Image by Josch13
Narrated by Lawrence Doochin.
For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?"
-- JESUS
We each have a choice, and let's be clear what that choice is. Will we set our intention and our personal will to promote unity, healing, and a collective greater good? Or will we set it to benefit ourselves and certain individuals or special interest groups we belong to?
Martin Luther King Jr. told us that:
"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."
If we choose the ego and self-interest, we are operating from a very limited perspective. It may temporarily appear that we have won and that we have accumulated all of this wealth or power and control, but we have really lost. We have lost the opportunity to fulfill the purpose of what our higher self came here to do, because it didn't come here to make a lot of money or to have people put us on a pedestal. These things may be the vehicles through which we learn and remember, but they are only a means to an end.
We have also lost an opportunity to be a light for and in service to others, which is the most powerful and joyous thing we can do. To be a light takes us out of fear. This is one of the main purposes of our experience on Earth, and as we do this, we receive it back one hundred-fold for we are one. We must stand in the power, and especially the responsibility, of who we truly are as part of one whole.
The Ego = Judgment and Comparison
The ego operates through judgment and comparison. For instance, witness our initial thoughts when we meet or see someone for the first time. We usually label them in many ways, making judgments about how they look, how they speak, how they are driving too fast or too slow (we all look over to see who is driving the car).
The ego needs to label or categorize everything to feel safe. It compares, and the result is we feel better than the other person or group — we have more money, are better looking, or are smarter than this person. Or we feel worse, telling ourselves, “My body is fat compared to her body.” In unity, everything is equal. We appreciate differences while knowing they are only an appearance.
If we compare to others, we will be in fear because we can never be satisfied with who we are. One of the most detrimental ways we compare is to our younger selves, especially how our bodies used to be or how our brains functioned better. As we age, this type of comparison plays into several fears, including our fear that we are not good enough as we are and our fear of death.
The ego is always in fear. It needs answers or it will be in a greater fear, so it pushes the mind to come up with a solution. This is one of the reasons we continually stay in our thoughts.
The Ego = Grievances and Guilt
The ego also feeds itself on grievances. It has righteous anger. It wants to stay in resentment, bitterness, anger, self-judgment, self-pity, and pride. Watch your thoughts, since the ego is always looking for something to judge or worry about.
The ego also loves guilt and fear, and these have become a tenet of Western religion, though they are not of God. The ego uses fear and guilt to try and control situations and achieve its agenda. The ego identifies with the body and sees others only as bodies, not as spirit, which creates the foundation for illusory belief in separation. This is why people want to keep their bodies looking young and we have a plethora of products, including plastic surgery for literally every body part, to fulfill this unhealthy need. Our task is to look past the body to see the higher self within, as this is what’s real.
Our spirit rests in perfect peace and certainty, needing nothing additional. The ego is always looking for the next thing to satisfy it. This is a fruitless search, for there is no goal that satisfies it and we will never find happiness in this way. Thus billionaires want to accumulate more wealth, pro athletes more awards, professionals more recognition, and addicts more drugs. This is one of the reasons few take time to become still and know themselves at a deeper level.
The Ego = A Quest for Happiness
I want to distinguish between the terms happiness and joy. This is an important distinction as happiness is related to ego desires, which is why it comes and goes. We are happy when the stock market goes up or our team wins, but we are depressed when the stock market goes down or our team loses. We need to get off this rollercoaster as it’s not how we are meant to live our lives.
Joy on the other hand is intrinsic. We can reach a place where we feel it all the time, even under difficult life circumstances.
Our egos do not control us, nor are they separate from us. They are a byproduct of what is needed to exist in this Earth reality, but they are created from and exist only in judgment. They exist on a foundation of quicksand, which is why they are unstable. Most of us let the ego drive our lives, instead of being guided by the diamond within.
For a long time I thought I had to overcome my ego to reach the spiritual ideals I wanted to operate within, and I judged myself when I didn’t feel I was meeting my standards. But it was my ego judging my ego, since our spirit does not judge.
