Ego, Ego, Ego!

Only by discovering alchemy have I clearly understood that the Unconscious is a process and that ego’s rapport with the Unconscious and its contents initiate an evolution, more precisely, a real metamorphosis of the psyche. -Carl Jung

So you want to get rid of your ego…
Have you been told countless times that your ego is bad? Or, perhaps you’ve read that the ego is evil- and as long as you have one you won’t achieve enlightenment?

What does your ego say? What does your soul say? Are they the same? And, if different, how?

Well, gee, we’ve picked a heck of a topic today, haven’t we?

The key focus here is going to be about what YOU think. But I would like to present to you a few ideas.

In Buddhism, a lot of its beliefs are about ego. Buddha roughly teaches us that our ego should be shed. It’s an obstacle in our lives that will only create despair and dis-ease.

In psychology, the ego is viewed as a necessary set of functions needed to make choices that are required for survival. It has processes which protect the “self” from harm.

In Shamanism, many cultures believe that there is no room for ego in Shamanistic work. As when you become a Shaman, your entire ego: your personality, etc., are to fall by the wayside to make passage for something or someone that is no longer you. There are varying points of view in terms of whether this is just for Journeying and Ceremony, but the consensus is that ego is frowned upon in this belief system, too.

The above are just a handful of what’s out there to be absorbed by our gulping, “Oh my god, I don’t want to lose me” attitudes.

So what’s right? Are we destined to spend our entire lives here fighting with OURSELVES?

In layman terms, the ego is our enemy, it steers us away from our “true selves.” But hang on, isn’t our ego, our personality, our likes and dislikes, part of who we are? I think so, but with a caveat. See, I believe our ego is who we are on THIS plane. And the “Gurus” of the world are asking us to dismantle ourselves to be more “spiritual.” This is seemingly an impossible feat since our brains are wired to do exactly what it’s doing. It is liken to asking a frog not to jump! I would say that, if we aren’t clear about who we are, this is where things get muddy. We won’t be able to make a “leap” from one station to another without SOME sort of “ego.”

Further, I wonder if today’s overall thought on our ego is another form of conformity:
DON’T BE AN INDIVIDUAL, BE EXACTLY LIKE OUR ASCENDED MASTERS.
Do not have any thoughts or feelings of your own, or else you won’t evolve or go on to the next level.
Does this sound familiar?
It should because if you hop over to let’s say, Christianity…
Their beliefs are just a skip from this notion:
FOLLOW THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OR YOU WILL NOT GET INTO HEAVEN.

Can you see the similarities?

This is not a blast at any religion, but I’m sure you get the point.

Now, on the flip side, there is something to be said for getting rid of “limiting beliefs” as described by Dr. Bruce Lipton. His theory is basically that we possess a set of programs in our subconscious that need to be purged in order to become MORE of “ourselves” and reach our full potential- relatively speaking. But what does ‘ourselves’ mean if not the ego? In essence it IS the ego but not the one your garden variety spiritualist purports. Rather, the one where you kind of need “self” to navigate in this world. For instance, I may need a bit of ego to write this blog, or to do my Youtube videos…or, even to do my healing work. Without a sense of self and one’s abilities (whether you believe it’s given by a higher power or not), we do need to have a drive and an acknowledgment that we have something to share in this world. Now, of course it’s one thing to tout how special you are (perhaps the TRUE sense of the word ego, there?) and quite another to have the chutzpah to stand in the “spotlight.”

In a world where we are taught not to take responsibility for ourselves- even claiming that our feelings are not ours- it’s no wonder more and more people are feeling depression and anxiety. The cognitive dissonance alone is enough to send one way down a rabbit hole of “not good enough.”

No matter how you shake it out, the concept of ego is entirely up to you. I invite you to consider your own thoughts and feelings on the subject. And, as always, not what you’ve read or been taught.
Happy pondering!