--- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The personal identity of our "ego" is not an enemy that we > should have an antagonistic relationship with.
What he said. Those who spend their lives trying to get away from or "destroy" their egos are IMO spending their lives trying to get away from or "destroy" life. It's *just* as much a form of attachment as any other, and far more destructive than many. The whole problem exists in my opinion because people have chosen spiritual paths in which the progress is so SLOW that they've become convinced that they have only *one* ego, *one* self. If they were on more of a "fast track," they'd experience the death of one ego/self and the rebirth of a new one several times a day. And *if* that had happened, they might not have come to believe that they WERE the ego. Instead it could have beeb perceived as just a thing that you "put on" and "wear" for a while. Having one is no more significant or binding than putting on and wearing clothes. Do your *clothes* "bind" you? ( Well, maybe, if you can't admit that you've gained weight and still try to wear the same sizes you wore in high school, but I mean for most people. :-) Your ego has no more substance than the jeans and T-shirt you wear while relaxing, and has no more binding effect on you than the suit you might wear to the office. And *changing* egos or selves is no more difficult than changing your clothes. > Even in a spiritual view where it is viewed as the "small" > self, it is still a critical quality of your personal identity. > For me "ego" describes the cluster of beliefs born from > experiences that make up my perception of who I am and what my > values are. I see it more as the "viewer" of my beliefs. The beliefs change from day to day, and so does the viewer. Neither are me. Why take seriously and get all bent out of shape about something that isn't going to be around for very long? :-) > I believe there has been an incorrect conflation between > the concepts of "ego trip" and "ego" which has unfairly > demonized a core part of our identity, leading to a sort of > self-hate or at least self mistrust. Which, interestingly enough, from my perspective is enough in itself to prohibit enlightenment. The more you hate or distrust your self or your ego, the more it binds you.
