Ego is a good thing

[Godspark]

Think I already commented here... many pages on this thread.

Just dropping by to check. By the way...

There are many gods and goddesses, many 'demi-gods' in our history. How could this be if they did not hold onto their ego?

Originally Posted by Godspark

Think I already commented here... many pages on this thread.

Just dropping by to check. By the way...

There are many gods and goddesses, many 'demi-gods' in our history. How could this be if they did not hold onto their ego?

people have different ideas about what the ego is
some people think is it me
others think it is not me, it is the thoughts in my head

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by AbodhiSky

people have different ideas about what the ego is
some people think is it me
others think it is not me, it is the thoughts in my head

You're right: there is a need to clarify the pertinent definitions before discussing any subject. What is ego? What are thoughts? Who is me?

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by Godspark

Think I already commented here... many pages on this thread.

Just dropping by to check. By the way...

There are many gods and goddesses, many 'demi-gods' in our history. How could this be if they did not hold onto their ego?

Did they hold onto their egos? Or did they simply not ignore and/or dismiss their egos?

i can understand why people think the ego is me

its because that is how we are conditioned. its how the world treats us and sees us. it's how i see myself. people call me a name, think of me as this body
i am this body, for this life anyway. i can't be a different body. that's who i am. to people and myself. i'm stuck in this same body everyday. i wake up in this body and go to sleep in it. and i have a story that is mine. what happened to me all through my life. all of that is in my memory. this is me, i am this ego. it makes sense to believe that

but we are not really our bodies. we can loose a leg and not diminish at all.. we can fall in love with somebody online. without ever seeing them. or their body. but then we see them, and think, oh that is you. but it wasn't them at all, its just the body they inhabit. so we are not this body. and our thoughts come and go, sometimes not there at all. yet we are there either way, no matter what we are thinking. us, the one aware of these changing thoughts,. does not change. so we are not our thoughts

and memories and our story, while we have these. they are not always present to us. like right now, were you thinking about someone you had a crush on in school?. probably not, so it is in our brains, memory, but not always present. so like thoughts, these memories are before us only. sometimes, off and on. so we are not our memories either. we are there when they are not, and they come and go. the ego is our memories and thoughts, that make the person. so we can't be that either as those come and go. but yes that is what we present to the world and ourselves. this body, these thoughts, these memories, this person

but we are more than all of that, we are consciousness itself. the one who is with all of these things now. but when we pass from this world and this body, we remain me, the one i have always known myself as because the reality is the body is not conscious. thought is not conscious. memories are not conscious. only we are conscious. the rest is just our playthings. that shape our self image, identities, and experiences. but we can shape all of that ourselves as well. and not see or define ourselves as any of the things i mentioned

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by AbodhiSky

people have different ideas about what the ego is
some people think is it me
others think it is not me, it is the thoughts in my head

The me/I is what has the thoughts, concepts, ideas etc etc about everything including oneness, non-duality, duality, the paranormal, mystical, etc.

Everything is from the me/I point of view or perception.

Originally Posted by ketzer

I thought that is where he keeps the keys to the Pope mobile?

Well...

If the Pope's Catholicism is under his hat and the Pope is also under his hat then the Pope is Catholic.

Your Honor, I rest my case.

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Well...

If the Pope's Catholicism is under his hat and the Pope is also under his hat then the Pope is Catholic.

Your Honor, I rest my case.

If the moose is in the woods, and JASG is in the woods, then JASG is a moose.
How's it going Bullwinkle?

Hey Rocky! Watch the pontiff pull a Jesuit out of his hat.

Originally Posted by ketzer

If the moose is in the woods, and JASG is in the woods, then JASG is a moose.
How's it going Bullwinkle?

Hey Rocky! Watch the pontiff pull a Jesuit out of his hat.

Is master of disguise! https://youtu.be/viYcHt06oJ0?t=6

Originally Posted by MikeS80

The me/I is what has the thoughts, concepts, ideas etc etc about everything including oneness, non-duality, duality, the paranormal, mystical, etc.

Everything is from the me/I point of view or perception.

Hmmm......I am not sure I would say everything is from the me/I point of view. The me/I point of view is adopted by consciousness to perceive the world of forms from the first person point of view. Yet consciousness will continue to perceive even when not doing so from that personal point of view. Athletes, musicians, and mystics will talk about having gone through this experience. Of course when they talk about it after the fact they are going back into that first person point of view to do so, even if they were not in that point of view during the event. They may say something like, "a body was running but that I was not that body", or that "music was happening but I was not making it". One can get a similar experience listening to music as well (one feels like they merge into the music and the self is lost). It would seem there was an un-personal awareness of the experience during it, yet in hindsight, one must speak about it from the standpoint of an experience that happed to them. As if consciousness is shifting between first and third person point view, or maybe temporarily dissolving the boundaries between the "I" form and an "other" form, or perhaps at times, all of the "other" forms. It's definitely an experience hard to convey.

I recall reading a story about free climbers. Many think they do it for the daredevil thrill (and maybe some do). But one gave an account of how he (self) disappeared between the top and bottom. The danger was so great that the mind could not focus on the self and focused entirely on the mountain and the next foothold. His mind was obviously intently aware during the climb, but there was no fear since there was no one to be afraid for, and thrill only came about once he had reached the top. For him, free climbing was a temporary freedom from the self.