The Ego Myth

[Hermes]

"Many will tell you that the ego must be destroyed but this lies contrary to the Hermetic Path. What needs be accomplished is the *transformation* of the ego, not its destruction. Ego is necessary to corporeal life.
The mistake we make is that ego becomes a rigid and brittle thing -- egotism -- instead of merely self-awareness and self-definition. A healthy ego is one that is constantly seeking to perfect itself. It accepts self-criticism and pursues self-change because of it." Rawn Clark, Discussions on Hermetics and the Kabbalah

I think this is very true. Contrary to the misinterpretations of the ancients, the Ego does not need to be suppressed or killed unless you aspire to ascension, which would be a enormous feat and living in the West of the 21st century you would most certainly fail! To better ourselves and aspire to liberate our lives and those we contact, we must instead make our ego more fluid and less rigid.
“Know thyself” is a maxim from the antiquities implying that self-knowledge, as more precisely self awareness is an important step in your self-development. Bardon recommends quite early in his self-initiation course to make a list of one hundred attributes in your personality that are positive and the same number of attributes that are negative. After this list is complete, the aspirant must contemplate on the negative attributes and must cleanse them with a self-transformation that is both honest, thorough. Unless this self transformation is complete your magical development will be hindered. There is no sense to attempt to move further as your progress will run into a psychological “brick wall”

 

[radarmark]

One may consider this just another aspect of modernistic scientism. Not all ego suppression teachings are "ancient". Look up the humanism of Adam Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiment" or Mill's "On Liberty" or any utilitarian or Process Theology. Or contemporaty religious rephrasings (like Quakerism or Vedanta or Ueshiba).

No, it is my opinion that control of ego is very very important to a civilized society (whether in science or politics or morality). And contemporary spritual traditions which are far, far from ancient, do allow for "death of ego" (in a mysical, experiential sense) as part of trenscendence.

 

[Hermes]

well, ancient or modern, the ego suppression in general not the best approach - yes, we should curtail, moderate and alter our ego. Killing (crucifying) it like Jesus did is not advisable, nor practical to the modern seeker. How many have you met who became ascended? Especially in the West? If one changes his goal to less lofty more approachable target...like becoming BETTER, nicer, kinder, more introspective, less selfish...etc we could have a better world. As it is, we have half baked western gurus babbling nonsense like Tolle or others, mimicking the east. Tolle by the way has the biggest ego in person. Quite a jerk, I hear....

One may consider this just another aspect of modernistic scientism. Not all ego suppression teachings are "ancient". Look up the humanism of Adam Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiment" or Mill's "On Liberty" or any utilitarian or Process Theology. Or contemporaty religious rephrasings (like Quakerism or Vedanta or Ueshiba).

No, it is my opinion that control of ego is very very important to a civilized society (whether in science or politics or morality). And contemporary spritual traditions which are far, far from ancient, do allow for "death of ego" (in a mysical, experiential sense) as part of trenscendence.

 

[Etu Malku]

Each of us contains what the Egyptians named the Ka, Thelemics call the Holy Guardian Angel, psychologists term the Ego, Qabalists refer to as the Demon Choronzon. To the Luciferian this is Our Dæmon taken from the Greek word Daimon (spirit energies)


It is Our Power of Consciousness, Our Majiq, and Our True Genius.
The vital spark or life force within each of us.
The Creative aspect of our subjective universe.
You cannot Will Your Dæmon, You cannot perceive it either.
It has no form, you cannot imagine it, it is the very essence of Tao.

It is its own Self and is the root of Your Will and, Your objective universe.
As with all aspects of the Universe, it can be shaped to conform with Our Will.
Our Ego is what our mind thinks we are.
Our Shadow Self is what we project onto others of ourselves which we loathe.
The Ego is cultivated from our life experiences, it concerns the image we perceive of our Self.

 

[MARIE NICKERSON]

I like: Your ego is the knothole
through which god looks out on
creation. Your ego is your viewpoint;
if you don't have one you're not in this plane.
Ego defenses are what hangs up your friends.
I hope this helps.

