Posts Tagged ‘Ego Transcendence’
Short answer:
YES!
Long answer:
Sort of…
Awakening is a radical shift in identity, not the literal killing off of an ego. It is a letting go of any mental self-concept. It is a letting go of any place where ‘I’, as a separate self, as this and not that, am centered, revealing one’s true nature as actually being simultaneously everywhere at once and omni-present, and thus nowhere in particular.
As Davidya so wonderfully put it, there’s the experience of the separate self popping out of existence upon awakening.
Upon awakening, there is still the ability to think. Thoughts may arise. Thoughts are just recognized on the spot to be illusory and not actually true and so they are treated with a sense of lightness.
Any thought that could arise such as, “Whoops, I shouldn’t have done that” or whatever else, if it’s actually believed in as if it’s literally true actually pulls a “me” back out of the awakened state. As the enlightened state matures, one progressively loses the ability to truly buy into any belief, thought, or opinion as if they were real because they all become more and more obviously illusion. Thought is just thought. Period. It has no more reality than that. Thoughts are neither true nor false, for that is perception. Everything is what it is. Period.
One doesn’t lose the capacity to think altogether. See, the mind is a tool that can be used to solve math problems, plan building layouts, visualize a certain idea, etc. It’s a tool that can positively serve us, but it’s not a place to go and find truth or a true sense of identity.
Thoughts may arise in the same way that the sun rises or cars drive by. Egoic thoughts and otherwise. They just happen. They’re just not identified to be part of a separate self. There is no separate self. There’s no identity wrapped up around ‘this’ versus ‘that’ any more than you currently identify with the air all around you. It comes and goes, but it’s not the ultimate essence of what I am.
The ability to discern between chair and building and potato chip and edge of cliff still exists, but this recognition is secondary. It takes a backseat to the Essence of All That Is, the underlying unity of Spirit that takes the form of all things. The so-called individual things are recontextualized and intuitively realized to simultaneously all be the same One non-thing.
Interacting with the Ego
Opinions still exist, but they are recognized to simply be the opinion of a personality raised in a specific environment, during a particular time, with a certain set of experiences… they’re just opinions that are in no way more right or wrong than any other opinions. Opinions are in no way literally true. Buying into them simply creates the experience of them being true, but it doesn’t make them inherently true.
There is no real separate self who owns or takes credits for these opinions as if they’re “my opinions.” Opinions simply exist, unless they don’t.
The ego, along with its thought patterns and ability to “suck awareness in” the way a movie can “suck you in,” all still exist.
In fact, as long as the body is alive, an ego is NECESSARY. The ego will not and can not die until the body dies. Period.
Someone once asked the enlightened sage Nisargadatta Maharaj if the ego still arose in him and he very casually responded that of course it does, but that he sees it at once as illusion and discards it.
At any point even after enlightenment, there still exists the possibility for identification with the ego to happen and for “unenlightenment” to occur. This is a very painful experience but it still is, nevertheless, possible.
Even if the mind totally disappeared, there is still the ability to create something from nothingness, including the mind. So there is still the possibility, however remote or improbable it may be, that a “me” could arise again from Allness.
“Enlightened people” have not literally killed off the ego, but rather realized their true nature as the indescribable everything and nothing and no longer identify solely with the ego, its thoughts, or any of its false concepts of a separate self. That’s all. There is no longer any identification with this as opposed to that.
So… who are YOU?
…you sure? 
David Hobby, a photographic lighting blogger at Strobist does this nifty thing he calls speedlinks. Basically he periodically shares a collection of cool links that are worth checking out. What a great idea. Let’s do the same thing here. 
Each of these people talk about related topics, but they do from a slightly different angle with varying contexts and experiences. Appreciating their unique qualities is much like enjoying all the ingredients in a delicious pie. Oh sweet variety! 
So with that, let’s dive right in!
Davidya has a great post titled The End of Ignorance where he talks about the flashes of awakening and the progressive dissolution of egoic identification. The sword of Truth at work!
Takuin offers us a quick bite about perceiving the world through beliefs vs. looking at what’s actually arising in front of you.
Kenton Whitman brings up some funny points about being happy and being sad, and suggests that we take a look at what’s right about our emotions rather than what’s wrong about them.
Evelyn brings up a very important topic about how the pain we feel is can often be the pain of others. Recognizing this, the ability to surrender and allow the pain to pass through you without trying to ‘fix’ the problem becomes that much more important, for there’s nothing ‘wrong’ that happened other than the energy of someone else’s pain being resisted and then getting stuck within your own body. Nifty concept, eh?
