Awareness doesn’t just show up, served to us on a silver platter; we have to fight for it. It won’t come easy or cheap. But sticking with the isolated ego state is no picnic either. What stops us are the tricks of the ego used to keep its me-Tarzan mojo going…
For starters, the ego will trot out every conceivable negativity known to humankind…We can bundle all these ugly traits under the triumvirate of pride, self-will and fear, which are the main ways the big, bad Lower Self avoids self-improvement…The ego also maintains its separateness by pridefully putting up an artificial conflict between itself and everyone else: “I must prove to the world how much better I am; I must out-do everyone”…Comparing and competing only sharpens our sense of separation…
It is also pride that makes us live for the sake of how we appear in others eyes, rather than for the sake of truth and real feelings and our own interests. Our whole goal then is to create an impression…We tuck a lot of prideful behaviors behind our ego, including all our defensive strategies—submission, aggression and withdrawal—and their cover-up masks. These power masks, love masks and serenity masks are intended to hide them…These are all tricks designed to keep us small. No joke, that’s what the ego is going for…
Per the ego, we must stay very afraid. For instance, we fear exposing our real feelings, which denies relating deeply with others. Here are a few more things up the ego’s sleeve: inattentiveness, absentmindedness and lack of concentration. For how can we possibly transcend ourselves if we can’t pay attention?...The ego uses these tricks to keep us in isolation. But we’re like ventriloquists the way we throw our refusal to move on something like another person’s idiosyncrasies or shortcomings...
The way out of this jam is for the ego to overcome its temptation to stay little—to stay put…We must grope in the dark, using whatever parts of ourselves we have at our disposal, to understand how the ego operates and then cut off its funding…
The ego comes from the same material we ultimately want to reunite with. So it’s not to be ignored, insulted or denied…The healthy parts of the ego are the parts that hold the light for self-discovery. The weak, sick parts often want to give up simply because we can’t stand ourselves for one more day…. when we transcend our ego, we tear down unnecessary fences and expand the scope of our field of operation. We bring in more reality…Then the true mosaic of life, made up of eternal truth and beauty and love, becomes ours.
Listen and learn more.
Gems, Chapter 10: Spotting the Tricks of our Ego and Getting Over Ourselves
Read Original Pathwork® Lecture: #199 The Meaning of the Ego and its Transcendence
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