a few more notes on the ego

the ego's very foundation and means of continuance is the belief in the possibility of a separate, self-contained status. it isolates itself from its context and fails to acknowledge that its existence is wholly dependent on factors that are 100% impersonal.

the ego represents an imaginary boundary. it sits poised between seemingly separate internal and external worlds (only from its arbitrary viewpoint is division perceived) and falsely claims exclusivity over its illusory domain.

it claims authorship and ownership over things that it doesn't - and can't - create or own. this occurs predominantly with thoughts, which the ego is no more responsible for than it is for the functioning of the body at a cellular level.

spiritual ideals don't negate the authenticity of the ego as a final reality merely to be able to state that "there is no truth." obviously, there is a truth. the ego could never exist in the first place if it weren't for the reality of an underlying presence that confuses itself for the object of its focus, feeding the ego's momentum.

to illustrate this last point, plato's cave parable is useful. in it, chained prisoners rendered completely immobile mistakenly believe that they are their own shadows, which are projected on a wall in front of them. their shadows are the most readily apparent aspect of their existence; thus, instead of looking further for subtler existential truths and eventually arriving at the more difficult yet realer aspect of their existance as physical bodies, they devote all of their attention to these projections and remain ignorant to the truth.

similarly, the ego is a projection made possible by our true identity. the event wherein all outward projection temporarily ceases and a turning back of awareness upon itself occurs is what's called self-realization.

fighting for scraps

there's so much more going on beneath the surface of human interactions than what we choose to acknowledge.

having the erroneous perception of being cut off from the source of wellbeing, comfort and contentment, we engage in scuffles amongst ourselves to get from others what we feel - consciously or unconsciously - we're missing.

until we stop engaging in misidentification, most of our interactions with others, to one degree or another, will be based on this "give me what i need but don't take what i have" mentality. we may ask nicely or demand brutally, defend softly or violently, but these are only superficial differences.

from the perspective of one who no longer uses the mind as a reference for self, what's very clearly going on is a constant, mad fight for measly scraps. an ironic fight as well, since all of the fulfillment that's necessary is abundantly available by simply resting in the obvious and ever-present truth of being.