Avani-Mehta discusses how to claim your personal power and learn to say no and feel good about it while coming from a place of integrity and self-respect. This is important because acceptance of what is doesn’t mean you somehow give up the ability to say no.
Irene addresses the topic of synchronicity, sharing some personal experiences of hers as well as what those synchronistic events have taught her. Synchronicity is such a fun topic and you can tell she is enjoying her ‘coincidental’ experiences in the process.
Myrko explores the meaning of the finger pointing to the moon and what this popular saying is really telling us and what insights we can learn from it.
Mike Elias points out how all actions are neutral and all people are inherently innocent. What does this really mean and how does it impact our life? We’ll let Mike do the talking.
Steve Pavlina explains and illustrates how soulful relationships work when you choose to come from a place of Oneness and Unconditional Love rather than separation and fear.
Have you found some more cool spiritual articles worth checking out? Feel free to share ‘em with us down in the comments section below. 
There’s a very important difference I’d like to talk about because without being aware of this, it may seem like two different paths and ideologies can be in conflict with each other whereas they’re simply choosing to ultimately achieve the same thing, fulfillment of the soul and a place of well-being, but via different methods and teachings.
The Saint is a man who disciplines his ego. The Sage is a man who rids himself of his ego.
-Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei
Historical Background
When the Buddha came to the earth and began teaching his Dharma 2500 years ago, he basically began teaching a pathway to enlightenment. His eight-fold path leads to the end of human suffering and self-awakening.
Enlightenment is essentially a complete disidentification with the ego, our idea of a separate self. As one searches for Truth and begins to look within, they will often find that there really is no separate self in the first place, only the idea of one which they can then pretend to be real and thus who I am. Enlightenment is about letting go of identification with the false self, with that which you are not.
For those of you familiar with David Hawkins’ map of consciousness, spiritual awakening corresponds with consciousness level 600, the initial level of enlightenment.
Now practically speaking, total spiritual awakening can be a pretty challenging task for people, especially for people back thousands of years ago who were far less spiritually evolved than people today. You and I have a bit of a head start compared to people in those days since many of us are open to and have been exposed to higher level teachings our whole lives.
Yes you can become enlightened this very instant, but it generally takes a lot of effort to get to that level of surrender.
When Jesus came down, 500 years after Buddha, he taught people to strive for a different goal which is easier for the masses to reach: Unconditional Love.
We can’t really say to ourselves, “Let’s be enlightened now” and have it happen just like that, but we can choose to be unconditionally loving in the moment.
Jesus taught about loving your neighbor as yourself, being a loving person, and so on. His teachings basically guide people to being the best “me” that they can be. He encourages people to become the highest and most loving and compassionate separate self possible, even though he does mention how we are all Gods and ultimately One.
For those of you familiar with Hawkins’ scale of consciousness, Unconditional Love calibrates at consciousness level 540, the highest level attainable before enlightenment at 600. Again, if you don’t know what the numbers mean, no worries. What’s important to take away is the idea that Unconditional Love is the highest state that an individual can attain.
Both paths, unconditional love and enlightenment, are absolutely amazing and deal support the fulfillment of the soul. It’s not about gaining worldly possessions and attaining worldly power and status, but about fulfillment of the soul and becoming whole and complete as a being.
If everyone in the world reached the level of Unconditional Love or Enlightenment, MAN what a place this’d be!! Both levels are utterly phenomenal. Read More …
My friend Mike Elias sent me an excellent comment regarding yesterday’s post about my current personal experiences regarding fear of nonexistence.
It seems that Hawkins refers to fear of death and fear of nonexistence as very different obstacles. To completely disidentify from the sense of separate identity and dissolve into oneness (LoC 600) is one thing, whereas it sounds like existence vs. nonexistence is a much higher duality, like Void vs. Allness stuff, Jesus and Huang Po level (LoC 850).
Mike is absolutely correct. There is a very distinct difference.
To me, it feels “I” am going through the realization of the nonexistence of “me”, not so much a nonexistence of the whole world, of the void of nothingness. What’s left of “me” is fearing its own nonexistence, its death.
It does feel like the whole world is an illusion, but it is not of primary concern. The world seems like a magic trick, a grand cosmic illusion. It’s like seeing a magician saw a woman in half and knowing that in Reality she hasn’t been split in two, despite the fact that our physical senses would suggest otherwise. The physical experience itself is happening, but it’s not actually real. The world exists, but it’s not real.
