The lost battle against the ego
Many of us who study Kabbalah and spirituality, are exposed to different ideas about the human ego and what it does to us.
We learn that the ego must be abolished - we must control it and its whims as much as possible, so that it will not control us, God forbid ...
The argument is, that it is the ego that remotes us from our higher spiritual selves and the realization of our destiny in life.
Please give it a thought.
Is this accurate?
Can the ego be abolished?
And why is it present as an inseparable part of our personality?
What does our ego provide us?
The ego is very vital to our existence on the material plane (Olam Haasiyah = the plane of manifestation).
It guards the body and mind and makes sure that we acquire for ourselves what is essential for our survival.
The ego is responsible that our inner will, for better or for worse, will be realized and fulfilled.
It is a significant part of the vessel (Kli) that carries us here in physical life.
The ego exists and is expressed in the lowest levels of our soul structure - in the body mind and spirit.
It is parted from the soul at the moment of death and does not reincarnate with it further.
Many of us confuse ego with "selfishness", "greed", "pride", and "arrogance".
Have you ever met people who claim they are ego-less?
Is it not a sanctimonious disguise, aimed at placing themselves as superior people, better than others, who have succeeded in eliminating this terrible beast from themselves?
Is it not just another way to express aloofness and pride?
How many of us spend vital energy in fighting our ego?
This war is lost in advance, and when we lose it again and again, we get into frustration and self-hatred.
We don’t have to be enslaved by the ego, but to know how to manage it correctly:
to learn to distinguish between our selfish aspirations to gain for ourselves only, to aggressively defeat anyone who threatens us, and to prove superiority, and between allowing the ego to lead us in realizing our destiny in life.
What we can do in our spiritual work is not to abolish the ego, but to lower it, to embrace humility, meekness, and understanding that we are not isolated entities, but part of one large cosmic wholeness.
This knowledge should not make us feel humiliated, irrelevant or inferior, but to recognize our imperfection compared with the infinite faultlessness of divinity.
The lowliness of the ego is the recognition that we have a soul that originated in infinity, for it was entrusted to us in order for us to carry the mission that the soul has set before us in this incarnation, ant that we have a meaningful and exalted purpose.
According to the Lurianic Kabbalah, every creature is part of the Creator, a spark from the soul of “Adam Kadmon” (the archetype of the human soul and of all creation).
We must preserve the sense of self of our soul in order to fulfill our mission in the world in a way that is unique to us.
We do need the ego, and we should not try to deny or fight it.
In order to reach a state of humble ego, we must amend the attribute of pride, which is the negative expression of the ego.
Pride, egotism and arrogance form veils (klipot) around us that hide and prevent the light of the Creator from entering our lives.
According to the Kabbalah, in order to rise to higher spiritual levels, we must try to establish similarity with the Creator - that is – to bring ourselves closer to the essence of God in order to resemble it.
The essence of the Creator is in infinite giving, inspiring unlimited light. When we try to draw abundance for our personal gain only, for selfish purposes, we move away from the Creator.
Therefore, we must transform our desire to "take for ourselves only" to the desire to "receive in order to influence".
When we confront our inner desire to receive and draw pleasure, we must always inquire within ourselves, whether what we want to receive will affect and benefit others as well, and in what way can we transfer the abundance we acquire to others?
One way to work with the ego and develop humility is through meditation and visualization with the “72 names of God”.
Among the 72 sacred letter combinations there is a group of names whose purpose is to refine and purify this part within us in order to cultivate our vessel for Divine abundance.
The full list of the "72 Names of God" and their meanings is available for anyone interested.
To receive it, please go into this page: http://www.kabbalahinsights.com/en/request-72-names
and leave your name and email address,
and I will send it to you with love.
Many of us who study Kabbalah and spirituality, are exposed to different ideas about the human ego and what it does to us.
We learn that the ego must be abolished - we must control it and its whims as much as possible, so that it will not control us, God forbid ...
The argument is, that it is the ego that remotes us from our higher spiritual selves and the realization of our destiny in life.
Please give it a thought.
Is this accurate?
Can the ego be abolished?
And why is it present as an inseparable part of our personality?
What does our ego provide us?The ego is very vital to our existence on the material plane (Olam Haasiyah = the plane of manifestation).
It guards the body and mind and makes sure that we acquire for ourselves what is essential for our survival.
The ego is responsible that our inner will, for better or for worse, will be realized and fulfilled.
It is a significant part of the vessel (Kli) that carries us here in physical life.
The ego exists and is expressed in the lowest levels of our soul structure - in the body mind and spirit.
It is parted from the soul at the moment of death and does not reincarnate with it further.
Many of us confuse ego with "selfishness", "greed", "pride", and "arrogance".
Have you ever met people who claim they are ego-less?
Is it not a sanctimonious disguise, aimed at placing themselves as superior people, better than others, who have succeeded in eliminating this terrible beast from themselves?
Is it not just another way to express aloofness and pride?
How many of us spend vital energy in fighting our ego?
This war is lost in advance, and when we lose it again and again, we get into frustration and self-hatred.
We don’t have to be enslaved by the ego, but to know how to manage it correctly:
to learn to distinguish between our selfish aspirations to gain for ourselves only, to aggressively defeat anyone who threatens us, and to prove superiority, and between allowing the ego to lead us in realizing our destiny in life.
What we can do in our spiritual work is not to abolish the ego, but to lower it, to embrace humility, meekness, and understanding that we are not isolated entities, but part of one large cosmic wholeness.
This knowledge should not make us feel humiliated, irrelevant or inferior, but to recognize our imperfection compared with the infinite faultlessness of divinity.
The lowliness of the ego is the recognition that we have a soul that originated in infinity, for it was entrusted to us in order for us to carry the mission that the soul has set before us in this incarnation, ant that we have a meaningful and exalted purpose.
According to the Lurianic Kabbalah, every creature is part of the Creator, a spark from the soul of “Adam Kadmon” (the archetype of the human soul and of all creation).
We must preserve the sense of self of our soul in order to fulfill our mission in the world in a way that is unique to us.
We do need the ego, and we should not try to deny or fight it.
In order to reach a state of humble ego, we must amend the attribute of pride, which is the negative expression of the ego.
Pride, egotism and arrogance form veils (klipot) around us that hide and prevent the light of the Creator from entering our lives.
According to the Kabbalah, in order to rise to higher spiritual levels, we must try to establish similarity with the Creator - that is – to bring ourselves closer to the essence of God in order to resemble it.
The essence of the Creator is in infinite giving, inspiring unlimited light. When we try to draw abundance for our personal gain only, for selfish purposes, we move away from the Creator.
Therefore, we must transform our desire to "take for ourselves only" to the desire to "receive in order to influence".
When we confront our inner desire to receive and draw pleasure, we must always inquire within ourselves, whether what we want to receive will affect and benefit others as well, and in what way can we transfer the abundance we acquire to others?
One way to work with the ego and develop humility is through meditation and visualization with the “72 names of God”.
Among the 72 sacred letter combinations there is a group of names whose purpose is to refine and purify this part within us in order to cultivate our vessel for Divine abundance.
The full list of the "72 Names of God" and their meanings is available for anyone interested.
To receive it, please go into this page: http://www.kabbalahinsights.com/en/request-72-names
and leave your name and email address,
and I will send it to you with love.