The new Social trend is “consciousness” or being “woke”, and with this we have the online Guru’s telling us how we should be living our lives and letting go of and gaining more of. One such topic that I keep coming across is the letting go of the Ego. That dropping ego is the best way in all of our dealings to have a better more productive lifestyle, whether it is personal, relationships or even work life. But are we just throwing a big blanket over all of humanity to what we believe is right for us?
Here is what Carl Jung has to say about ego:
People measure their self-knowledge by what the average person in their social environment knows of himself, but not by the real psychic facts which are for the most part hidden from them. [“The Undiscovered Self,” CW 10, par. 491.]
The understanding of ego has run-amok
So what is it that the new InstaPhilospohers are speaking of when they speak of Ego? I don’t believe that it is exactly what Jung had in mind. When Ego is spoken or brought up in conversations, it is often followed up by being a jerk at work, or not listening to your workers, or being too manly or womanly and not listing to the wisdom of your spouse. Most of which is the inability to see fault in oneself or to always believe that it is “my way or the highway”.
But is this really ego or just an over zealous confidence which we call hubris or arrogance? Arrogance is the telltale sign that one had not gone through all of the stages of ego. Ego is necessary in our lives so that we get to know ourselves and the world around us. Thus we let go of arrogance and pride in the realization that the “wise man knows that he knows nothing at all”.
When we begin to tell people of all ages and walks of life to give up their ego, we are inevitably telling them to stop growing right now. Whether you're rich, poor, male, female, young or old the message of giving up ego is all the same. It is akin to elementary school child being told that he or she no longer needs an education and that all they have to do is become a doctor.
So Shouldn’t we be growing a strong ego?
The importance of building a strong ego is valuable to how we interact with the world around us. As a child if we did not have the ability to understand Us, that is the “that I am alive and I exist in this world” Us. To deny an infant of that process would lead him or her into a world of chaos. Akin to a grown man put in the chaotic ether of the 9th dimension.
As we grow older our ego clings onto others in the world around us, giving us an identity in relation to the people, cultures, religions and world around us. This learning experience gives us our beliefs or our non-beliefs. I am under the understanding that we are not our beliefs but that is a belief in-itself.
As we move on through the 5 or so stages of ego, we get to a level of a different awareness an awareness of connection. Being connected to everything and seeing the universe in it’s bigger picture. At this time we can let go of ego and grow into whatever next stage we are ready for.
Outside of the biological reasons that we are here on this planet, we are also here for something bigger, this is to grow in knowledge and level up as one would say. The entire universe is set in stages as are we. To skip over stages and not do the work would allow us to miss very valuable degrees of knowledge. So be happy with your ego and understand that where you are at is meant to be but never be satisfied.
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