You want to see your ego? You're all idiots, pathetic, useless, scumbags, waste of humans

I do not take anything that spiritual/religious types claim about the ego seriously.

The ego is very little understood at this point, but one thing we can be somewhat certain of is that it is a necessary, integral part of us, genetic, a survival mechanism that separates the strong from the weak. You can never get 'rid' of it. It's amusing to watch people who developed their personal belief systems thru their own subjective moralism attempt to explain and understand the ego, never realizing their perspective is hopeless skewed and distorted, and thus their 'truths' about the ego are anything but. Unfortunately, for those types of believers, validation of personal belief systems will always trump the real truth, so if anything doesn't fit into their 'peace and love' and 'enlightenment' beliefs, it will always be deemed as false.

Deny ignorance? Not for so many it seems, sadly enough.

Even those who seek 'enlightenment' are being directed by their egos. Very amusing. In my own spiritual studies and experience I've never met a person who claimed to be 'enlightened' who didn't have a very obvious and healthy ego working quite strongly.

The ego is always there, still active, still sending you the messages it needs and is designed to send you, no matter how you attempt to subvert it.

Your ego is your own worst enemy? Nonsense! Try to survive with only your 'peace and love' and enlightenment to warm and feed you. Your ego is your best friend, but like anything you can use it to your advantage or your disadvantage. To deny it is to deny yourself and what you truly are in nature.

Anyone who tells you that you have to get rid of your ego is clueless. It's New Age woo. The same sort of bull# they tried to feed us about having 'no fear', when fear is as normal and necessary to us as laughing and breeding. Try to claim your fearless when you're being attacked by a Grizzly and your survival instinct kicks in. Laughable.

Originally posted by Screwed
Truely amazing how many people have TOTALLY missed the point of the thread but then, maybe THAT was the point of the thread,

I see a few people who's EGOS RULE them and they are out of control. This thread has brough them out and exposed them for the rest of us to see.

Hey, I am laughing thinking the same thing.....however that makes me judgmental and ego driven......LOL

There is no ego escaping!

Originally posted by InTheFlesh1980
Professing a path to mastery over the human ego is a form of prideful egotism in itself.

In my opinion, many of the philosophies that embrace ascension above the bounds of humanity are a pointless attempt to detach from one's own humanity. It stems from an inherent, unconscious dislike of the weaknesses of humanity and therefore, an inbred dislike of oneself.

If one feels that certain inherent aspects of humanity are distasteful, unsightly and macabre, one need only adopt a philosophy where he/she is one of the special individuals that is able to "rise above" the other human riff-raff. This satisfies the need to be distant from that which is ugly within the self, and soothes the unavoidably voracious ego with an illusion of enlightenment.

This line of thought, to me, is a meaningless mentally masturbatory exercise.

Hmmm... I don't agree. It's not that enlightened people feel that they are special and have the ability to rise above; they have merely stopped placing value judgments. In other words, things, situations, circumstances are neither right nor wrong, they simply just are.
The need for detachment is realized when one understands that in order to achieve a higher state of consciousness, one must relinquish all ties to the physical world.

As for the comment regarding mental masturbation, one could easily say that you are guilty of such an exercise as well.

reply to post by Bluesma


Your little toe is a part of the body but what is the "Me" your referring to? Also you must know that your little toe is temporary and someday wont exist right? All im saying is look within and find that which remains when all that doesnt remain is gone.

If someone says that you look fat what theyre really saying is your body looks fat. Now if your not identified with the body you simply look in the mirror and say "Is there any truth in what he said is this body overweight and if its true then you feel very grateful to the person for pointing it out, and if its not true you just shrug it off and say the person was mistaken. Theres no anger no embarrassment but there could be gratitude, there could be appreciation for the persons honesty. So theres no negative reaction. thats all im saying. We should welcome criticism and compliments and give them real consideration but ULTIMATELY your not your body or mind/personality so why feel bad?

I believe that the OP himself gets his own ego rush from coming across to others as someone dispensing "Wisdom" or as a "Wise teacher".

Anyone wanting to be recognized as a "teacher" or "Guru" of sorts is still in the infancy of their own Spiritual development.

Here is, in my opinion, one of the greatest REAL teachers on the subject of "losing the ego" of the 20th century.
Unlike the OP, Mr. Howard actually lived everything he taught with no ego whatsoever.

Mr. Howard passed in 1992 but his legacy lives on in the extended archive of his teachings.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY -- NO FLUFF -- NO BS -- JUST RAW, HARD TRUTH

Try to survive with only your 'peace and love' and enlightenment to warm and feed you.

reply to post by jheherrin

So how does ego help you to survive?