 

[JakeH]

I'd like to present this metaphor: The ego is like a rabid family dog....with a hidden intelligence. It's not bad or evil, it's just sick. Being intelligent, it will do everything it can to hide it's sickness from you because if you actually know The Truth, it will be "put down". An individual only learns of the dog's sickness (and intelligence) when they fully "awaken" from their long, long slumber. So, as an individual progresses toward full awakening, the animal will become more aggressive and also use it's intelligence to try to prevent your progression. It will influence your thought to believe things that are false to be truth. It's purely self preservation because if you fully awaken, the cycle of physical attachments (incarnations) to this world end, and with the expiration of this "avatar", the ego dies.
So, here's the bottom line....you may think the ego is not an "adversary" but it is the "satan" you must defeat. You may think it's a non factor, but it is discreetly guiding your thoughts. Again, this is simple self preservation. The end game is an intense, final battle with the family "pet" very similar to the one described in the Book of Revelation. When this battle occurs is up to each individual's personal desire but it will occur whether you like it or not. This event is not pleasant but no serious transition is, so my personal advice would be to get it over sooner rather than later.
Hermes - "the Ego does not need to be suppressed or killed unless you aspire to ascension, which would be a enormous feat and living in the West of the 21st century you would most certainly fail!" Sounds like a defeatist attitude to me. The revelation/gnosis/moksha and ascension/resurrection is the goal in all the various religions. Jesus spoke about the simplicity of the process multiple times so why should it be that difficult today?
Laus Deo

 

[JakeH]

"what is this all about. .??" It is about the adversary which is sometimes called satan, devil, demiurge, anti-Christ, the beast, etc. This is the ego.
Laus Deo

 

[Etu Malku]

The Ego is our Self in "check" in "balance" when we dip either way (Id or SuperEgo) it is then when we have problems.

The True "Adversary" is our Shadow-Self, that part of us that we project onto others all the things negative about ourselves. This Shadow is the Demon-Monster which we must descend into the Underworld (Psyche) and defeat.

 

[radarmark]

I have to agree, EM. The projected "Shadow Aspect" is the real problem. Even an out-of-control ego (and I know about that) only leads to incorrect internal processing as manifested in inappropriate behavior. The Shadow on the other hand is what creates the "Them" or "They". Merging or integrating the Shadow is one of the most difficult things in Jungian thought.

In Quakerism the shadow would be the absence of light (H!LY SPIRIT), but really more like “the projection of the absence of light”. It is really driven by ego or emotions or ideology and, within the Meeting, is countered by “centering-down” or becoming a vessel of acceptance. Please note this is my interpretation, especially the second sentence.

 

[seattlegal]

I see it more of a matter of "taming" the shadow--transforming it. Replacing unwholesome habits like projection/scapegoating with wholesome habits like confession, renunciation and forgiveness. {Confessing your bad karma and hiding your good karma.}

 

[bananabrain]

Qabalists refer to as the Demon Choronzon

really? isn't this from dee/kelley/enochian/crowleyan background? in kabbalah, the ego is referred to as the yesh, as in the phrase bittul ha-yesh, or nullification of the ego, which is a component in a number of kabbalistic rituals and techniques of various traditional schools, particularly the hasidic ones.

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[Etu Malku]

I have to agree, EM. The projected "Shadow Aspect" is the real problem. Even an out-of-control ego (and I know about that) only leads to incorrect internal processing as manifested in inappropriate behavior. The Shadow on the other hand is what creates the "Them" or "They". Merging or integrating the Shadow is one of the most difficult things in Jungian thought.

In Quakerism the shadow would be the absence of light (H!LY SPIRIT), but really more like “the projection of the absence of light”. It is really driven by ego or emotions or ideology and, within the Meeting, is countered by “centering-down” or becoming a vessel of acceptance. Please note this is my interpretation, especially the second sentence.

