Spiritual Blogs

The Ego - does it serve us well.

We all have ego while separated from our Source. Jesus had an ego and, in later life, He suffered from its interference in His goal for life. I refer particularly to when He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert being attacked by the devil(ego or carnal mind). We suffer relatively with the same temptations.

Our ego is a necessary part of survival on our planet and our existence. It is our ego that makes life decisions, however there comes a time when this tool is no longer necessary, to the same degree.

The ego is that part of us that is created from influences in our environment such as family, teachers, peers and three dimensional life experiences in general. As a result its entire thought system is based on the illusion that this world is real. Anything that threatens this thought system is sensed as a threat to its very existence. The greatest fear of the ego is its annihilation and for this reason it fights vigorously and relentlessly for survival by warding off any attempts at change.

It is relative but the greater part of our ego exists solely in a three dimensional world. It finds it difficult to accept anything beyond that, for then it's existence would be threatened. The ego is programmed to survive at all cost. It has all the tricks in the book to unleash on our souls if placed in a survival situation.

• Fear of the unknown
• Desire to keep the status quo
• Fear of change
• Doubt in our core goodness
• Doubt in our Divinity
• Fear of judgement from others
• An intrinsic need to be liked and accepted
• Fear of death
• Fear of fear itself
• Fear of being recognised for what it is
• Scrupulousness
• The Dark night of the spirit.

Scrupulousness is an extremely insidious form of attack with which the spiritually aware person must cope. The ego actually attacks you with itself, making you so much aware of its presence that you feel completely absorbed by Ego. This causes a person to doubt the real existence of any trace of spirituality within, for all it sees is ego in all it does. Every word written, word spoken and thought thought become under strict scrutiny, so much so that a person can/will suffer despair.

Here is where discernment and humility must come into play. The ego is raising its head higher in an effort to save itself from destruction. Humility is important in realizing that you will always have ego in lessening degrees as you progress. One is never completely free of ego motivation in all circumstances. Acceptance of this fact is imperative for spiritual progression.

The need to be ego free is an ego based ideology.

"Do not concentrate on the ego but concentrate on love and the ego will dissipate of its own accord" [The Nine]

Always remember that the ego can never destroy itself so do not attempt to do so with your carnal mind.

Discernment is required when assessing just when the ego is over invested in an outcome of any mission, even though seemingly of a spiritual nature. Remember there will always be some ego present for we are human. An example of this could be that you are writing articles for a spiritual site. You become over scupulous and suspect your true motives for writing. Do you wish to appear all knowledgeable or even a spiritual leader? The ego would win entirely if you succumbed to this attack and allowed it to prevent you from offering knowledge that had been given for the purpose of helping others. A good solution perhaps would be to not put yourself too out there. Be discerning as to how much and how often. Remember keeping busy for whatever motive is a ploy of the ego mind to distract you from your real objective. You are not meant to save any soul but your own and the ripple affect will take care of the rest.

The ego (our carnal nature) will be the cause of ongoing battles within for the spiritual seeker of truth and reality. The ego represents everything that spirituality is not.

This particular ego attack is extremely difficult to withstand as it can be incessant and it is a prelude to The Dark Night of the Spirit which is the seeming death of the ego and loss of belief in all things spiritual.....This will be a future subject for discussion....

Ann McCarthy