The ego is very little understood at this point, but one thing we can be somewhat certain of is that it is a necessary, integral part of us, genetic, a survival mechanism that separates the strong from the weak.

Very little understood by who? You? the scientists you look to to explain reality to you? are you saying because some people are ignorant that everyone must be also?

Please explain why someone with an ego is strong and someone without an ego is weak

reply to post by jheherrin

I do not take anything that spiritual/religious types claim about the ego seriously.

who said anything about religion or spiritual?

I read the following Logic statement (which has nothing to do with religion):

Just like the thought of a rock, is not an actual rock, so who you think you are, is not who you actually are.

Using the Ego, I played with that saying, wrestled with it, and SURPRISE!!!! ...shifted into the Observer state, directly seeing that I am not what I think or the thinker of thoughts.

The ego is very little understood at this point, but one thing we can be somewhat certain of is that it is a necessary, integral part of us, genetic, a survival mechanism that separates the strong from the weak.

It was not there as a child, and Life was Grand as a child, so free, awe, wonderous.

You can never get 'rid' of it. It's amusing to watch people who developed their personal belief systems thru their own subjective moralism attempt to explain and understand the ego, never realizing their perspective is hopeless skewed and distorted, and thus their 'truths' about the ego are anything but.

How do you know you can never get "rid" of it? Have you explored such possibilities thoroughly to make such a statement? On the other hand, inherently everyone is already the Observer/Awareness of the Ego and is not the ego. In sleep, w No ego, you still are. In meditation with all thoughts stopped, you still are. Logic!

No belief systems necessary. See for yourself if it's true.

Unfortunately, for those types of believers, validation of personal belief systems will always trump the real truth, so if anything doesn't fit into their 'peace and love' and 'enlightenment' beliefs, it will always be deemed as false.

Nothing to believe in. If anything, it's suspension of all beliefs and the resulting reality without any Biased ego filters. Logically we can deduce that objective reality itself is already without filters/bias/subjectivity

Even those who seek 'enlightenment' are being directed by their egos. Very amusing. In my own spiritual studies and experience I've never met a person who claimed to be 'enlightened' who didn't have a very obvious and healthy ego working quite strongly.

Enlightenment seems to come of it's own accord when all Bias/filters/subjectivity is dropped. There is no One to claim it as such in the end.....

The ego is always there, still active, still sending you the messages it needs and is designed to send you, no matter how you attempt to subvert it.

Even in deep sleep & thoughtless meditation? Even when your a newborn? Many here recall earliest memories as filled with awareness, wonder, awe and lacking ego.

To deny it is to deny yourself and what you truly are in nature.

Speak for yourself. Me as Awareness, is inherently Aware of the ego and it's play. Sure it labels some things as needed, i.e. stomach needs food, bladder needs emptying, possible trouble ahead so heed with caution .....but it's also assuming, judgmental, labeling, controlling ...and is not me.....

There is a deeper intuitive, bypass the ego, knowing and operating system for life....

Anyone who tells you that you have to get rid of your ego is clueless. It's New Age woo.

Are Socrates, Empedocles, Parmenides, and other 500 B.C. era philosophers "New age woo"? Ha! If anything, it's Old Age and I'd much rather see for myself whether highly respected Philosphers of Antiquity were right, instead of some rather ATS poster who just assumes its all woo but has nothing to back it.

Try to claim your fearless when you're being attacked by a Grizzly and your survival instinct kicks in. Laughable.

Fear comes and goes and the Observer is Aware of it. Grizzly approaches are handled by making yourself as Tall and load as possible with raised hands and standing your ground ...requiring a high level of mastery over the fear/flight effect in order for higher a higher chance of survival. Or "Acting" as though dead..... Fear's instinct is too run, which in a grizzly situation would have you dead before you know it.

Originally posted by dominicus
Fear's instinct is too run, which in a grizzly situation would have you dead before you know it.

Nuhh uhhh, cuz he would shoot it with his big gun and kill it.

This thread is getting really entertaining.

btw, great post.
you clearly have more patience than I.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


I do not believe he is talking about killing it, although I have considered how I could accomplish such a task on several occasions. I think he is more or less talking about being aware of it and maintaining it properly. For the most part, it is necessary to have an ego to survive in the 3rd dimension.

reply to post by lapi7

I believe that the OP himself gets his own ego rush from coming across to others as someone dispensing "Wisdom" or as a "Wise teacher".

Or perhaps out of heart felt Love, selflessly wanting to share with friends here on ATS, something I've directly seen ...that I am not the Ego ....

