? That was an angry sub-personality briefly taking you over. Most folks simply do not notice their subs at work or play inside of us.

The Stones also describe the sub-personalities as middle men between the real self (Aware Ego) and our environment. So the Boss self performs a certain function while the Beach Bum self performs another and the Hero keeps us safe while the Devil lets us have a little "fun". The Stones make the point that ALL of our selves or subs matter and serve a useful purpose in our lives BUT we need the Aware Ego to be in charge and run things since many of our 'subs' can often get us into trouble.

You are saying the same as the Stones about letting our highest part(s) run things!

Re: assimilating.........the Stone's teachings about the Selves is all about EMBRACING or assimilating our various Selves under the loving and accepting umbrella of the Aware Ego or Highest Self so we become a happy family rather than a herd of struggling and fighting sub-personalities all struggling for power and attention. In their work, the Stones investigate how to talk with our various Subs to see what they want, need and how to embrace or incorporate them into our lives AS FRIENDS and not strangers or enemies. The Stone's perspective on the ego or subs is revolutionary, IMO, and I have used much of their teachings to EMBRACE many of my own troubled and troublesome sub-personalities or ego(s).
It seems that you are on the same track as the Stones with regards to accepting your self or selves.
I'm impressed! :hug3:

What is the Buddhist concept?

ego less, is that retreat
off the stubborn, yes,

do you do right in
mention ego less
and keep it as keep
the fuss run high,

You will never get rid of the voices in your head; your gob is to decide when to take them seriously. Know your ego or die fighting.
We are all born with the Ego (4yr old child) in the back seat. It can not be removed, it is with us for life, and is there for a reason.
(A more detailed description is where my passion has lead me recently)