After learning some, NOT ALL, of buddhism, I’ve had a completely different look on life. Kinda how NEO saw what life is like after seeing what the matrix is. Sorry, best way I can compare this topic to.
Anways, our ego is the part of the brain that tells us what we WANT, not what we need. So after actually thinking about what the ego is to me, I’ve lost my faith and unfortunately my identity. I never did believed in a heaven or a hell, and yet, for some reason, always have and will believe in a GOD. Not a god who knows everything and sees everything, but a GOD that IS everything and just that. Existance is my GOD.
My mind wants to have answers all the time and is addicted to the most logical answers it can find. Yet, what purpose does knowing anything serve? Death is a reality that my mind wants to avoid but knows it can’t. Without believing in a heaven, why do I search for an alternative that is one without purpose. Although I am happier beliveing that there is no heaven, cause without a heaven, there is no hell. Without good, there is no bad. Sure it sounds radical, but to me life seems more beautiful when there are no rules. Our minds want more and thus the happiness we attain, or think we attained, is enjoyed only for a limited time. Damn our ego, will it ever be satisfied?
YOUR EGO IS NOT AN IMPEDIMENT TO YOUR [HLOSOPHY. iT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY.
If I can quote myself, "Those of us who still believe in Darwin understand that as man evolved, his brain, just as all his physical organs, was also subject to natural selection.
Those philosophies which were inimical to survival of the species were weeded out over the millennia, along with other failed attempts to become the humans we are.
There is only one authentic philosophy and each person has his own imposed upon him by his genes, his early environment and possibly some catastrophic life experiences.
And it’s function is to keep us alive.
We are our ego.
Well put Dr. I agree, “WE” are the result of our ego.
What effect does this insistent ego have on our philosophy?
I think the ego is a tool for temporarily distancing yourself from a situation. Or assuming a different perspective without anyone elses aid.
Almost like a “devils advocate” Which is to say the opposite of anything you think. And if there is not an exact opposite perhaps several arguements. This can be a help and a hinderence i feel.
Graighter i have just started reading up on buddhism as well. i have read quite a lot on how to get rid of your ego and self. obviously you are on the right track and in the end you become indifferent to situations where you would usually blow your top or break down and cry which is very useful because you can face every problem with a level head. a book i would reccomend for you is The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. it is a totally diferent approach to losing your ego via multiple personalities and becoming every person in one body. good luck son.
apoc
No, you’re wrong! Ego goes beyond want, it over-rides others’ rights to get what it wants. If it didn’t then we would all be labelled as egotistical because we all have wants. Most of us are not egotistical. Professionals believe that the only way to escape ego is by its becoming robust and ripe and then one gets rid of it. I don’t think that is true. I do believe that with nowhere else to go but come crashing down to earth, the person will see pain and so will become humane from then on and will not be egotistical anymore. I think the more pain people see in life, the less ego they have. This is because pain and suffering make you more humane and understanding of others and so you will not be egotistical. But you don’t have to have a full blown ego and then it comes crashing down and you see pain and then become humane and ego free. Therefore, the only way to get rid of ego is to be more giving and understanding of others I think.
Ego, simply put, is self-awareness and all the qualities we ascribe to that awareness. It is the collection of emotions, reasonings, and valuations we place on our persona gathered from our external and internal experiences. We all have ego. There is no choice in the matter.
What we do have choice in, is the importance we place upon it. We all know people with “big egos” -ie- they have an inflated estimate of who and/or what they are. To rid one’s self of ego is impossible, but it is possible to keep ego in check. Controlling ego is making an honest assessment of one’s self. Making an unflinching honest assessment of your weaknesses allows genuine humility.
Lack of ego doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, it means it is in it’s proper place.
You’re in balance when you can take life seriously without taking yourself seriously inside of it.
JT
The ego will be ever-present throughout our lives. Through experience we learn of others’ pain, we learn of our own inabilities, we learn of our world. Knowing human truths as opposed to self-truths will help bring the ego to its knees. I find that my ego is the root of most of my sadness. For example, I ask an ex-girlfriend about her love life. She tells me that it is healthy, abundant, and kinky. I get sad ( 
). My ego wanted to hear her say “Actually, I haven’t had any sort of ‘love’ life since we broke up. I only want you!”. If my ego had been properly stowed away, maybe I wouldn’t feel the ensuing depression.