Anyone wanting to be recognized as a "teacher" or "Guru" of sorts is still in the infancy of their own Spiritual development.

or perhaps not wanting to be recognized as anything no matter how much other people's ego's project assumptions. Sharing with friends....

Here is, in my opinion, one of the greatest REAL teachers on the subject of "losing the ego" of the 20th century. Unlike the OP, Mr. Howard actually lived everything he taught with no ego whatsoever.

Is there not hypocrisy in the logic of this? The same statements:

ego rush from coming across to others as someone dispensing "Wisdom" or as a "Wise teacher". Anyone wanting to be recognized as a "teacher" or "Guru" of sorts is still in the infancy of their own Spiritual development.

....can be applied to the fellow in the videos. Personally, I'm saying see for yourself if it's true or not, instead of making assumptions/projections on whether something is true or not based on whether or not someone has youtube videos.
______________
reply to post by Screwed

Nuhh uhhh, cuz he would shoot it with his big gun and kill it. This thread is getting really entertaining. btw, great post. you clearly have more patience than I.

Thanks bud. Just sharing with friends. It is definitely interesting seeing the defense mechanisms, self justifications, assumptions, and projections come out of all this.

reply to post by dominicus



The fact that you were so compelled to reply with a "defense" simply proves my point.

As the "fellow" in the video has acurately stated:

"You can test the true Spiritual level of a person by seeing how defensive they become when you tell them that they’re really not Spiritual or wise at all."

"Anyone who thinks that he must defend his beliefs has false beliefs, for Truth itself is its own defense."

I believe that you're just a little bit pissed that I "know" you and have pointed out your own hypocrisy.

"If the faults you found in other people were not so much like your own, you would not recognize them so easily."

reply to post by lapi7

The fact that you HAD to reply with a "defense" simply proves my point.

Another projection, assumption. There's no defense necessary. See for yourself if it's true. Some here got it, others reply with projections/assumptions/self defense mechanisms.

As the "fellow" in the video has acurately stated: "You can test the true Spiritual level of a person by seeing how defensive they become when you tell them that they’re really not Spiritual or wise at all."

Meh .... more projections & assumptions... Just like the though of a rock is not the same as a rock, so too who you think you are, is not who you are. So too, who others think you are, is not who you are.

"Anyone who thinks that he must defend his beliefs has false beliefs, for Truth itself is its own defense."

Which is exactly why all over this thread, i've said, "See for yourself it its true or not:" It stands of it's own accord.

"If the faults you found in other people were not so much like your own, you would not recognize them so easily."

Cool. My ego found it helpful to point it out that your original reply was projections/assumptions, none of which were true about the original and whole motivation of this thread, which was "To share with friends."

Some "get it" and "see it" as true. Others project/assume/self defend. Cool! The OP did what it was inherently meant to do.

Originally posted by Screwed
Truely amazing how many people have TOTALLY missed the point of the thread but then, maybe THAT was the point of the thread,

I see a few people who's EGOS RULE them and they are out of control. This thread has brough them out and exposed them for the rest of us to see.

It really is quite funny.
A thread about EGO has brought out some of the WORST of the WORST.
Look at the behavior of some of these people and how threatened they feel by this thread.

Point proven.
THis thread has become even more interesting than I expected.

Carry on everyone.

Quite the contrary, in my opinion. Upon reviewing the thread, the primary individual who appears to be most threatened and bothered by any dissenting opinion is you.

The "worst of the worst" you refer to is anyone who disagrees?

Also, most can recognize the classically fatal tactic of deflection that you default to whereby a dissenting opinion is construed as invalid because the person is "not ready" for the enlightenment that your content delivers.

It is a tactic meant to demean the opponent without addressing the issue. In any discussion, any person at any time can say "you disagree with me because you are not at my level and you are not ready for the truth I hold".

If there has been any open display of the insecurity of a fragile, impatient, judgemental, self-righteous ego, the crime is thine.

Before you hurl back some inanities, think of your statement earlier that you are impossible to offend. Display this enlightenment and freedom from your human ego you possess. Or will you let me control you from afar? If this last paragraph were not here, I would certainly get the result I expect from the string I pull.

I can accept the fact that I am an assho**. What I will not tolerate in people is when they pretend like they are not. Really it is the spectacular efforts of the so called "peaceful" people that get under my skin. It is a fantasy role playing game where you act like you have realized some secret inner truth to life by denying your inherent human nature and you proceed to don the robe of social judge. You are then not even attempting to deal with your ego and especially not mastering it. Just masking it with dribble you have memorized and smeared your appearance with so as to mask the very smell of being human.