The Ego = Separation
When we let go of the false, our spirit naturally comes to the forefront of our consciousness. Our spirit is eternal and its foundation is a rock. If we feel depressed, anxious, or fearful all the time, it’s because we see our identity solely as ego-based, which is a scary and unstable place to be. In that space, we believe everything is separate from us and we truly feel alone. The Dalai Lama elucidated this well:
“Too much self-centered attitude, you see, brings, you see, isolation. Result: loneliness, fear, anger. The extreme self-centered attitude is the source of suffering.”
When we believe something is separate from us, we fear it and try to control it so we can stay safe. This is collectively playing out in an extreme way in the appearance of the world, which has been descending into chaos and insanity as it comprises many people who are fearful, greedy, and abusive of power.
Business is just the aggregate of all of the individual egos of its employees. As the energetic head of the business, if the CEO is highly ego-centered, then the business will also reflect this as there will be a culture of fear and lack of integrity. It will gather and hoard as much resources as it can and treat employees and suppliers as chattel. If the CEO or owner comes from more of a unity perspective, then the business will reflect this.
Reducing the Influence of the Ego
Each of us is being asked to reduce the influence of the ego, to see in a one-hearted way. We are being asked to live from an open heart, raising our understanding so that we can fulfill the role we are meant to play in order to help the world. We do this with forgiveness, as we are presented opportunity after opportunity to practice this.
We have to want, and actively work to, reduce the ego’s influence by forgiving, apologizing, taking responsibility, admitting we are not right, wanting to be happy instead of right, releasing bitterness and resentment, not speaking when we are angry, and by not blaming and letting our emotions overcome us. This can be hard at times, but we have to summon our will and push through it.
A strong mind is highly praised in Western society and rightfully so, but it has to be balanced with the heart and inner guidance. This is rare. A vast majority of people are making decisions from an unconscious place, which means the decisions are often not aligned with their inner truth and thus are meaningless.
The greatest thing we can understand is that we don’t understand anything. This opens us up to receive higher guidance, as we are now operating from humility. Humility is the ego’s opposite.
Don’t be afraid of not knowing. We have to first be willing to not know before we can receive guidance. Then we will have all of the answers we need, and they will be for our highest good as well as the highest good of everyone that is affected by our decisions.
When we operate solely through the lens of the ego, we are self-centered, looking solely at what we can acquire. When we are centered in our higher selves, we are Self-centered, always looking at what we can give. Helen Keller instructed us: “No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.”
We are not trying to crush the ego. Like everything, it’s a part of the whole. Our goal is to reduce its influence and to hear its voice as just a small part of us instead of as the only voice.
When we are in a state of flow, the ego’s logical mind becomes like a hammer that is picked up when needed and then put down. Decisions are made from a higher place within us, and then we use the thinking mind to figure out the logistics which are needed to implement the decision.
MAIN TAKEAWAY
The ego operates solely from fear and has its own agenda,
which is not one that serves our highest good.
?
In what ways can you better limit the influence of the ego
and allow your spirit to come to the forefront?
Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved.
Publisher : One-Hearted Publishing.
Article Source
A Book On Fear: Feeling Safe In A Challenging World
by Lawrence Doochin
Even if everyone around us is in fear, this doesn't have to be our personal experience. We are meant to live in joy, not in fear. By taking us on a treetop journey through quantum physics, psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and more, A Book On Fear gives us tools and awareness to see where our fear comes from. When we see how our belief systems were created, how they limit us, and what we have become attached to that creates fear, we will come to know ourselves at a deeper level. Then we can make different choices to transform our fears. The end of each chapter includes a suggested simple exercise that can be done quickly but that will shift the reader into an immediate higher state of awareness about that chapter’s topic.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here.
About the Author
Lawrence Doochin is an author, entrepreneur, and devoted husband and father. A survivor of harrowing childhood sexual abuse, he traveled a long journey of emotional and spiritual healing and developed an in-depth understanding of how our beliefs create our reality. In the business world, he has worked for, or been associated with, enterprises from small startups to multinational corporations. He is the cofounder of HUSO sound therapy, which delivers powerful healing benefits to individual and professionals worldwide. In everything Lawrence does, he strives to serve a higher good. His new book is A Book on Fear: Feeling Safe in a Challenging World. Learn more at LawrenceDoochin.com.
