Love the "ego"

 

Joy Schultz

who or what would i be
without the thought the ego exists?
without the ego
I am you,
no need to be different, special
no need
to barb your heart,
to harpoon it
and bring it over here
demanding "LOOK at me!"
listen to me!
bubble for me!
dance for me!
beat for "ME"!
this flimsy image--
in your beholding make it strong,
supply the reality it isn't,
tell me it is real and valuable--what isn't
why oh why would God/Reality/your lover
"break your heart"?
but for this...
that the wall you now hold up
as your Self,
can fall at last,
crumble to the dust it is,
be seen for the nothing it is,
that you are blinded no more
to your Radiance,
your Eternal Invulnerability,
that you are no longer an addict,
a vampire,
feeding on your brothers and sisters,
children and infants,
sucking their every breath
for your own survival--
the survival
of the wall.
oh yes, dear One,
this breaking,
this breaking heart you curse God for,
you curse the world
for the war that stole your child,
it is but the greatest gift,
the highest gift,
the most loving gift,
the only gift
there is:
you
are not
and have never been
the thing
you think
you are
here is the home
of all your pain
and your greatest joy--
you are not
what you think
who or what would i be
without the thought
the ego exists?

 

I am not a victim of the ego I SEE! We are humans and cannot exist on this plane, in this dimension without the ego and the body - it is the unbalanced ego that is the problem. The weaker the self, the stronger the ego - it is just trying to help! Egotistical people are hurt people, doing the best they can! Embrace the ego as you would the hurt inner child.

Joan Thomas 4:13pm Sep 27 Ron the ego is so necessary for our positive self esteem. And we can work with the unbalanced ego. There are only 2 ways to communicate - through love or pain. the Egotistical people are definitely hurt people who are in essence expressing their pain. The challenge is we are not taught this. Nor are we often taught about how lovable we all are. The way out of pain is through it. And egotistical people will only get out of their pain by accepting it, going through it, and becoming stronger

Joy Schultz 7:13am Sep 28 "You think that without the ego all would be chaos. I assure you that without the ego all would be love." A Course in Miracles

Joy, as much as I adore you, I have to disagree on this point. The "ego" is just another concept. I studied with Bill Thetford, who to me, was the real "scribe" of ACIM as Helen channeled it. He asked for it and she delivered, and she did not even like what she was hearing, but Bill insisted that it be recorded and written. In the group, Bill did not even attempt to control, as a more fundamentalist ACIMer was the leader. He sat there on the side apparently in bliss. Some of us were budding psychologists, yogis, and health providers. When we asked him why the ACIM demonized the ego so much, he said "just tear out those pages.". Even if you believe in the "ego", which in psychology we were taught that Freud's definition (the man who invented the concepts of id, ego and superego) was that it is the CONSCIOUS connection between the id(lower brain) and the superego (the higher part of ourselves). I remember Byron Katie describing it as like "her inner child". And I like her definition, as an "inner child", we want to cherish and love it, however to watch it carefully with appropriate boundaries and discipline. respectfully yours, ron (OH, by the way I think Dr. Thetford was living the Essence of the Course - LOVE! And, not long afterwards, he left his body after "telling a colleague the night before, that he had never felt so free."

I have been to several Ashrams, where the "Guru" was supposedly without an "ego". A couple of them had been in silence for years. Believe me, that despite being waited on hand and foot, they had a terrific "ego" and would occasionally lash out at their servers and students! Bill Thetford was the closest person I ever met, even remotely possibly being without an "ego",  and I am sure he was happy to drop his body, on the streets of Tiburon on July 4th, 198?

Joy Schultz yes, the ego is a concept...like all other concepts and as I understand it, The Work is about questioning concepts. That's all I am doing and by all means no one else has to do it or agree with me. It is not my purpose here to convince anyone to think like me. The first post was simply a meditation. And I wholeheartedly support you, Ron, and everyone to hold every belief you do. There is no other way. And for me not to question a concept.--I cannot understand why I would not question any particular concept. I believe the Course even says you will need to question every belief you have. There is that one lesson that says...let go of everything...true, false, good, bad...everything you have ever learned...even this Course...Let go of everything you think you know...(that is where I am coming from, Ron..a willingness to question everything...) and that's purely my path...and there's probably a lot more I could say here...there are so many levels...I AM not anti-ego. By all means, I understand it is ALL about loving everything--loving what is...The question is what is? A word is a label and a label is never Reality. It's a label. Reality can't be conceptualized, then it is something else. Inquiry ultimately invites us to question every concept...if we desire...I can very much relate to Bill's saying to rip out those pages. If I am against anything...I've made a concept of separation.

Joy Schultz 12:59pm Sep 29 I also really appreciate and respect your experience and sharing with and about Bill Thetford and others. I deeply respect you and have absolutely no desire to make you wrong in any way. Joy Schultz 12:55pm Sep 29 Also the quote above from the Course seems to me related to one of the subquestions of #3 How do you react when you believe that thought--what do you fear would happen without that thought? I fear all would be chaos--I wouldn't be safe, wouldn't have control..."you think without this thought(ego) all would be chaos...I assure you (question 4 who would you be without this thought) all would be Love."