Experientially, the dissolution of the separate self feels like a nonexistence of the separate self.
Awakening is lead up to by the realization of your own nonexistence. Read More …
The famous enlightened master Ramana Maharshi teaches the pathway to enlightenment through self-inquiry and constantly asking the question, “Who am I?” Just ask yourself, “Who am I? Who sees when I see? Who hears when I hear? Who knows that I am aware? Who am I?”
Is your name, its letters and sounds, you?
Or is it just a label? It’s not you. If you changed your name, would you still be you?
Are you your body?
If your body changes, if you lose a limb, you would still be you.
Is your mind you?
If yours thoughts change or your beliefs alter or the mind you have goes quiet in meditation, you’d still be here. The thought processes are not you. Who is it that’s noticing the thoughts?
The “I am” that I am is the same beingness that existed when you were five years old. Various qualities and characteristics about you may have changed since, certainly, but the very core of the fact that you exist hasn’t changed. Read More …
Question:
What is the fastest way to kill the ego?
The meditation is working well, and things are moving forward.
I want it dead by my birthday february 25.
JB.
My response:
There are many paths you can take, all of which will guide you into letting go of all sense of separation resulting in ego transcendence and enlightenment. Let’s look through a number of options and see if we can find something that resonates with you. Mix and match based on your own intuition and experiences.
First and foremost, the ego is not something to push against, struggle with, or overcome. The ego is not something to be killed. That mindset will only set you up for more struggle with the ego sneaking in the back door. Struggle, resistance, fighting, and killing will not work. You don’t defeat darkness with darkness. You transcend darkness by bringing in the light. This is a critical point.
Who is it that wants to kill the ego? Why, the ego, of course!
The ever present awareness has no problem with the ego being there. It is as it is.
So, how do we transcend the ego? Read More …
Question:
The “problem” with spirituality as I see it is that it is not enough to know what to do, it is all experiential. We have to see for ourselves and learn the lessons ourselves to really understand. And this is one big difference between religion and spirituality in my opinion.
Most religious people I have met only do what they do because they have been told by someone else that it is the right thing to do. They are blindly following guidelines because “God” says it’s right. Their ego’s are so tightly glued to their beliefs that any reasoning with them they take as an attack on themselves and they get angry.
Of course they do. It’s their whole story, it is who they think they are. Who would they be if all of a sudden everything they thought they are would dissolve? You see, the ego provides a very useful function in our lives on this planet.
How else would we know to protect ourselves? How else would we know to feed ourselves? How else would we know to not put our hands in the fire, stay away from things that makes us ill, gather food for the winter, dress ourselves warmly, spread our genes to ensure that the species lives on and fight when we have to?
Ask yourself this question: Where would you be without your ego? Probably dead. Long time ago. Spend some time thinking about that one if you haven’t before.
So one of the functions of the ego is to ensure the survival of this body that we are in. It does so that we think that we are our thoughts, our minds, our body, emotions, the stuff we do, the things we have and everything else. Without the sense of self, there would be nothing to protect. If there was no other, there would be nothing to fear and we’d have become extinct long time ago.
My response:
First off, props to you for realizing that you do indeed have to EXPERIENCE Truth in order to know it. Simply intellectualizing or believing, buying into any structured external belief system of any sort will necessarily hold you apart from the highest Truth.
Truth can not be verbalized, only known. Whenever you put it into words, you are filtering down the infinite vastness of all that is into a few letters and sounds. The word “apple” is not the same thing as eating an actual apple.
Interestingly, you brought up this point and then went straight back into imagining (read, going to the mind for answers) as to what life without the ego would be like. You’re directly going against exactly the issue you just brought up.
Intellectually wondering what life would be like without an ego, while STILL coming from a place of ego will not work. You can’t transcend duality through duality. You have to reach Oneness by going to Oneness, not by going through the world of illusion.
Living in this world is like dreaming while you’re asleep. When you’re asleep, everything feels real and you know it to be so. You can’t say this is just a dream because you have nothing to compare it to.
It is only when you wake up that you can look back at the dream and accurately determine that it was all a dream, all a made up illusion in your mind.
This life we live in is the SAME thing. In order to experience it as a dream, to see the world of illusion as illusion, you have to first WAKE UP and then once you have awakened, look back at the dream and identify it as such. Read More …
