EGO

AT 16:41 OF FEBRUARY 12, 2009 JUSTME97 WROTE...

I will venture to share some of my thoughts and questions on a particular subject that interests me. My thoughts have been scattered/erratic and I'm having difficulty trying to coerce them into an organized pattern of thought. Keeping in mind that with every perspective and position, there will ALWAYS be a counter perspective and position. So regardless of what each of us say and believe, there will be another to offer a counter. I accept this and believe this occurs for yet still another specific purpose in our life here on earth. It makes its contribution according to God's plan for us.

First, I would like to keep with the premises that we are indeed spiritual beings having a human experience, as both Dr. Dyer and Bob Frissel have stated. Also, that we are all One in the Divine. From this point on, my mind begins to travel in wonderment as I try to absorb and apply these premises to things we live while in our human experience. I do this because I believe our lives in the physical world are some sort of necessary platform that we've been afforded to utilize according to our choices and capabilities. Thi s is a very challenging task with daily obstacles, I believe. It is our necessary, preparatory, 'temporary reality.' I'm especially interested specifically in the ego-driven principle and how it relates to the concept of competition.

I have found it interesting that in my life, I have been introduced to varying definitions of what the human ego actually is. My psychology background of my early years taught me that the ego was a component of our human personality, the aspect that defines how we conduct ourselves as individuals. According to Freud, the ego is a stabilizing force keeping the human innate impulses/wants/desires in check within the realms of reality (i.e. perceived socially acceptable ways) while maintaining the perceived moral sense of right and wrong...it is the intermediary of dueling forces. To mention another view would be Maslow's "self actualization" level where atop an hierarchy of physical and psychological needs, lies the point where humans may reach an awareness of truth beyond themselves while rising above distinction and realizing their full potentials as humans. Others say that the ego is all things peripheral to the self that it has identified with and used to define itself. Dr. Dyer says that it the idea we carry around about who we are, the "false self." There are so many other versions. I believe every version has merit an d that all these versions, however accurate and from whatever angle you use them for explanation, have a purpose for us. While here, this ego, whatever it is, must be cultivated before we truly can see who we are in the Divine. So all the gymnastics we experience as we live our earthly lives, are all necessary in that cultivation...God gave us these for a purpose.

With that said, I believe that although we are all One in the Divine, we must acknowledge that God made us individuals in many different physical representations...with varying degrees of abilities, talents, skills, capabilities and potentials to reach before we return Home with Him. This is my prelude to the area that interests me, in which I suspect is up for debate with some. That issue is competition. Is competition necessarily ego-driven for self-absorbing reasons? I see it as a venue in which to exercise our Divine-given power to be used as His tool. God gave each of us different talents and skills with the potential to develop them. Competition is the impetus to help us evaluate the manner in which we are trying to discover and use those talents. In a sense, it is opportunity to realize our capacity for change, whether the perceived results are negative or positive by others, nonetheless it is change....opposite to stagnation, or void of growth. Competition spawns persona l development and betterment (however subjectively defined, though not as important) of skills and talents which ultimately can benefit others...through leadership, enlightenment, guidance, innovativeness, etc. Whether others around you agree with it or not, it still empowers them. It doesn't have to be viewed as a duality where a win is at the cost of someone losing. A win for one can be a win for all. It is an avenue to execute God's power within us. Through the competitive course, we continue the process of learning, struggling, growing, serving, giving and leading by example...all aiding in the journey to bring us All Home. God gave us these varying physical attributes and representations for a reason. Without competition, those historical figures (Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein, Joan of Arc) that you recently mentioned, wouldn't have accomplished what they did had it not been for their drive for discovery, betterment, striving to improve over any previous idea/concept...for them, it wasn't appropriate to say, "good enough is good enough." Competition is what has created things for humans to add to their learning environment in their human experiences, which all ultimately contributes to their personal routes toward their final endpoint. I differ in opinion with Dr. Dyer on one of his points, "We never arrive, we just strive." I think we strive yes, but we do actually arrive...for some it may be at small epiphanies along the way, but ultimately we do at the endpoint of the Path (in different readiness forms to the Divine). We are all playing and living out different human-defined roles in our lives along the journey Home (what else are we to do with our time here?). Time here is to learn and discern. Time is our classroom. It is all purposeful and destined, I believe. We are all individuals, which is not to be misconstrued as me saying that we are separate, as some might say I am implying. We still are linked as One in the Divine. "Not until the fullness of time, will it be resolved," was a biblical verse I recently heard this week....I thought to myself how this phrase can apply to virtually every aspect of our life here. My hubby once said, and with great wisdom I might add, that in our spiritual searches, we wander around much like a tuning fork trying and waiting to hit that certain pitch that will put us in communion with God. If what you say is indeed correct and what I'm inclined to think as well, we are already in communion with God, many of us just don't know it yet...or will realize it at varying spectrums of the life continuum.

Finally, the beauty in all that I have tried to express, is that others will have and offer many counterpoints and interpretations to my thoughts...this is a testament to the many individual differences God bestowed on us and maybe one of "competition" (be it consciously or subconsciously for us) to further or better explain, express, share, clarify or teach. With each counter point comes the initial received message, then a seed of further (counter) development, then additional counter seeds until eventually an 'accepted' position is arrived at (determined by the individual's standard) that feels right for him...one that helps him reach his relationship with God on his own course and pace.