[HealerW]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

I'd posit that that is an oversimplification. It could also be expressed as a flow of ideas, their logical (or intellectual) process on a canvas of time. Insights don't always involve strings of words but they may act on your ego (like in a case of solving a problem of some kind). Words are symbols for ideas/concepts.
Emotions are just as much a product of ego.


Like it or not you need it to be able to negotiate your way among other people and society. Without it you'd have no meaningful identity. It develops as your experiences are assimilated and you attempt to intellectualise their relevance.


And...


Not necessarily, not at all. I can be very close to my Self but that wouldn't get me through a working day. It doesn't mean my ego is at war with Self. Quite the opposite. They are in harmony. What you're saying, if you'll pardon an analogy is that a core business ethos is at war with the procedures that allow it to function....could be the case but probably isn't. Ego derives from Self via a plethora of censoring mechanisms that bring your down-to-earth situations into focus. And it's initially through the ego that you receive the stimuli that become experiences.




But does it matter? It may do to some. It's good to ask these questions but in the final analysis you'll never get rid of ego unless you withdraw from society, like, for example, Abramelin when he did his retreat as a deliberate act to discover his Self.

Ego gets far too much bad press on this site.

...

You'll have to forgive me for the oversimplification of these definitions. It's unfair to expect you to read my mind. As I agree with the whole of your comments, I realized I omitted the context of my musings.

As all concepts have their shades of meaning, I agree that Ego is both good and necessary in the most practical context. I had read several posts from practitioners of meditation who were having trouble. I hardly finished what I really wanted to say, so I'll try to elaborate.

When the aim is for the bliss state we intrinsically feel to be our rightful and eternal home, we must chart a definite course. The first thing that I would instruct anyone wanting to go deeper in meditation is to put thoughts and ego into context.

Thoughts are the buggers we fight against during this practice. And further, thoughts about the individual self cannot be of any benefit when the aim is to join with the Self, the All.

Yes, the ego is absolutely necessary to move about in this world, or as you say, negotiate yourself around. But in meditation, neither thought nor Ego plays a role. "I sit here focused on my breathing" may be true, but the utterance of it (silent or spoken) defeats the reason you are focusing on your breath.

The background of awareness, in short, is the only realization that matters. As a wise man once said (I paraphrase)... "The only good work one can really do is ask the redundant question, 'Who am I?'"

You are in Truth the background of awareness, or the man behind the curtain, if you will.