To Vilify the Ego

To Vilify the Ego

Source: Here

When it comes to spirituality, we often invent scapegoats wherever we ourselves should be held accountable, so perhaps we may have something to nail to the cross when we wish to avoid our own crucifixion.

One such scapegoat is the Ego, the idea we have of ourselves, the concept of “I” in each and every individual. This mystical abstraction is often seen as a sort of demon, the cause of our evils and the perpetrator of our individuality, which is somehow correlated to selfishness, self-seeking, self-gratification, and any such desires one might otherwise take full responsibility for. As it is claimed, the Ego is the demon that leads us from our “true nature”—whatever that may be—as if we were children enchanted by the melodies of the Pied Piper.

We wear it on our clothing; it’s tattooed on our skin; it’s in the conduct of our interaction; it seeps into every word and utterance; the Ego is virtually unavoidable in day to day life. If our “true nature” amounts to no more than “do as we naturally do”, it seems this Ego is, in fact, a part of our true nature; the Pied piper be damned.

But what is the Ego? Is there really an independent mechanism somewhere within that urges us to perpetuate this notion of self?

Of course—as is common—there is no such entity; there is no such component actually existing within ourselves we can call the Ego. It is a virtual representation of another notion, a product of language. It merely implies that we often think about ourselves and express ourselves in a certain fashion to which we find tasteful. When we say someone has a big Ego, we mean he thinks maybe too highly of himself, or that he is arrogant, or that he carries a grandiose view of himself—all ideas that the Ego isn’t, but he himself, is responsible for.

Some seek to blame the Ego, idolize it, condemn it, crucify it, as if our personal culture (a culture of which we have complete control) is the guilty party in our actions. Even if we were to destroy it—even if we were able to completely redefine how we think about ourselves and build anew in its place, a false identity somehow removed of the memory, experience and culture of oneself and one’s environment—it is still just the Ego talking. But by inventing the scapegoat, they are able blame themselves under the guise of blaming something else. Self-satisfaction achieved; the Ego intact.

Whenever we blame our Ego for something, we are blaming only an ill-defined idea and abstraction of ourselves as a whole, in order to disassociate ourselves from the seemingly shameful result of the mediocre art we produce every day and in every interaction as creative beings; and like any art, our true nature is not the canvas, nor the paint, but the entire piece.

Look in the mirror. Perceive and conceive yourself, and see the Ego in all its glory. It stares back at us. It is us.

Vilify the Ego? Vilify yourself and your creation.

Thank you for reading,