Tracing the Ego of Mankind – Summary and Conclusions

The nature of ego has been known to mankind since ancient times. Hindus sought to suppress it, Buddhists sought to walk a middle path of semi-acceptance, and Kabbalists embraced it as a natural and necessary part of our evolution. Christians, Jews, and Muslims seem to live in opposition to the teachings in their sacred texts by embracing, perhaps even celebrating the magnificence of the ego.

Ego has assisted both the rise and the fall of many empires throughout history; telling us that in spite of the warnings and instructions that were given to the world in ages past, people have chosen to live robustly from their ego.

Today the world appears to be at another peak in the expression and experience of ego. Some believe that we are in the end times and that the world as we know it is about to physically self-destruct. Others believe that we are in a period of awakening that will lead us into an age of peace and harmony. Regardless of what one chooses to believe, there is palpable tension everywhere and it is most certainly related to the collective ego of the world at this point in time.

One thing is certain; this is an amazing and interesting time to be alive. We are seeing the convergence of science and spiritual thought. Quantum physics is discovering unseen laws of the universe that support the spiritual wisdom which has been handed down through the ages. Scientific egos everywhere are in turmoil as they rally behind their intellect, looking not to prove the Universe is One but, to prove that everything is and always was separate, in spite of evidence to the contrary.

The world is also witness to a spiritual explosion of awakening to Oneness. As people recognize their connection to, and influence upon everything, both animate and inanimate, they are choosing less consumptive more earth friendly lifestyles. The impact of this change is felt in everything from food, manufacturing and housing, to medicine, education and politics.

It’s as if the world is completing a giant circle; from knowing we must beware of our ego, into a time where we have lived by our ego until recent awareness that the pain has become too great to continue, many are now heading back into a period of knowing again.

If this is in fact what we are witnessing then it would seem prudent to investigate how an awakening world can grow peacefully within an ailing egoistic society. Recognizing that ego is the veil that separates the illusionary physical world from the eternal spiritual world, we know that ego will always be a part of life on earth. We may find that the best solution has already been given to us in the Buddhist Way of the Middle Path.

Yet, one wonders how recent scientific discoveries might change the dynamics of our world. If in fact our world is like a never ending hologram, will the technology of the future will be mechanical, conscious, or both. In a mechanical world we already know the ego turns greedy, based on past experience. But science is telling us that the hologram or energy matrix that has been discovered is influenced by emotion. We might find that the egoistic mind will seek to enslave others more capable of producing the desired emotions. Of course, the other option is that in a world that can be manipulated with emotion, or thoughts, the enlightened have an unfair advantage regardless of position, power, education or just about anything else.

As the world enters a new age it appears that it will carry with it the same underlying problems it has always experienced, dressed in different attire. The goal remains the same throughout eternity; learn from one’s mistakes and strive for better next time.

Tracing the Ego of Mankind – Kabbalah

Kabbalah was developed about 4,000 years ago and has remained pretty much hidden from the world until recently. Kabbalists believe an upper, all-inclusive force, called “the Creator,” controls everything in reality. All of the forces of our world, like gravity and electricity, are connected to this upper force. There are many more forces that work in our world but are hidden to us. By studying their books of wisdom, such as The Zohar one can develop a sense of what the forces are and their purpose. It is likened to studying guides to the comprehensive laws of nature. Kabbalists see their philosophy as science, though many others believe it to be Jewish Mysticism.

A fundamental belief in Kabbalah is that the Creator bestows, and the created receives. It is the task of the created to learn to receive with the intent to bestow. The idea here is to learn selfless bestowal, which sounds very similar to the Buddhist idea of self-less giving associated with positive karma.

Another fundamental belief in Kabbalah is the five stages of evolution which include bodily desire (food, sex, shelter, family), money (ownership, exchange, trade), honor (fame, pride, power), knowledge (control nature, technology), and Point in the Heart (spiritual perception). It is believed that man has collectively reached the first four stages of evolution and that those stages all pertain to man‟s ego. Kabbalah identifies ego as man‟s intent to receive from the Creator and believes that it is how man was meant to evolve in this world. This belief seems to depart from most forms of spirituality in that it accepts the egoistic ways of man as part of evolution and places no significance to it beyond that.

