08-19-2011, 04:47 PM
Disclaimer: I am currently unable to back up the following proposal by any historical events and/or holy/secret transcript, or any other kind of literature. There are memory remnants within my mind that came up, but that is not enough alone to "prove" what I am to describe. It has been, however, my preferred way of inner growth in the past few months - and I would like to be able to continue it this way.
So, one of the first things we encounter when meddling with any kind of spiritual/magical "act" or "study" is the concept of Ego and the Self. Self being our higher self, or higher density self, or simply our soul being on a different level. Our Ego has been described as a manifestation within this realm's boundraries: our needs, our immediate feelings, sometimes "gut instincts" (also this is now a borderline thing, as others describe our instincts as suggestions from our higher self, that we are able to listen to without hesitation). Destroying or humbling the ego has been always described as one of the neccessary steps to let loose of any negative karma we have built up in this life and to simply alllow spiritual growth. However, this is a very, very thin line - one that can, at the end of the day, hurt the one who tries to grow, more than it should be neccessary.
So far, we can easily assume that everything is one, everything is connected. No matter how we decribe this, every struggle leaves resonance in the great flow of things, every fight and every struggle shakes up the balance, if even only for the individuals included in said struggles. What happens however, when we go to struggle with ourselves? My idea - and I have been contemplating with this for some time now - is this: if we think of our Ego as something that needs to be "destroyed" or "chained up" (or, as some studies say: "enslaved"), then we will engage in a personal-level fight, even if there is no other self as an opponent. And is that a desirable things to to? At the end of the day, balance within is just as important as balance with others. If you sacrifice one for the other, that is not a real solution, but just giving up one for the sake of other.
However, I think that there is another way to see this concept. Here it is. In the past 18-25-40-x years (our time in our current incarnation), our "ego" has been the result of every feeling, every need, every thought that we have felt, thought or experienced so far. This ego of ours is simply a result of a lifetime lived by this simple rule: EVERYTHING ENDS SOMETIMES. YOU WILL DIE. YOU NEED TO GATHER STUFF, YOU NEED TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT COUNTS. THERE IS A COUNTDOWN, EARN MONEY, MAKE CHILDREN, EAT, PLAY, EAT, EAT, DRINK, LOOK FOR PLEASURES, AVOID PUNISHMENTS.
These were the main driving forces behind each and every one of us. We can, however, think of this as simply "having a less than optimal" training. As with dogs, even the adult dogs can change out of their bad habits, even the dogs can learn "their place" and how to behave "correctly". Correctly, by what standards? Why, as we are here, we can easily assume our new standards as the teachings found in Law of One. So: everything is connected. If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself. If you help others, you help yourself, and at the end of the day: you help everyone. If you have positive feelings towards others, you will help and sometimes even heal. If you have negative feelings towards anything: you can and will hurt yourself, and with that, hurt others too.
These will and these should be the new standards that we train our Ego. We do not try to destroy ourselves. We can change from within without a deadly struggle. We do not need to wrestle with our decade-long habits of being selfish. All we need to do is realize when our ego reacts in a way that we do not want it to, and we can immediately project the "good" way to behave instead. Sooner or later, our new habits will replace the old, and our ego WILL bend to our will - and with these newly implated habits, we will not have to feel guilty all day for being selfish - as all we have to do is to train ourselves slowly, gradually.
Examples:
You meet someone that you dislike. Correct reaction to this: Why do I dislike him/her? Does he miss something I have? Do I miss something he/she has? Is that really something that I should do?
Your girlfriend/boyfriend/brother asks you to split the favorite food of yours. Oh my god! Correct reaction to this: Okay, do not panic. Think of this as him/her rewarding you with half of the food. Would you have survived even if you got no food this day? Most likely yes. Then you should be happy for getting something you like, regardless of the amount you get.
Now, these were very basic examples. But! The main difference between this and the "hurtful" method I am trying to avoid is that with the other method, one could think something like this: in example one: "Oh my god, I am such a horrible person for disliking others! I should love them instead! Bad me, baaad me.... damn.... HAVE TO LOVE!" Or in the second way: "Oh, damn, I am so bad. Even if I eat all the food now, I gotta make sure next time that I do not eat at all. Maybe I need to starve to not let my ego have it is way..oh, I am so bad...: ("
See? Both approach deals with the fact that we are all connected and we should all love each other - but one simply pushes gently in the proper direction, while the other waits with a switch like a strict old teacher, trying to make us feel bad even when we are trying to improve.
