If you’ve wandered through
any spiritual or new age works either recent or reportedly ancient, you may
have encountered the concept of ego destruction. As with many other ancient concepts or ideas,
I cannot help but wonder if this is yet another epic misinterpretation. Forgive me, as I mean no disrespect to any
person, faith or practice as I write. I
merely wish to paint the picture of an alternative perspective and one that I
think is sorely needed for much greater understanding. In my book, Exploring
the Conscious Self for Growth and Understanding, I explored the ego and
consciousness and came to the beginnings of some conclusions as follows:
From my exploration into the topic of consciousness,
the ego as the veil, I begin to come to the conclusion that the life we
experience here on Earth is the result of a conscious individuation from the
Cosmic Mind or One Mind in the form of ego for the purpose of a physical
experience in an individuated focal point of existence in a specific time. The ego is the veil that separates humanity
from the Cosmic Mind or that, to us, which is unconscious or simply, not yet
known. The veil does not separate us
from our Source or sever the connection to that Cosmic Mind but rather obscures
it through the existence of the ego. We
remain part of the entirety of the cosmos, our cells, molecules and particles
gathered as a density intentionally collected in a point of focus here in this
now as are all entities in existence within this frame or dimension.
The ego exists as learned scholars and wise spiritual
teachers will in unison agree. Where
they all may diverge is on the purpose of the ego and understanding its related
consciousness. In my dissertation, I
posit that it is because of the ego that we have individuated from the One Mind
or Cosmic Consciousness and this intentionally formed the veil between the
physical conscious world and the world of unconsciousness, ether or the
ethereal realms of the spirit. It is
through the process of choosing individual experience that seems to separate us
from our Source at a purely physical or conscious level. We did so in order to experience creating and
the receiving of the gift and the use of free will from whatever Source or
Force in this universe that created us.
As a unified whole, we still exist, I think, as everything in creation
is interconnected as well as interdependent.
Others are beginning to join this body of thought. (117)
In another of my works, So It’s Over, Now What, I explored another concept I wish to share
with you, Malware:
Part of the brain’s simulation process is taking in
data from the outside and bumping it up against the various memories we have
stored within our minds. By comparing
the data the mind makes assumptions about the data it has perceived, runs its
simulations, comes up with assessments or conclusions, which then trigger
various biological processes which can help keep us safe. Without memory and the ability to recall it,
we might forget about that time fire burned our fingers and reach blindly into
a flame without any caution. One of the
challenges with memories is that they are not always exact and we sometimes
store the memories of our resulting judgments from our mind’s simulation processes
negatively. If we emotionally charge
events such as those that are painful to us, those memories will be a bit
easier to find during our mind’s simulation processes. The problem with the mind’s simulation
processes it that the mind automatically assumes the data it takes in is
correct, especially if within the memory it finds a similar painful outcome to
a process. A painful memory may be
distorted over time. Such memories may
cause us to become triggered over an emotional landmine (read, unhealed
psychological wound) that was based on an assumption not validated.
I refer to this as malware or a virus being
introduced into our mental processing system.
With malware or a virus in place in our mental processes, we may jump to
conclusions without accurate data and decide that vengeance or revenge is the
appropriate course of action given the data the mind has taken in, simulated,
judged through the filters of all kinds of psychologically tainted experiences
and then resulting in illusory emotion that seem real making someone feel a
dire urge to strike out to preserve the ego or the body.
If your operating system is not in perfect health,
you’ve let your emotional landmine blow somebody up but primarily, it’s you
also that is hurt the worst by the blast because you were unaware of the
psychological virus or malware unconsciously installed somewhere in your memory
or emotions attached to a memory in your thought processing system. (47)
So, in two separate explorations shared, I’ve
outlined a concept of the ego as that part of our Consciousness (Big “C” –
Cosmic Consciousness) that has pointed its focus in this physical reality. I’ve also introduced the concept of malware
in regard to the mental operating systems via beliefs and psychology in two of
my separate works quoted above. Now
think for just a moment. If we were to
destroy the ego in an effort to spiritually advance, would we still be here in
this third-dimensional reality? I don’t
know the answer to that and I don’t know how we get to the answer of that. If you were to take a person and destroy
their ego in quite literal terms, where would the “I” of them go? They’d still be here which means their
individuation still exists and then, so would their ego. What I put forth is the idea that it is not
bad to have an ego, it is not wrong to think in terms of “I” and it is not
wrong to be an “I” in this frame. You
can still progress in this frame spiritually by maintaining the “I” or the
“Ego” or any of its component parts or aspects of consciousness. My explorations have led me to a path of
consideration that it is actually not "the ego that must be destroyed in order
for humanity to be awakened" but that it is the malware that must be discovered,
rooted out or otherwise healed in order for an individual here in this frame
with an “I” focus (what other focus can individuated consciousness have here in
this frame?) to grow into greater awareness and improve health and well-being.
It is not the ego that must be destroyed or any part
of your being that you should dislike or seek to destroy. In fact, it is the opposite. The “I” that is you is perfect in
design. What is imperfect (or really, rather the challenge) is what you
have within the concept of “I” that isn’t necessarily what you came here with,
“Malware” in your mental operating processes.
Now, I think in some cases that there is past-life residue that can
permeate the “I” but even that is separate from the “I” that is you or the
Ego. Even with malware operating in your
consciousness, you can still step outside of it and observe it in action and
experience the vast peaceful connectedness of the Cosmic Consciousness as
Eckhart Tolle outlines in his work, The
Power of Now. I think that we exist
exactly as we are meant to. Our
consciousness is never not connected (forgive me the double negative) to the
Cosmic Consciousness but that we just have an individuated focus for the
purpose of gaining experience. To me,
this logically explains the variations of perception and belief from human to human. To me this logically unites many theories in
a way that I can understand and that build a logical and necessary framework for me of complete
compassion for every individuated aspect of consciousness here existing in the
physical at this time.
So, the Ego is a part of you. To want to destroy a part of yourself, I
think, is one of the most harmful concepts in existence. To understand any virus or malware existing
within your mental operating system so that you can heal it and unite
fragmented aspects of your consciousness into a loving, accepting,
understanding and compassionate wholeness makes much more sense to me than
destroying or surrendering the ego. You
cannot be other than who you are. The
true self is always there no matter what mental virus or malware has seeped
into your consciousness. The true self
can always observe, experience, understand, learn and grow even with the
malware. Discovering the psychological
wounds that are the "malware" and striving to transcend them brings greater understanding and a deeper
sense of connectedness and awareness.
You don’t have to destroy any part of you for that. You need only be open to understanding the framework
within which you operate. Trust in your
truest nature it is there right along with the “I” and the “We” of individuated
as well as united Consciousness.
© 2014 Rev. Dr. J.L. Harter
Rev. J.L. Harter, PhD,
M.Msc., B.Msc., Author, Blogger, and Spiritual Counselor, Editor of the
JMCC. See Bio section for more information.
