How would you explain "Ego" to me... and is there a positive side as well as a negative to this?

Question

How would you explain "Ego" to me... and is there a positive side as well as a negative to this?

Answer 1

To answer your question takes on a deeper purposeful approach about coming to the awareness of accepting the inherent potential within our consciousness to restore the creative partnership with the Eternal Father where the experience begins to find expression in our own purusha which I will try to explain in the context that our own nature is prompting to ask questions about self worthiness and love and the lack of the true nature of the appreciation of love and when the mind accepts the nature of purusha into it's awareness the whole experience of life changes for the better where the ego of the personality is centred in joyful peaceful awareness and opens outwardly to become the father and mother to all and becomes a friend to the friendless and all would drink from the cup that has quenched our thirst...the question of our own self worthiness is nothing more than separation anxiety...the question is in your own heart...are you going to allow the Eternal Father correct the faulty belief you have sustained about yourself and in the knowing of this going on the impulse to surrender to the inner silence of the awareness of the sense of self that is evolving for the purusha where the mind draws upon the purposeful integrity in the desire to restore the creative partnership with the supportive intelligence of nature that intuitively knows the purposeful expression of the nature of love and kindness that evolves the awareness of the pure nature of Being to become permanently infused in the purusha nature ( higher nature ) of the mind... where the mind is able to discriminate in knowing that the ego is no longer misled as to it's own sense of self and becomes increasingly more stable and more nourished by the influence of natural law through the regular use of Transcendental Meditation...for the refined impulse of Vedic vibration establishes a perpetual inflow of a higher nature of coherence of consciousness and it's resonance of vibration is upheld within the body and maintaining the integrity of the self organising systems in the physiology improving and uplifting the consciousness both for ourselves and the atmosphere of our environment in which we live...to my mind the ego is the vehicle of conscious life awareness and integral to our development potential in life...I wish you abundance and peace love Nils...

Answer 2

Ego, in psychological terms, does not mean having an inflated view of oneself. Freud first conceived of the ego as a mediator between the id and the superego; the ego also mediated between the real world (outside of oneself) and the demands of the id. Later ego psychologists gave more functions to the ego as that part of our mind which deals with others; the more in tune with reality the ego is, the better one functions in the world. Having a healthy ego, in these terms is a good thing.



The word "ego" is Latin for "I am" and it is in this sense that it got to have a negative meaning. Someone with an inflated view of themselves, who is only concerned with his/her own interests and cares nothing about others, is an egoist- psychologically, one might call him a narcissist. This is definitely not a healthy ego, in psychological terms. A good assessment of oneself, a realistic view of ones strengths and weaknesses, and a regard for ones own health and well-being are all part of a healthy ego.



I hope this helps.

Answer 3

In my opinion, the "ego" is another name for "false self" - one or more personality subselves that don't trust your true Self to guide you safely thru life:



http://sfhelp.org/gwc/personality.htm



http://sfhelp.org/gwc/IF/innerfam.htm



http://sfhelp.org/gwc/IF/faq.htm



http://sfhelp.org/gwc/false_self.htm



From this point of view, being dominated by a well-meaning false self is "negative" because it causes unwise personal and social decisions. To learn how to free your true Self to guide you, see this:



http://sfhelp.org/gwc/recover.htm

Answer 4

I`m saying this from my own experience, so disagree if you want to, cause you have to sometimes and that`s being honest to yourself too.



I am the ego and I try to dance with Shiva, maybe I am not such a good dancer, I don`t know but what matters to me is, I try. That`s all to it, just try. It doesnt matter if you have a wooden leg and you cant dance to save your life. But trying is good enough.



Dance with IT like the planet dances

Dance with IT like the star dances

Dance with IT like the plants dances towards the sun

Dance with IT like the bird dances towards the sky



I am the ego

WUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA < ------- Villain laugh

Answer 5

Ego?



I just want to leggo my Eggo....you know, with syrup and all the jazz.



Then, in the midst of eating that goodness, I'll revert back to childhood memories, and tell anyone to hit the road if they try to steal my precious Eggo's.



In other words, the word ego has no use for me...it's a made up word. Ego? It's called a personality.

Answer 6

She dances with love,

Hi :)



when the living entity (spirit soul) comes into contact with material world (not his/her real home) she/he gets covered by something called "false ego". false ego is basically identifying with the body. thinking our body is our self. we are men, women, beautiful, ugly, famous, have a supportive family, wealthy, poor and so on, even it may expand to country or sectarian religions. false ego can be big or small, but it's function is to delude us. the living entity ( the spirit soul within the body) has ambitions that have nothing to do with the bodily concept. that is real ego, or good ego which is us and can add to us simultaniously. those ambitions come from Bakhti, or loving service to the Supreme Lord. if those ambitions were strong enough we would have not been overcome by false ego to begin with. so it is to the benefit of each individual to find them and strenghthen them. some people are more ambitious than others depending on how their personality and past Karma has been. people who have seen many bads in their (past) lives tend to be less open than people who have not for instance. but that is not a major factor either. realizing that there is an ultimate, real, achievable happiness out there for each and every individual at each given moment and the true process to achieve that ( in my opinion chanting) is the point where the individual surpasses matter. and from that point on whatever he/she does will be at a different level altogether (transcendental platform). it may not seem perfect to others but it is in fact perfect. well saintly persons like Lord Jesus Christ or Mohammad were not considered perfect by many.



we are of marginal potency as living beings and live in a dangerous place called matterial world, so we can be covered quickly by false ego if we don't live in spiritual world. and we can be here on Earth but living in the spiritual world simultaneously.

Answer 7

The ego is not all bad. It can be though if we don't know what it does to us.

Everything we do is guided by our egos, so it's best to detach any meanings of good and bad since it it just a part of our nature that cannot be avoided. Ego analysis a great tool for understanding motivation though :-)

Answer 8

Et in Arcadia Ego



We are all 'born' neutral. What we learn as we grow up, is what we determine makes us 'good' or 'bad,' and how we apply it. The problem is, usually, since we have seen this 'choice' all our lives, we don't recognize it as 'good' or 'bad,' but how we are supposed to act toward each other.



The Ego is basically who you are. The "I" in your 'life.' How it acts in your life is the positive or negative side. Thus, if you suppress your 'I,' and help someone else out, you are 'good.' If not, and you only think of yourself, we tend to see that as 'bad.' A 'true,' and almost impossible, neutral person would have a perfect balance of self sacrifice and self indulgence.



An example of the perfect positive Ego would be Christ. A life devoted to helping others, even to not trying to save himself at the end of his mortal life. The opposite would be the Anti-Christ, who does nothing for anyone without a self-motivated reason for every action and has, er, uh, yet to come. Geez, keep forgetting the dates. :)



The most common problem with the Ego is that it leads us to to do things that we might not be able to do. Often, the military pushes us to see how far we can go (as can life), but this can instill a false feeling of confidence. This can lead us to take on tasks we can't do. The best example I can think of is the typical male Ego, taken to extremes by the police and others who don't know their limits. Usually, these types start out in sports, which massages their egos with glory and women, then into the military, and finally into law enforcement or something else that is highly glorified by some groups. Eventually, they will try something insanely stupid, such as a single arrest of a gang or dangerous criminal, and will cause serious harm to themselves or they lesser brethren.



The opposite is also true. Those who were attacked in school, picked on, and generally made to feel inferior can have such a low self-esteem, self-worth, and low Ego, that they feel they will never be able to do anything, and are often severely depressed. Thus, we can see how we 'learn' our value by the world around us, and not how we are born.



Gee, did I answer your question? :)