To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/07/26 13:12
Subject: [K-list] Function of Ego
From: Martin Thompson

> I pondered what the function of
>Ego could be. We seem to run from it, chasing down divinity, as though ego
>where some redheaded stepchild. Is the path towards divinity truly the
>opposite direction of ego?

I have been pondering the same question for some time now. It seems
wrong to me that something so (apparently) useful should be regarded as
something to discard. The ego is, for me anyway, a necessary function:
strength and action in the world. Mind you, I am in my imagination
contrasting that with the notion of the wimp for its opposite.

>Maybe ego is just a face we put on our free will. hmmm.

Exactly. Closely related to our public persona: the mask we present to
the world. And of course, this is part of the problem that the ego
presents: a false image of ourselves both for internal and external
consumption.

But I am coming to the view that this self-defensive attitude is not
necessary. The ego is not, in my view, something to be destroyed (easy
to say from the viewpoint of an Eastern culture where family ties are
traditionally so strong it is doubtful whether strong egos in the
Western style develop very often anyway). Instead, I think it is
something to be transcended.

I've been reading Krishnamurti recently, and he points out, if I've
understood him correctly, that the verbal thoughts of the mind create an
image of an inner person, the thinker, which I largely equate with the
ego. In fact, they are just thoughts and the person created is just an
illusion, sustained only as long as the thoughts continue.

I think that this may be where the mystical emphasis on diminishing the
ego and quelling your inner chatter come from. Krishnamurti's method is
to simply observe it, without judgement: you will quickly find that the
mind goes quiet and (he doesn't say this quite like this so I may be
mistaken) and you therefore can dis-identify with its thoughts, thus
transcending your ego without losing it.

--
Martin Thompson martinATnospamtucana.demon.co.uk
London, UK
   Home Page: http://www.tucana.demon.co.uk
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