Guest guest Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 from : http://www.peterspearls.com.au/blog/category/humor/ The Ego Not an Enemy ~ Inquirer — " I just started reading one of your books for the first time A New Earth <http://www.peterspearls.com.au/books.htm#eckhart> . I am still having a hard time understanding why we have an ego and why it seems to be our enemy. Can you explain it more simply for me so I understand the ego's purpose? " Eckhart Tolle — " The ego is a stage in the evolution of human consciousness. It is not your enemy. To perceive somebody or something as an enemy is in fact one of the main misperceptions or delusions of the egoic unconsciousness. So, you cannot fight against the ego and win that fight. If you think you have won the fight against the ego, it is the ego in you that thinks so and it has enlarged itself. So the ego is not an enemy, but a dysfunction. Looked at from one point of view, it is an entity that the mind created. From another perspective, however, it is simply a delusion, resulting in a distorted way of perceiving reality and consequently in dysfunctional behavior. This second perspective is probably a more helpful one. A delusion dissolves when you recognize it as delusion, and so does the ego. The ego is the by-product, as it were, of the rapid development of our faculty of thought over the past six thousand years. We lost ourselves in thought, that is to say became identified with it to such an extent that we now derive our sense of who we are from thinking. Thought is a particular way for universal intelligence to express itself. It is no more than a tiny aspect of that vast intelligence. Thought, through naming things, analyzes, dissects, and separates reality into bits and pieces. Thinking can be a helpful practical tool, but when you identify with thinking the delusion of separation arises. Your reality becomes fragmented. You lose your original sense of connectedness with Being ( " paradise " ). You become unhappy, needy, discontented, full of ever unfulfilled desire, and you are always unconsciously attempting to regain your lost sense of being, of who you are. Life is one and I am one with all life. When you know this truth, the ego dissolves. To know means to realize. How, then, do you realize this truth? At this moment – the only moment there is – there are some thoughts moving across your mind (the words you are reading and whatever your mind is adding to them). However, you can also KNOW that these thoughts are moving across your mind. That knowing is the dimension of awareness. It has nothing to do with thinking. While thinking happens, you can know yourself as the awareness behind the thinking, the alert stillness in the background – ungraspable, indefinable, elusive. When you disidentify from thinking, you may also discover a growing ability within you to perceive things and people without immediately naming them. In this way, the ego, which is the unconscious habit of identifying with every thought that arises, begins to dissolve. Dealing With Ego ~ " One day I will be free of the ego. " Who is talking? The ego. To become free of the ego's control is not really a big job, but a very small one. All you need to do is be aware of your thoughts and emotions — as they happen. This is not really a doing, but an alert seeing. In that sense, it is true that there is nothing you can do to become free of the ego's domination. When that shift happens, which is the shift from thinking to awareness, an intelligence far greater than the ego's cleverness begins to operate in your life. Emotions and even thoughts become depersonalized through awareness. You are the light of Presence, the awareness that is prior to and deeper than any thoughts and emotions. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Thank you, I just started reading this book yesterday and woke up in a wacky place this morning....just went for a hike and came home to read this....Perfect Timing! Thank you So Much and Blessings! Michele amarnath wrote: > > > from : http://www.peterspearls.com.au/blog/category/humor/ > <http://www.peterspearls.com.au/blog/category/humor/> > > The Ego Not an Enemy ~ Inquirer — " I just started reading one of > your books for the first time A New Earth > <http://www.peterspearls.com.au/books.htm#eckhart > <http://www.peterspearls.com.au/books.htm#eckhart>> . I am still having a > hard time understanding why we have an ego and why it seems to be our > enemy. Can you explain it more simply for me so I understand the ego's > purpose? " > > Eckhart Tolle — " The ego is a stage in the evolution of human > consciousness. It is not your enemy. To perceive somebody or something > as an enemy is in fact one of the main misperceptions or delusions of > the egoic unconsciousness. So, you cannot fight against the ego and win > that fight. If you think you have won the fight against the ego, it is > the ego in you that thinks so and it has enlarged itself. > > So the ego is not an enemy, but a dysfunction. Looked at from one point > of view, it is an entity that the mind created. From another > perspective, however, it is simply a delusion, resulting in a distorted > way of perceiving reality and consequently in dysfunctional behavior. > This second perspective is probably a more helpful one. > > A delusion dissolves when you recognize it as delusion, and so does the > ego. The ego is the by-product, as it were, of the rapid development of > our faculty of thought over the past six thousand years. We lost > ourselves in thought, that is to say became identified with it to such > an extent that we now derive our sense of who we are from thinking. > Thought is a particular way for universal intelligence to express > itself. It is no more than a tiny aspect of that vast intelligence. > > Thought, through naming things, analyzes, dissects, and separates > reality into bits and pieces. Thinking can be a helpful practical tool, > but when you identify with thinking the delusion of separation arises. > Your reality becomes fragmented. You lose your original sense of > connectedness with Being ( " paradise " ). You become unhappy, needy, > discontented, full of ever unfulfilled desire, and you are always > unconsciously attempting to regain your lost sense of being, of who you > are. > > Life is one and I am one with all life. > > When you know this truth, the ego dissolves. To know means to realize. > How, then, do you realize this truth? > > At this moment – the only moment there is – there are some > thoughts moving across your mind (the words you are reading and whatever > your mind is adding to them). However, you can also KNOW that these > thoughts are moving across your mind. That knowing is the dimension of > awareness. It has nothing to do with thinking. While thinking happens, > you can know yourself as the awareness behind the thinking, the alert > stillness in the background – ungraspable, indefinable, elusive. > > When you disidentify from thinking, you may also discover a growing > ability within you to perceive things and people without immediately > naming them. In this way, the ego, which is the unconscious habit of > identifying with every thought that arises, begins to dissolve. > > Dealing With Ego ~ " One day I will be free of the ego. " Who is talking? > The ego. To become free of the ego's control is not really a big job, > but a very small one. > > All you need to do is be aware of your thoughts and emotions — as > they happen. This is not really a doing, but an alert seeing. In that > sense, it is true that there is nothing you can do to become free of the > ego's domination. > > When that shift happens, which is the shift from thinking to awareness, > an intelligence far greater than the ego's cleverness begins to operate > in your life. Emotions and even thoughts become depersonalized through > awareness. > You are the light of Presence, the awareness that is prior to and deeper > than any thoughts and emotions. " > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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