I love humanity for its flaws and its virtues. The mix is what brings us here to this very moment. Acting like you are "above all that" is just BS. No you are not.

My ego, like everyone else's must be dealt with personally. When someone looks at you and thinks to themselves "that's his ego talking", they are not for a second taking into account that their ego is the one speaking and passing that judgment on the person they are criticizing.

Ego is not the evil. Ignoring it can be a problematic but only individually. It is entirely personal. We are not pigs for producing fecal matter, or sweating. We are not maniacs for getting angry, or feeling whatever inherent part of our nature we cannot deny exists. We are pigs for not cleaning ourselves. We are psychos for not correcting our personality flaws. All of that is an ongoing process with ups and downs. One step forward some times with two steps back. Live and let live, ego and all.

To pass judgment is to deny you have the same exact flaws to the same degree in the right circumstances.

I am an assho**, and so are you. I can live with that, can you?

Originally posted by Alda1981
as my old wing chun/tae kwon do teacher had told me... one spec of dust called another spec of dust an @sshole... so what?

it always soothes me to think about it.

although my current brazilian jiu jitsu teacher tells me to triangle choke them but.. anyway...

Martial arts have enriched my live so much. As a child, it may have been my ego that led me to take kung fu, but kung fu led me to zen and yogi philosophy. From there I learned how to deal with the ego. The yogi philosophy book had a chapter on meditation which is where I found chi. And chi cultivation is the best thing to ever happen to me. My ego is pumped up just thinking about it. ; )

reply to post by InTheFlesh1980


Sounds like you've got me pegged.

I really cherish threads like these.
Very simple in nature.
No links, sources, or references.
No you tube videos.

Just an OP with a very simple non confrontational, non controversial opinion which stirrs up so much emotion and self rightiousness as well as ridicule, scorn, self defensivness, and insecurities.

I love to sit back and watch threads like these unfold because it teaches me alot.
It teaches me alot about my fellow man and alot about myself.
It really is a study in psychology.
You can see, if you are able to separate yourself from the thing itself, what makes people tick.
Alot of people's insecurities get projected into their posts and people begin arguing over ideas that are thousands of years old and were brought to the attention of humanity by some of the greatest philosophers humanity has ever been blessed with YET.......if a fellow ATS member makes a thread about how he discovered the same thing then all hell breaks loose. and he/she is ridiculed, mocked, belittled, and scorned.

Please carry on.

reply to post by dominicus


Again, another in depth, point by point "defensive" reply.

You are CERTAINLY no wise man and your ego is very much alive, well and loves self recognition and adulation. You just hate the fact that I've got you and your own ego figured out.

No "speculation" here...as your "fruits' bear witness to your Spiritual level.

I'll wager that you do not have the intestinal fortitude or the Spiritual maturity or "Wisdom" to ignore this post entirely and NOT respond.

Let's see...in 4...3...2..

reply to post by lapi7


You seem to have everyone figured out.
Also, you seem very confrontational.

Am I the only one who sees you as being very confrontational?

Why do you suppose that is?

It is almost as if you feel threatened by the ideas being put forth here and are lashing out trying to provoke bad behavior from people who are clearly above such behavior.

I understand if it is YOUR nature to lash out.
Everyone does from time to time.
Such is the ego.
But why try to provoke others to do the same?

Your insecurities are getting the best of you and it is showing.
But, don't take my word for it.

It's my opinion that nobody ever fully sheds their ego. Not even a zen master or Jesus (if you will). The difference is how we react to the thoughts that arise. With practice, the ego does show itself less, but I would be skeptical of one who claims to have no ego.

A note from my ego taming practice: When I laugh at or curse someone silently in my thoughts, I find myself apologizing with thoughts right away. Not always. Sometimes I'm too upset. A work in progress.

reply to post by Screwed



Confrontational...yes...just like you.
Insecurities...absolutely...just like you as well.
"If the faults you found in other people were not so much like your own, you would not recognize them so easily."

The only thing is that I don't pretend to be something that I'm not...that's the difference.

And yes...I do have most people figured out quite well...and when that happens people get pissed that they've been "discovered"....just like you.

You stated: "Your insecurities are getting the best of you and it is showing."
You bet...I don't deny it one bit...but at least I'm truthful about it !
"The practice of honesty is far more convincing than the profession of holiness." --Vernon Howard

Now how about your own insecurities...or do you claim to have none?

By the way did you watch the videos of the REAL teacher that I posted before responding...of course not !
Niether did the OP.

If an evil man tells you the Truth it's still the Truth.