I agree with you Carol. I think we need our Ego to carry on in this world. We need our ego to want to stay healthy , do well at what we do etc. If we were " Sanyasans" ( recluses ) as in the hindu scriptures we could shed our ego but I feel to be normal in our world we need it. It's all about balance. It's about not getting caught up in it.

Thanks for your thoughts eefan..

Yes, I agree that there is a difference between a healthy Ego and an unhealthy one.

Magical children are full immersed in their Ego.."look at ME"..."see what I can do"..."muummy watch this"..."that is MINE"...and of course it is in this Ego state of Being that much creativity, possibility and expansion and development of the Self occurs.

With maturity the Spirit Self awakens more and more and seeks to contribute rather than take and to give as equally as to receive...

The wounded Ego tends to wreak havoc, seeking to dominate and control, is self serving over contribution etc etc...but a healthy Ego in partnership with the Soul calling on purpose, can create art, magic, invent new ways and open new doors.

I shared the story of the "Magical Child in Exile" in an earlier post and I think that the issue is about whether our Ego is healthy and not seeking to dominate others or wounded and experiencing impoded, toxic creativity that seeks to DISconnect rather than connect and unite.

Why on N'you Earth we would have this aspect of the Self if we are meant to eradicate it?.......;-)

Carol

Carolom, great post. Tolle says (page 78 ANE) "All that is required to become free of the ego is to be aware of it..." You are in good shape.

middleman9

The idea that to awaken means ego has to be destroyed is a huge misconception. In awakening, there is still an egoic I/me story. The difference is that one is no longer solely identified as that I/me story.

Thankyou middleman....took a bit of 'shadow boxing' over the years to get in good shape and I do find that old shadow of the Ego can stomp around looking for trouble if I don't remember to keep the over head light on and shine the Light in the shadows eyes...

...Thankyou too Alex, great point.....it is a bit like in the great mythological stories and the instructive myths of the Gods and Goddesses......there is a "me" but I am placed within the wholeness of the "we"...

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Carol

Thankyou for sharing this post. I've been struggling with this and your post has assisted me in getting some perspective on it.

My career is measured on my success and my success is based on my achievements and those achievements need to be flaunted by my ego. It becomes the difference in a 3% raise or a 7% raise, so I cannot ignore my ego.

I am learning that I am not my ego, I just need it once in awhile.

Dulcette aka The Bruised Ego (I learned so much yesterday I had to put myself on a time out)

great post and greater insight, thank you for having the courage to say it. many of us, myself included are searching for a way to balance out this insanity and attend to our spiritual and physical needs. keep up the good work, you are an inspiration.

Thankyou lynnc and dulcette...the responses to my post reveal how broad ranging and important the topic of "Ego' is and the power of sharing the stories and reflecting on what is in essence a core aspect of "Who I AM"...

Blessings to all, my Spirit soars to know that others connect with my words and my Ego is satisfied that all of that outrageous weeding and seeding and crying and fighting was indeed worth the work.......:D

Ego says to me..."See, I always told you you could write! You should have listened much sooner"..

Spirit Self says....Sshhh...settle down.... bossy boots goots...and it did, I can hear it snoring and slumbering as I type, sleeping with one eye open lest it miss an opportunity to remind me that we came into this world to remember how to Love one another and it aint going nowhere fast!

Thank you for this thread. Peace and understanding.. I'm breathing it in. Such a refreshing place to be. thank you for those words to read. You are healing more than just me.

..many blessings ittgri...thankyou.

By way of response I would like to acknowledge my teacher, Mrs Molly Akselen a Spiritualist Healer who passed on at the age of 95.

Molly used to say "some people get very puffed up with self importance dear...they are the ones that need the most love and understanding"...

Sometimes I would be standing there before her puffed up like a blow fish ready to strike ( she semed oblivious) and her compassion and wisdom allowed me to exhale and breathe again, to return to a much more receptive size.

I would love to share her photo here...but I can't ..so if you google: "honoring our elders" you can see a photo of this the Angel Molly, in my Art of Change blog in a thread that also has a picture of Oprah and her Elder, the Goddess Ms Angelou....

