Ego.

[sky]

Are we born with ego, is it genetic ?

I am convinced that without ego our Ancestors in the caves would not have survived, a sense of self/me/mine was needed to live another day.

Thoughts/opinions please

[A human Being]

I'd say we're born with one, yeah. I was going to say it's the inevitable consequence of being born into form (this creating the illusion of separation), but would that mean that all sentient forms have an ego, a sense of a separate self? Don't know the answer to that one.

[django]

Yes I think we are born with ego, and I agree in thinking it is a necessary phase, important for us in our younger years as well. But I think it is a limitation that we need to overcome to become truly wise and compassionate, which is of course impossible if ego remains.

I am pretty convinced that developing our subtle body and moving beyond ego is the current work in our evolution as a species. With this thinking, one day people will routinely be born beyond ego, and they will have another 'spiritual' challenge that they will be working to overcome.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by sky123

I am convinced that without ego our Ancestors in the caves would not have survived

They would have been saber-cat supper without their ego.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by sky123

Are we born with ego

One listen to a week-old child screaming for food or a diaper change would answer that question. Some babies quietly fuss, and some shriek so hard they change color and look like they'll explode. Yeah, I would say the ego is already active at birth, long before the parents ruin the poor kid.

[sky]

Originally Posted by A human Being

I'd say we're born with one, yeah. I was going to say it's the inevitable consequence of being born into form (this creating the illusion of separation), but would that mean that all sentient forms have an ego, a sense of a separate self? Don't know the answer to that one.

I believe that all sentient beings are born with ego but animals to a lesser extent than humans.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Baile

One listen to a week-old child screaming for food or a diaper change would answer that question. Some babies quietly fuss, and some shriek so hard they change color and look like they'll explode. Yeah, I would say the ego is already active at birth, long before the parents ruin the poor kid.

Yes listened to many of those screeching puse coloured little people in my lifetime

[sky]

Originally Posted by django

Yes I think we are born with ego, and I agree in thinking it is a necessary phase, important for us in our younger years as well. But I think it is a limitation that we need to overcome to become truly wise and compassionate, which is of course impossible if ego remains.

I am pretty convinced that developing our subtle body and moving beyond ego is the current work in our evolution as a species. With this thinking, one day people will routinely be born beyond ego, and they will have another 'spiritual' challenge that they will be working to overcome.

Moving beyond the ego as a species sounds impossible, but who knows in the future what will happen. I think if we start with ourself then we can create a ripple effect.

Our thoughts can change our genes so there is hope for humanity.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by sky123

Moving beyond the ego as a species sounds impossible, but who knows in the future what will happen.

The ego is a product of, and necessary aspect of, material existence. Once the human being becomes self-realized, there is no longer the need to incarnate. Thus no more ego. In the future, the race of beings we identify as "human" will no longer require incarnating in the physical-material realm. That part of the evolution journey will be complete. And at that point, there will be no need for the ego any longer. And no longer a need for the planet Earth, for the ego-incarnation plane itself.

[jonesboy]

We are so addicted to looking outside ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature.

So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words egoless or emptiness, they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to float forever in a dark, chilling void. Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do.

Imagine you are sitting in front of a glass door that leads out into your garden, looking through it, gazing out into space. It seems as though there is nothing between you and the sky, because you cannot see the surface of the glass. You would bang your nose if you got up and tried to walk through, thinking it wasn’t there. But if you touch it you will see at once that there is something there that holds your fingerprints, something that comes between you and the space outside.

In the same manner, the ground of the ordinary mind prevents us from breaking through to the skylike nature of our mind, even if we can still have glimpses of it. We have to break out of the ground of the ordinary mind altogether, to discover and let in the fresh air of Rigpa.

Imagine a person who suddenly wakes up in the hospital after an automobile accident to find that she is suffering from total amnesia. Outwardly, everything is intact: She has the same face and form, her senses and her mind are there, but she doesn’t have any idea or any trace of a memory of who she really is.

In exactly the same way, we cannot remember our true identity, our original nature. Frantically, and in real dread, we cast around and improvise another identity, one we clutch with all the desperation of someone falling continuously into an abyss. This false and ignorantly assumed identity is “ego.”