Tat makes sense to me . . . you Quakers are an interesting bunch

 

[Etu Malku]

really? isn't this from dee/kelley/enochian/crowleyan background? in kabbalah, the ego is referred to as the yesh, as in the phrase bittul ha-yesh, or nullification of the ego, which is a component in a number of kabbalistic rituals and techniques of various traditional schools, particularly the hasidic ones.

b'shalom

bananabrain

Right you are, and notice my use of the spelling "Qabalah" which denotes the Hermetic practice and not the Judaic "Kabbalah"?

Are you saying the 'nullification' (annihilation) of the Ego is something desired in Judaic Kabbalah?

 

[Etu Malku]

Being a Chaote myself I thought this excerpt from Wiki was apropos

In much the same way that Satan has been championed by some of those who object to Christianity, Choronzon has been turned into a positive figure by some iconoclastic occultists, in particular chaos magicians who object to what they see as the stultifying and restrictive dogma of Thelema.

Peter Carroll's "Mass of Choronzon" is a ritual with the purpose of casting the energy of one's ego into the universe to effectuate an unknown desire. This, in part, has served as an inspiration for modernized ritual effectuation based on the "333 Current". Carroll himself states in the afore-mentioned book, however, that Choronzon is simply the name given to the obsessional side-effects of any deluded search for a false Holy Guardian Angel, or anything which the magician would mistake for his own profound genius itself

 

[bananabrain]

Right you are, and notice my use of the spelling "Qabalah" which denotes the Hermetic practice and not the Judaic "Kabbalah"?

i do, but the distinction is lost on many people, so perhaps it would make more sense if you referred to it as "hermetic qabbalah", or using the phrase i prefer, the "western mystery tradition", which is sufficiently broad to embrace everything from dee to crowley to chaos magic, i'd have thought.

Are you saying the 'nullification' (annihilation) of the Ego is something desired in Judaic Kabbalah?

not exactly. there are some schools of mystical judaism that think it is particularly important, such as the hasidic sects, so they do it the whole time (look at the breslovers, or the elevation of the rebbe into a sort of group ego, or HGA if you prefer!) whereas for other schools, like abulafian ecstatics, it is part of the discipline for a particular very technical style of ritual, or if you follow more of the geronese or provencal schools, this is less important than the theurgic mechanisms. there is certainly an understanding that one's self can stand in the way of the realisation of the Divine Will, so identification with a particular tiqqun may require bittul ha-yesh as an accelerant or catalyst. however, you are expected to return back to yourself in order to live your daily life. does that make sense?

i'm not sure i really understood the second quote except the bit about how chaos magicians despise "anything which the magician would mistake for his own profound genius itself". it strikes me that a chaos magician would need to have a damn good sense of humour in order not to turn into a megalomaniac.

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[seattlegal]

i'm not sure i really understood the second quote except the bit about how chaos magicians despise "anything which the magician would mistake for his own profound genius itself". it strikes me that a chaos magician would need to have a damn good sense of humour in order not to turn into a megalomaniac.

b'shalom

bananabrain

A "damn good sense of humor" is needed when dealing with any mystical experience, imo. A lack of a sense of humor is a possible indication of shallowness, so I always look for the humorous side. Laughter is good medicine--a great healer.

 

[seattlegal]

Being a Chaote myself I thought this excerpt from Wiki was apropos

In much the same way that Satan has been championed by some of those who object to Christianity, Choronzon has been turned into a positive figure by some iconoclastic occultists, in particular chaos magicians who object to what they see as the stultifying and restrictive dogma of Thelema.

Peter Carroll's "Mass of Choronzon" is a ritual with the purpose of casting the energy of one's ego into the universe to effectuate an unknown desire. This, in part, has served as an inspiration for modernized ritual effectuation based on the "333 Current". Carroll himself states in the afore-mentioned book, however, that Choronzon is simply the name given to the obsessional side-effects of any deluded search for a false Holy Guardian Angel, or anything which the magician would mistake for his own profound genius itself​

Compare to Makyo