Carol

I am glad to see this post because I've been aware of this sense of the giftings of ego and have had dreams about the "transformation" of ego for lack of better words. I've been wondering if there is some "language" to describe this concept we call ego when the "ego" has gone through a rugged journey to reveal itself in "another form." There must be something that Eckhart uses to talk about that. He says that he has no "ego" as such, yet it is clear that he has "something" that allows him to function, meet appointments, set up his schedule and be about the business of "doing" in the world. I don't have access to a language that quite "describes" this though I do sense that I understand what you are talking with "loving the ego." I get it when I "experience it" as a harmony between being and doing in the world and definitely am Aware when there is a shift and split and I find myself "doing" and "thinking" without the benefit of that numinous place of being and awareness being a part of it. What is "ego" once it has fallen into the "arms of surrender" and lives and works and "does in the world" in service to that realm? If the ego undergoes some fires of transformation and does become this ally in service and co-creates reality, what do we call it. I sure know it is not the ego part of me that is capable of tantrums and judgmental labeling, not the ego that constantly hungers and craves and wants more, more, more without peaceful satisfaction. I've wondered if the mind that works from the sphere of Awareness and connection to the larger Consciousness is the Divine Mind? So, I will return to read what others offer on this site about their experience and meanwhile turn to the daily work of laundry, tending to the little guy around here who calls me "Ya Ya," (I started to say my grandson and realize that I interjected that word "my" as if there were ego identity involved. He teaches me more of Awareness and being Present every hour than I find in books -- or at least allows me to see the practical, daily truth of what I read). Thanks for all who are posting here with your various perspectives. I do know that I've spent much reflection time on recognizing that when I make my "ego" an enemy, it becomes one heck of a saboteur and acts up with fierce energy. What is it when two opposites cease to resist each other and find harmony in union and we live from that space? A Divine Union where each becomes part of something larger -- the "ego" now serves Awareness????? I don't have the language. I just Know in my heart and bones that it happens. And what peace when it does....what a portal...what generosity of spirit that allows us all to "meet" and converse and find purpose."
Namaste,
Mlpground

Hi Yaya...blessings to you and your gorgeous little grandson...

Who was that person who said 'Know thy Self?" and didn't Walt Whitman say "I am large I can embrace paradox?"...

As I mentioned earlier I see the relationship with our Ego as a hugely significant aspect of our journey to maturity and responsibility...to develop 'Self Mastery" as the year go by and the tears begin to dry...I have a core ego oriented issue that arises every time my patner and I step into a creative partnership space and whereas I once was unable to stop the tsunami of defensiveness and occassional (!?) sarcastic comment, I have learnt to breathe through the feelings and reutrn to centre much quicker than I once was able.

These core Soul School learnings take time I am told...

In the shelters where I work I come across some really violent, angry women...unruly urban goddesses whose ego was so battered and bruised in their early years, that it comes up fighting every time, even when there is no fight to be had!
I honour their brutal ways and total disregard for others because many of their Sisters did not make it- especially in the Aboriginal community- and I know their ego has kept them from dorwning in the tears...
So I see it as our role to provide opportunities for the reconciliation of the damaged Ego in much the same way as I would seek tp provide counselling or support for survivors of abuse.

Sure some people are just purely ego-driven with no emotionally damaged past as an excuse but generally speaking the snapping, snarling ego is no different than the gaurd dog that seeks to protect the Self from more of the same attacks that began a long time ago.
Once tamed he /she makes the most loyal of companion, protector and play mate...and can sense danger a mile away...

'Working it out' is not always an intellectual or thought oriented process...much of it is...but sometimes just sitting with the pencils and colouring in a Mandala soothes the savage ego and gives the inner Spirit space to rise and strengthen.

The way I see it is that your grandson is your Grandson, cause in his little world you are sure as certain his beloved Yaya....

I heard on the grape d'vine that there is a flock of a thousand Angels who have recently qualified in "Questions specifically related to Ego" just in time for the expansion of the New Earth tribal consciousness.....so perhaps you might want to step into the fresh air and ask one of them to answer some of those ponderings you have shared......

Carol

there might even be one called the Angel Yayaielle....:x

Dear Carloom (Carol),

What a gift in your reply and the sense of your spirit, adventuring heart, and service to others. Wonderful that you mention Walt Whitman!!! His work is a favorite. The soul of that fine fellow has come in dreams. Yes, the angels -- the legions in human and ethereal form who seed us with questions and the answers. I have just stopped in for a moment to check for new postings here before I return to Grandson, laundry, putting teak oil on furniture, and living the regular "chop wood, carry water" life hand in hand with Spirit. I enjoy finding your postings as they appear on other threads and the care and though in your replies. One question - have you ever heard of the teacher Brugh Joy. Something in your spirit and wisdom reminds me of his journey. Looking forward to more. Onward into the New Earth learning journey.
mlpground

Great post... Another way to look at it is this: Kind of like the difference from good... to best. I was taught that Ego is who we are with all of our protective resources and guarding at work. We may 'think' it is best... especially if we have guarded an protected ourself for a long time. But the reality is it hinders us from best... and teaches us to settle for good. To truly be free of Ego means we have NO limitations and we do not make decisions by someone else's standard but by what is truly TRULY best for us. Just food for thought. To be free of ego is to give yourself permission to be all you were designed to be....

Thankyou for sharing those thoughts mlpground...i have not heard of Brugh Joy...I'll have a google a little later today...great name!

"Chop woods, carry water, check email, send SMS, surf web, chop wood carry bottled water..."....;-)

Walt Whitman was not only a bard and sage....he had the most wonderful eyes...the most wonderful ''I's....

And thank you also arealchange...not only because this was your first post! but for contributing your thoughts so succinctly.

I do believe that a healthy.... healthy..... balanced Ego
is friend not foe and therefore can move us towards our Vision rather
than create disconnection from the Divine, chaos and drama....but I am
also aware that there are many interpretations and views on the subject
and each, in its own context is correct due to the free-will and
individual choice section of our Soul School Earth contract;\

Carol