Quote:
Originally Posted by fr66ajc
Greetings... interesting thread.
For me the ego is 'me' where-as the spirit is the 'I'; as in the purest 'I am', the purest state of beingness.
I don't profess to know a huge amount about this but I have always likened the ego to the more animal instincts we have to deal with, and in these, desire (jealousy, envy etc etc) is the most destructive when you are trying to progress to a more enlightened view point. Desire, or wanting something, is often the catalyst for life's troubles. Need is not desire, the body needs water to survive, and the ego directs your actions to obtain water, thus the ego is a good and worthy companion, however if the ego directs you to murder your neighbour just to get a glass of water then that is where the ego destroys your progress (not to mention the other persons).
Survival on this planet requires an ego, but in my opinion, enlightenment is a state in which spirit has attained mastery over the ego. The ego becomes a tool to be consciously used rather than it using and directing you. Destroy the ego and you destroy your ability to function in this reality.
My 2 pence anyway.  |
Your observation re the animal like qualities of ego are correct.
We come into this world with a brain that has evolved from reptilian to animal. The main part of the brain is still animal in construction appart from the front cortex which is relatively new, So yes it was necessary for survival, however we are an evolutionary species and according to those who are in an enlightened state, they function in a more alive fashion in an egoless state.
Its not possible to be enlightened and have an ego which is the me not the I
There is little self and Self. Me or I as you put it.
We wil always have a working brain in this reality.
To give an example.
Picture a surgeon conducting an opperation he has performed sucesfully thousands of times. All is going well then an assistanr says.
Do you know who we are working on? --Its Mr X the most important and influential person we have ever worked on. If we screw this up we will never work again.
If the working mind stays in control doing what it does best then all will be well, but if the emotional egoic me gets in there anything may happen -- the routine opp becomes so stresfull and who works at their best under stress.
So the ego has served us well it has got us this far but its time to move on if the pundits are to be believed.
Eckhart Tolle said "We are on the verge of the bigest step forward in the evolution of mankind since we left the sea, we have to evolve if mankind to survive"
So this reality is changing perhaps.
Who knows on that one? I dont
Chris
Namaste