Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00091)

The Nature of the Ego and Its Termination

Part III
The Forms of the Ego and Their Dissolution
The ego subsists upon mundane possessions like power, fame, wealth,
ability, attainments, and accomplishments. It creates and recognizes the
“thine” in order to feel what is distinctively “mine.” However, in spite of
all the worldly things that it
Ego lives through idea of “mine”claims as “mine,” it constantly feels empty
and incomplete. To make up for this deep restlessness in its own being, the
ego seeks to fortify itself through further acquisitions. It brings the
array of its entire varied possessions into relief by comparison with others
who might be inferior in any one of the items stamped as “mine.” And it
often uses these possessions for wanton and uncalled-for self-display, even
to the disadvantage of others. The ego is dissatisfied in spite if its
mundane possessions; but instead of cultivating detachment from them, it
seeks to derive satisfaction from a more intense sense of possession in
contradistinction to others. The ego as an affirmation of separateness lives
through the idea of “mine.”
The ego wants to feel separate and unique, and it seeks self-expression
either in the role of someone who is decidedly better than others or in the
role of someone who is decidedly inferior. As long as there is ego, there is
an implicit background of duality; and as long as there is the background of
duality, the mental operations of comparison and contrast cannot be
effectively stilled for long. Therefore, even when a person
Forms of egoseems to feel a sense of equality with another, this feeling is
not securely established. It marks a point of transition between the two
attitudes of the ego rather than permanent freedom from the distinction
between the “I” and the “you.”
This pseudo sense of equality, where it exists, may be stated in the formula
“I am not in any way inferior or superior to the other.” This will at once
be seen to be a negative assertion of the ego. The balance between the “I “a
nd the “you” is constantly
Idea of equalitydisturbed by the predominance of a superiority or
inferiority complex. The idea of equality arises to restore this lost
balance. The negative assertion of the ego in the form of equality is,
however, utterly different from the sense of unity that is characteristic of
the life of spiritual freedom. Although the sense of equality is made the
basis of many social and political ideals, the real conditions of rich
cooperative life are fulfilled only when the bare idea of equality is
replaced by the realization of the unity of all life.
The feelings of superiority and inferiority are reactions to each other, and
the artificially induced feeling of equality might be regarded as a reaction
to both. In all these three modes the ego succeeds in asserting its
separateness. The superiority complex
Two complexesand the inferiority complex for the most part remain
disconnected from each other. They both seek separate and alternate
expression through suitable objects, as when a person dominates those whom
he regards as his inferiors and submits to those whom he looks upon as his
superiors. But such alternative expression through contrasting behavior only
accentuates these opposite complexes instead of leading to their
dissolution.
The superiority complex is stirred when a person meets someone who is in
some way remarkably inferior in mundane possessions. In spite of its many
possessions, the ego is constantly confronted with the spectacle of its
intrinsic emptiness. Therefore it clings to the comforting delusion of its
Superiority complexworthwhileness by demonstrating the greatness of its
possessions. This contrast is not confined to theoretical comparison but
often exhibits itself in an actual clash with others. Thus, aggressiveness
is a natural outcome of the need to compensate for the poverty of the
ego-life.
The inferiority complex is stirred when a person meets someone who is in
some way remarkably superior in respect to mundane possessions. But his
submissiveness to the other is rooted either in fear or selfishness. It can
never be wholehearted or spontaneous because there is a lurking
Inferiority complexjealousy of and even hatred for the other for possessing
something he would rather have for himself. All forced and outward
submission is purely the effect of an inferiority complex and can only
enhance the ego in one of its worst forms. The ego attributes its sense of
emptiness to the apparently inferior possessions it can claim as “mine,”
rather than to its deep-rooted viciousness in seeking fulfillment through
possessions. Awareness of its inferiority in possessions becomes only a
further stimulus for making desperate efforts to add to its possessions
through such means as are available to it. Thus while perpetuating the
inward poverty of the soul, the inferiority complex, like the superiority
complex, constitutes an agent for selfishness and social chaos, and for the
accumulation of that type of ignorance which characterizes the ego.
When a person comes into contact with a Perfect Master and recognizes him as
having the state of egoless Perfection, he voluntarily surrenders himself to
the Master. The disciple perceives the ego to be a source of perpetual
ignorance, restlessness, and conflict; and he also recognizes his own
Surrender different from inferiority complexinability to terminate it. But
this self-surrender should be carefully distinguished from the inferiority
complex because it is accompanied by awareness that the Master is the ideal
and as such has a basic unity with the disciple. Such self-surrender is in
no way an expression of loss of confidence. On the contrary, it is an
expression of confidence in the final overcoming of all obstacles through
the help of the Master. The appreciation of the divinity of the Master is
the manner in which the higher Self of the disciple expresses its sense of
dignity.
In order to bring about a rapid dissolution of these two chief forms of the
ego, the Master may deliberately stir both of these complexes in
alternation. If the disciple is on the point of losing heart and giving up
the search, he might arouse in him deep self-confidence. If he is on the
point of becoming egotistic, he might break through this new barrier by
creating
Intervention of Mastersituations in which the disciple has to accept and
recognize his own incapacity or futility. Thus the Master wields his
influence over the disciple to expedite the stages that the melting ego
passes through before its final disappearance.
The superiority and inferiority complexes have to be brought into
intelligent relation with each other if they are to counteract each other.
This requires a situation in which both would be allowed to have their play
at the same time, without requiring
Adjustment to Master results in dissolution of complexesthe repression of
one in order to express the other. When the soul enters into a dynamic and
vital relation with the Master, the complexes concerned with the senses of
inferiority and superiority are both brought into play; and they are so
intelligently accommodated that they counteract each other. The disciple
then feels that he is nothing in himself, but in and through the Master he
is enlivened by the prospect of being Everything.
