While enjoying friendships with people in the new thought community, I have observed the word “ego” being used in a way that speaks about fear, pride, self-centeredness, and selfishness. The ego is considered to be flawed in one way or another, and many want to defeat what they call ego.
I usually laugh when I hear someone speak of ego as if it is the new word evil. I hear many speak of ego and our authentic self as being separate. They believe the authentic self is divine in nature while the ego is viewed as defective. This type of thinking is grounded in our judgment of what is good and what is bad, and that is a function of judgment.
The word ego is the Latin for I. Awareness that I exist creates a reference to myself, or I (ego). Our ego began to get a bad reputation with the definitions developed for psychoanalysis, and then the word ego was adopted by Eastern religious teachers. We began to see ego as the part of self-awareness that is overly concerned with my wants and needs with little concern for you and your wants and needs. In other words, ego began to mean selfishness, pride, self-importance, self-centeredness, self-righteousness, and other human characteristics we hide in shadow.
Going further, we began to associate ego with our separation from the One Source of All That Is. Eastern spiritual masters began to teach us that if we are not acting on behalf of the greater good, we are acting out of our flawed ego. Oftentimes the word ego is equal to the concept of the “small self” in Eastern religion. This concept identifies the small self as the part of the mind that keeps us separated from oneness.
Joshua teaches that ego is a part of the whole self and it serves a function that is perfectly designed. Joshua encourages us to integrate our whole self as he urges us to honor the role ego plays for the purpose of a lifetime. From Joshua’s point of view, the ego is our face to the world. Ego is designed to project my beliefs into the world. However, if I believe my beliefs are right and have more value than your beliefs, I am acting from a place fear or self-righteousness.
The ego is assigned the duty of gathering information from the world, which we believe is outside of the self, and then making this information available for internal processing. After processing gathered information internally, our beliefs about who we are is fed to our ego and then projected into the world. The ego did not select our beliefs, yet it projects our beliefs.
Our innate drive to survive is not the role of the ego. Joshua taught me to be aware that when people say their ego is fighting to be right, or to survive, what they are really speaking of is their natural tendency to want to prove what they believe. Proving that my beliefs are right is a function of fear played when we BELIEVE it is crucial to be right. The position of thinking I am right and you are not is based on our nature to judge. Why do we want to blame ego for this human behavior?
I am responsible for my identity. I select my beliefs. I decide when to act selfishly or magnanimously. I act self-important if I believe I’m always right. Ego, I, cannot act superior unless I believe I am superior. The word ego has become a bucket of slop that we blame for human behavior we push into shadow. Some say meaningless things like, “My ego was seeking attention” as if they had nothing to do with it. Some even seem pompous about recognizing that it was their so-called ego acting up. They want to use the word ego as if it is in control of their behavior. We continue our belief in separation by acting as if ego is separate from who I am.
We split ourselves apart by talking about an ego-self and an authentic self. There is only One Self. To acknowledge ego is to acknowledge self-awareness, not self-centeredness. I am aware that I exist. Self-awareness is a perfect function of being a human. Self-awareness is necessary to live a lifetime.
Let’s go back to the definition that “ego” is the Latin word for “I” and release the training that ego is a word for acting self-involved, self-centered, selfish, self-important, and so on. Too many have attached parts of their shadow to the word ego, and they want to shun, banish, kill, control, or conquer it. This belief system feeds internal conflict. We will not discover peace on earth until we end the war within. Make peace with your identity–your so-called ego. I am aware that I exist. That is the whole function of identity.
If you have ever said something like, “That was my ego talking.” Stop it. No one speaking English says, “That was my I talking.” Be authentic and drop the idea that “my I’ is flawed, and I can blame it for everything I dislike about me. Ego is the Latin word for I. If you are speaking English, stop saying ego and just say I. Please recognize that no one ever says, “That was my ego being kind again.” No, we don’t allow “ego” (I) to do anything loving or beautiful–but, do you? Own your behavior and your words. Stop using the word ego incorrectly.
Intention to be whole: As our global awakening unfolds, I practice unity within my whole being. I am at peace with my whole self. I recognize that I project a face to the world based on chosen labels and ideas. This is a projection of who I am. I maintain the awareness that I am more than my projection, more than my thoughts and feelings, and far more than my beliefs.
I gracefully accept that my face to the world gathers information for my whole self as I play my role of a lifetime. Within my whole self I decide what I believe and then I project this image outward. I am at peace with this process. I release thoughts of separating my image and my authentic self, for there is only one being here. I am One with All That Is.