Is EGO AS NAUGHTY AS WE THINK?What is EGO? There is the psychological definition, the contemporary

Is EGO AS NAUGHTY AS WE THINK? What is EGO? There is the psychological definition, the contemporary spiritual meaning and then there is the acronym that I am drawn to - Edging God Out! If ego is a process of dissociation and splitting off - in psychological language- then perhaps that definition is not working for us in our life process. Spiritual jargon refers to the ego as the attempt to prevent us from staying fully grounded and open and that part of us that does not conform to out hoped, fears, or the way we thought it was going to all turn out.  We blame EGO for so much of our human slips and slides. The question is are our definition of EGO disconnecting and separating us from ourselves, is EGO the link that was meant to bridge our higher selves with our lower selves or the innocent child open and vulnerable? “If we want to get to know more about egoic process, we can start by getting really curious about those thoughts, emotions, and sensations that we will do just about anything to avoid. We can reverse engineer this inquiry by making the commitment to noticing when we are caught in habitual, addictive behavior, including complaining, blaming others, being self-aggressive, becoming caught in shaming ourselves, as well as the more generic list of overeating, getting lost in the internet, unconscious sexuality, hiding out from intimacy when we long for it more than anything (minimizing and pretending we ‘don’t care’), numbing ourselves with a marathon weekend of Game of Thrones, rapid-fire shots of tequila in the face of boredom or emptiness, etc. As we notice this, with kindness we can make the choice to slow way down. And get really curious, daring to care more about our actual experience than in our interpretations of it, or in getting away from it. With new levels of openness and love – in a way that is totally non-shaming and honoring of how fragile this human heart truly is – we can ask ourselves: I wonder what emotional state I’m trying to avoid? In all of my aggression toward myself, turning from my experience, in all of the storylines about who did what to me and how wretched I am, etc… would I be willing, even for a few minutes, or seconds, to meet that feeling that has been trying to reach me for so long? To invite that one into the home of my heart, to come close, and to see what it is he or she has to say? To replace the abandonment with intimacy. In one moment, to make a commitment to end the aggression. In this way, we can use the surges of ‘ego’ – whatever it is – as an invitation and fiery reminder to infuse our experience with empathy, with warmth, with compassion, and with presence. Declaring to ourselves and the world that all of our inner experience is valid, it is all the flow of energy and information, not pathological, and worthy of our care and holding. In this sense, ego is an invitation into presence. We can re-craft the narrative of ego in new and more integrated ways, rather than using that concept to indulge in re-enactments of the shame and blame that was hurled at so many in our families of origin. To use ‘ego’ as a special wrathful sort of doorway into wholeness.” ACTION:  Today, create the intention to pause with what you have come to define as your EGO. Discard all associations with it, release definitions and simply be the grownup you think you are and let it sit on your lap or lay next to you for a few moments today. Breathe, listen and be still with the so-called EGO moments. Perhaps we may learn to not be so quick to judge it, belittle or diminish it, avoid it, or blame and shame it. You and I may discover the best parts we ever knew we had. Don’t throw the bath water and the baby out. Be still with the immediate experience of EGO. It wants to take you and I to our heaven.  Excerpts from…. alovinghealingspace.blogspot.com -- source link

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