(I know attachment issues would accompany this situation as well, but my point is for the ego). I feel that we only get brief ‘winks’ from the “Id”, and most of the time the ego is at the helm. There are still moments when I want my ego to come on full-blast. For example, the last piece of pizza… MINE!
Knowledge of self will humiliate the ego, but ultimately it will glorify existence.
The Dice Man, hrrm?
I find that approach very, very interesting. When in neural turmoil, ocassionally I do approach a prevailing egotistical personality with my more humorous self. Its similar to when a younger brother is pouting and the big brother or father comes up and jokes around with him. It helps tremendously. Now if I honed other personas to suit this purpose, it might help, or I might just go crazy (Wait, always was). Goofy vs. Pissed. Serene vs. Desperate. Calm vs. Anxious. Sedated vs. Nervous. Etcetera… So far I’ve mainly just used substances like alcohol, cannabis, or something else to form the opposite personality. If I’m pissed off before I get drunk, I usually end up as a goofy bastard. Alright, I’m rambling. Later.
As Chuang Tzu might point out, it is easier to run away from your footprints in a muddy field or run away from you shadow on a sunny day, than to eliminate the ego.
Why would you want to eliminate the ego? What is wrong with the ego that you want to get rid of it? The ego is just your space.
To want things is part of being human. If we didn’t want anything then we wouldn’t do anything. We only do because we want.
What is a need and how is that different from a want? If you say the word ‘need’ that is just a way to make a want seem more important. Everything that we call a need we can just as easily call a want.
Satisfaction must be temporary or else we are finished. If you were totally satisfied then you wouldn’t want anything else anymore. If you didn’t want anything then you wouldn’t do anything anymore.
xanderman, I agree with some of your post, but i beg to differ about the understanding of “want” and “need.” Perhaps I am miss understanding you, but Needs to me are like, I need food, if i dont i die. I need warmth, if i dont, i will surely die. I NEED air, or i die. Then my wants are materialistic. I want a big tv, I want carmen electra. I want to be satisfied, do i Need to be satisfied?
If the validity of one’s philosophy hangs on the meaning of two everyday english words,philosophy is in dire straits.
The ego is a false friend,
And if you let him win
Your troubles will never end.
He’ll pick your enemies for you
And make you fight them
But you won’t be fighting them
And you will be fighting him.
He’ll feed you and he’ll flatter you
He’ll be you’re lover
But when you fall for him
He’ll F*** you over.
The ego is a false friend
And if you let him win
Your troubles will never end.
The height of egotism is the illusion that have conquered it
I agree with this point. Every day can bring new battles with ego, and winning one battle is never a guarantee of winning the next one.
Buddhists claim that ego can eventually be transcended through the Dhamma, but I think that the rest of us just have to watch our backs, and maybe do a few good turns. It’s funny how ego’s never around to see those. That sort of stuff just doesn’t interest him.
He’ll be there if you’re faking it though, sure as eggs.
Graighter,
To me ‘need’ is an instrumental word. As in, “I need X to achieve/have/experience Y.†I need food to live. Or I need a television to watch the game.
You need food to live because you WANT to live. If you didn’t want to live, then you wouldn’t need to eat. If you didn’t want to watch the game then you wouldn’t need a television.
You don’t need to live. Except in that you need to live to achieve/have/experience Y.
Wanting to live is a foundational want. If you don’t want to live then little else matters.
You might need satisfaction to achieve something else. But satisfaction seems like the goal, not instrumental in achieving another goal. You might however, need to feel satisfaction from time to time in order to have a good life.
Egotism is a perjorative term.
Maybe it should not be.
Maybe it is as important as breathing.
the damn buddhists would make a desert and call it peace, or what ever the hell the Celts said about the Romans (In Tacitus). This issue of losing the ego is not a good idea. I agree with Xanderman - why would you want to get rid of your ego (besides we must be very careful of the languages we are using here. Ego as I commonly understand it pertains solely to Freudian psychology and only Freudian psychology in English - in German the terms used are actually ‘the I’. the Buddhists, esp the Mahayanists would have you rid yourself Of desire to achieve samsara.) ? Why in the hell would you rid yourself of desire? Embrace desire, my friend, embrace it. Desire pushes you out into the world to fight and make a name for yourself. Go Read Tropic Of Cancer instead of trying to give up your “ego”