Thus at one stroke the two complexes are brought into mutual tension and
tend to annihilate each other in the attempt the disciple makes to adjust
himself to the Master. With the dissolution of these opposite complexes,
there comes a breaking down of the separative barriers of the ego in all its
forms. With the breaking down of the barriers of separation, there arises
divine love. With the arising of divine love, the separate feeling of “I,”
as distinguished from “you,” is swallowed up in the sense of their unity.
For a car to move toward its destination, a driver is necessary. However,
the driver may be susceptible to strong attractions for things that he
encounters on the way; and he might not only halt at intervening places for
an indefinite time but also get lost
Analogy of driverby the wayside in pursuit of things that have only
temporary charm. Thus he might keep the car moving all the time but without
coming nearer the goal, and he might even get further away from it.
Something like this happens when the ego assumes control of human
consciousness. The ego may be compared to a driver who has a certain amount
of control over a car and a certain capacity to drive it, but who is in
complete darkness about its ultimate destination.
For a car to reach its ultimate destination, it is not enough merely to have
someone who can drive the car. It is equally necessary that this driver
should be able to direct the car toward the destination. As long as the
movement of consciousness is under the full and exclusive domination of the
ego, the spiritual advancement of the person is jeopardized by the natural
tendency of the ego to strengthen the separative barriers of false
imagination. So, because of ego-centered activities, consciousness remains
enclosed by the walls of its own creation and moves within the limits of
this mayavic prison.
If consciousness is to be emancipated from its limitations and rendered
adequate to serve the original purpose for which it came into existence, it
must draw its directive momentum not from the ego but from some other
principle. In other words, the driver who is ignorant of the ultimate
destination must be exchanged for another driver who is free from all the
allure of accidental things encountered on the way, and who centers his
attention not on the rest stations or side attractions but on the ultimate
goal of nonduality. The shifting of the center of interest from unimportant
things to truly important values is comparable to the transference of power
from the ignorant driver to the driver who knows the destination. Concurrent
with this gradual shifting of the center of interest, there is progressive
dissolution of the ego and motion toward the Truth.
If the ego were nothing but a medium for the integration of human
experience, it would be possible for one to get established in the final Tru
th merely by carrying further the activity of the ego. But while playing a
specific part in the progress of consciousness, the ego also represents an
active
Ego attempts integration around false ideaprinciple of ignorance that
prevents further spiritual development. The ego attempts the integration of
experience, but it does so around the false idea of separateness. Having
taken an illusion as the foundation for the construction of its edifice, it
never succeeds in anything but the building of illusions one upon another.
Arriving at the Truth is actually hindered rather than helped by the
function of the ego. The process of arriving at the Truth can be fruitful
only if the integration presided over by the ego is carried further without
bringing in the basic ignorance of separateness.
As long as human experience lies within the limitation of duality,
integration of experience is an essential condition for a rational and
significant life. But the ego as a nucleus for integration has to be
renounced because of its inevitable alliance with the forces of ignorance.
There arises, then, an imperative need for a new
Master becomes new nucleus of integrationcenter of integration that will
steer clear of the basic ignorance of separateness and will allow free scope
for the incorporation of all values formerly inaccessible to the ego-center.
Such a new center is provided by the Master, who expresses all that has real
value and who represents the absolute Truth. The shifting of interest from
unimportant things to important values is facilitated by allegiance and
self-surrender to the Master, who becomes the new nucleus for integration.
The Master, when truly understood, is a standing affirmation of the unity of
all life. Allegiance to the Master, therefore, brings about a gradual
dissociation from the ego-nucleus, which affirms separateness. After this
important crisis in the life of
Union with Master and realization of Truthan individual, all mental activity
has a new frame of reference. And its significance is to be gathered in the
light of its relation to the Master as the manifestation of infinite Truth,
not in the light of any relation to the ego-center as a limited “I.” The
person henceforth finds that all acts that flow from him are no longer
initiated from the limited “I” but are all inspired by the Truth working
through the Master. He is also no longer interested in the well-being of the
limited self but is only interested in the Master as representing universal
and undivided life. He offers all his experiences and desires to the Master,
reserving neither the good nor the evil for the limited “I,” stripping the
ego of all content.
This advancing bankruptcy of the ego does not interfere with the process of
integration because the function is now performed around the new center of
the Master as representing the Truth. When the ego-nucleus is completely
bankrupt and devoid of any power or being, the Master, as Truth, is firmly
established in consciousness as its guiding genius and animating principle.
This constitutes both the attainment of union with the Master and the
realization of the infinite Truth.
As the ego gradually adjusts itself to the spiritual requirements of life –
through the cultivation of humanity, selflessness and love, wholehearted
surrender and offering oneself to the Master, as Truth – it suffers a
drastic curtailment. It not only offers less and less resistance to
spiritual unfoldment but also
Knowledge of true Selfundergoes a radical transformation. This eventually
turns out to be so great that in the end the ego, as an affirmation of
separateness, completely disappears and is substituted by the Truth, which
knows no separateness. The intermediate steps of slimming down the ego and
softening its nature are comparable to the trimming and pruning of the
branches of a wild and mighty tree, while the final step of annihilation of
the ego amounts to the complete uprooting of this tree. When the ego
disappears entirely, there arises knowledge of the true Self. Thus, the long
journey of the soul consists in developing from animal consciousness the
explicit self-consciousness as a limited “I,” then in transcending the state
of the limited “I” of human consciousness, through the medium of the Master.
At this stage the soul is initiated into the consciousness of the supreme
and real Self as an everlasting and infinite “I am,” in which there is no
separateness and which includes all existence.