Kabbalah teaches that each stage of evolution must be lived to some point of fullness and satisfaction before a desire for the next stage can manifest. Some believe that we are at a point of evolution where it is the fulfillment (some would say pain) of living from the ego that will drive us into the next and final stage, Point in the Heart, at which level man will achieve spiritual perception.

It is interesting to consider what it means to the world if collectively man has reached the first four stages of evolution with only Point in the Heart, or spiritual perception, remaining. From the caveman to traders to monarchs to industrialists, our past has followed a clear evolutionary path consistent with Kabbalah. We now look to our current world and see the tremendous leap man has taken in knowledge and technology in just the past century. It seems entirely possible that spirituality would be the next step in the evolutionary path. It also bears uncanny resemblance to the Book of Revelations found in the Bible.

Tracing the Ego of Mankind – Eastern Traditions

The Perennial Philosophy was committed to writing over twenty-five centuries ago and was expressed in many different forms. It has been spoken in almost all the languages of Asia and Europe and has made use of the terminology and traditions of all of the higher religions.

At the core of the Perennial Philosophy are four fundamental doctrines: 1) The physical world and the spiritual world are the manifestation of a Higher Power, within which everything has it‟s being, and without which, would be nonexistent. 2) Humans are capable of more than just knowing about the Higher Power. They can also realize its existence by direct intuition thereby uniting the knower with the known. 3) Man has a dual nature; his ego or external self, and his eternal Self which is the inner man or spark of Divinity within the soul. 4) Man‟s life on earth has only one purpose and one end; that is to recognize his eternal Self and to become one with the Higher Power.

From the Perennial Philosophy, one can see that ego has been a concern of humanity for all of recorded history. Over time man has dealt with his ego in a variety of ways. In the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, we read about the great warrior, Arjuna who asks his friend, Krishna (an enlightened being) how an illumined soul may be recognized. Krishna says to him: “He knows peace who has forgotten desire; He lives without craving, free from ego, free from pride.”

Krishna explains even more about the nature of ego when he identifies the three gunas or bonds that tie man to his mortal existence. It seems sattwa/rajas/tamas are the egos search for happiness and longing for knowledge/ the egos thirst for pleasure and possessions/and the egos delusion and ignorance about reality. Krishna tells Arjuna that man will be made free and become immortal when he has overcome the gunas and no longer yearns for them.

The Hindu tradition was a critical force in the development of Buddhism. Yet, there is a difference in how they perceive the ego and its role in physical life. Whereas Hindus seek to suppress ego, Buddhists seek to walk the Middle Path. This idea of a middle path is explained in an ancient sutra that tells a story called “The Parable of the Bird”.

The story tells of a particular royal palace in which there was a daily ritual of selecting plump birds from a large flock to be served at the king‟s table. One of the birds, who had been captured and kept in the flock, observed this selection process and secretly in his heart considered his fate; if he gorged himself and became obese, he reasoned that he would surely be slaughtered and devoured. However, if he did not eat, he knew that he would perish. In either event, he knew he would not escape death. He determined that it would be best to eat just the right amount so that he could live a long life. From that point on, he adequately reduced his food intake shrinking himself to the size of the holes in the net meshing of his bird cage. He then flew out into open air and became free.

This story suggests that the Middle Path is a philosophy of balance through moderation. It‟s actually more than that. The Middle Path seeks to attain a nature of emptiness. It recognizes that pain and hardship will always exist in the world and that joy, pleasure, and happiness will as well. The state of emptiness is a non-emotional, non-egocentric reaction to these events.

In the Samyuktagama, it says “One who thinks of impermanence will understand the truth of ego-lessness. The Enlightened One lives in the state of ego-lessness, renounces self-conceit and hence progresses towards liberation and Nirvana.”

The Middle Path is therefore more than a philosophy of moderation. It seeks to help one understand that physical life is impermanent and spiritual life is eternal. What happens in the physical life is of less concern (this too shall pass) than what happens in the spiritual life.