This is my way of shaping my "ego", and I hope I could help someone out there who has this baggage from his/her "old" life where we were all egoistic to a certain extent, and does not know how to deal with this. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter, even maybe tales of how YOU have fought your bad habits or bent them, if that is the way you choose instead. Thank you for your time : )
So, one of the first things we encounter when meddling with any kind of spiritual/magical "act" or "study" is the concept of Ego and the Self. Self being our higher self, or higher density self, or simply our soul being on a different level. Our Ego has been described as a manifestation within this realm's boundraries: our needs, our immediate feelings, sometimes "gut instincts" (also this is now a borderline thing, as others describe our instincts as suggestions from our higher self, that we are able to listen to without hesitation). Destroying or humbling the ego has been always described as one of the neccessary steps to let loose of any negative karma we have built up in this life and to simply alllow spiritual growth. However, this is a very, very thin line - one that can, at the end of the day, hurt the one who tries to grow, more than it should be neccessary.
So far, we can easily assume that everything is one, everything is connected. No matter how we decribe this, every struggle leaves resonance in the great flow of things, every fight and every struggle shakes up the balance, if even only for the individuals included in said struggles. What happens however, when we go to struggle with ourselves? My idea - and I have been contemplating with this for some time now - is this: if we think of our Ego as something that needs to be "destroyed" or "chained up" (or, as some studies say: "enslaved"), then we will engage in a personal-level fight, even if there is no other self as an opponent. And is that a desirable things to to? At the end of the day, balance within is just as important as balance with others. If you sacrifice one for the other, that is not a real solution, but just giving up one for the sake of other.
However, I think that there is another way to see this concept. Here it is. In the past 18-25-40-x years (our time in our current incarnation), our "ego" has been the result of every feeling, every need, every thought that we have felt, thought or experienced so far. This ego of ours is simply a result of a lifetime lived by this simple rule: EVERYTHING ENDS SOMETIMES. YOU WILL DIE. YOU NEED TO GATHER STUFF, YOU NEED TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT COUNTS. THERE IS A COUNTDOWN, EARN MONEY, MAKE CHILDREN, EAT, PLAY, EAT, EAT, DRINK, LOOK FOR PLEASURES, AVOID PUNISHMENTS.
These were the main driving forces behind each and every one of us. We can, however, think of this as simply "having a less than optimal" training. As with dogs, even the adult dogs can change out of their bad habits, even the dogs can learn "their place" and how to behave "correctly". Correctly, by what standards? Why, as we are here, we can easily assume our new standards as the teachings found in Law of One. So: everything is connected. If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself. If you help others, you help yourself, and at the end of the day: you help everyone. If you have positive feelings towards others, you will help and sometimes even heal. If you have negative feelings towards anything: you can and will hurt yourself, and with that, hurt others too.
These will and these should be the new standards that we train our Ego. We do not try to destroy ourselves. We can change from within without a deadly struggle. We do not need to wrestle with our decade-long habits of being selfish. All we need to do is realize when our ego reacts in a way that we do not want it to, and we can immediately project the "good" way to behave instead. Sooner or later, our new habits will replace the old, and our ego WILL bend to our will - and with these newly implated habits, we will not have to feel guilty all day for being selfish - as all we have to do is to train ourselves slowly, gradually.
Examples:
You meet someone that you dislike. Correct reaction to this: Why do I dislike him/her? Does he miss something I have? Do I miss something he/she has? Is that really something that I should do?
Your girlfriend/boyfriend/brother asks you to split the favorite food of yours. Oh my god! Correct reaction to this: Okay, do not panic. Think of this as him/her rewarding you with half of the food. Would you have survived even if you got no food this day? Most likely yes. Then you should be happy for getting something you like, regardless of the amount you get.
Now, these were very basic examples. But! The main difference between this and the "hurtful" method I am trying to avoid is that with the other method, one could think something like this: in example one: "Oh my god, I am such a horrible person for disliking others! I should love them instead! Bad me, baaad me.... damn.... HAVE TO LOVE!" Or in the second way: "Oh, damn, I am so bad. Even if I eat all the food now, I gotta make sure next time that I do not eat at all. Maybe I need to starve to not let my ego have it is way..oh, I am so bad...: ("
See? Both approach deals with the fact that we are all connected and we should all love each other - but one simply pushes gently in the proper direction, while the other waits with a switch like a strict old teacher, trying to make us feel bad even when we are trying to improve.
This is my way of shaping my "ego", and I hope I could help someone out there who has this baggage from his/her "old" life where we were all egoistic to a certain extent, and does not know how to deal with this. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter, even maybe tales of how YOU have fought your bad habits or bent them, if that is the way you choose instead. Thank you for your time : )