Chakra Yoga Holistic Health > Egotism, Egoism, Egocentricity, Self Obsession

Man's greatest enemy is his ego which manifests itself in selfishness. The bind-weed of selfish desire and aversion, ignorance, and attachment that is the product of the fall and that prevents the soul from taking charge of the body/mind/worldly character and living and loving

Clarifying Terminology

In western psychology, the ego means the individual, but in spiritual vocabulary, the ego is the sum total of all our selfish desires and attachments (to people, places, experiences, and things in this world). These selfish desires and attachments are called "impurities of body, heart, mind, and soul."

Our aim is, by the process of purification, to understand and abandon selfish desires and aversion, and replace them with healthy desires and aversions, so that we can experience real and lasting happiness, and also bring it to others.

THE SELFISH EGO PROGRAM

Too many "mines" might make for a painful experience!"

Part of the psychoemotional structure of the human experience is a "program" called "Selfish Egotism". Just like a computer program, it runs on the software of the emotional heart, the mind, and the soul. What is it's purpose? It is an educational program that teaches the soul the difference and consequences of good and bad behaviour. It is through this program that the soul learns to understand the difference between behaviours that are:

Good and bad
Selfish and selfless
Wise and unwise
Life supporting and life-destroying

Once we understand these differences of behaviour and their consequences then we can overcome and destroy the "selfish egotism program" by a process of conscious, holistic purification. Then we become good and wise and are in a position to help others do the same. This is all part of the spiritual education of the soul within the human experience.

When we have learned that which the "Ego Program" is teaching us, then the "Ego Program" drops away, automatically deletes itself, from our personality.

THE EGO SYMBOLISED BY THE REPTILE

Within Spiritual Traditions throughout history, we find the same image of the Ego being represented by a reptile and the soul battling with it and eventually overcoming its selfish nature.

CHAKRA YOGA: Ego represented by reptile

The reptile represents the reptilian part of our brain that is only concerned with basic survival mechanisms and thoughtless sensory gratification. Reptiles often eat their children, that is the level of the reptilian brain; unconcerned, no conscience, no feelings for others, cold, heartless, mercenary, completely egocentric.

The symbolism of the human part of our nature overcoming and killing the reptilian part represents our struggle to understand and control this part of the human experience - overcoming the selfish ego and consciously managing the sensory desirous part of our mind (Manas).

This is achieved by understanding the situation and then purifying our body, mind, heart, and soul, so that we are never afflicted by this terribly dangerous psychological entity.

The spiritual reason for this experience is to teach the soul the real importance of overcoming selfishness, the power and happy experience of Virtue-Peace-Love-Wisdom-Enlightenment.

It's a test, a refreshment course for the soul to understand the real difference between good and bad behaviour, and the environment that it takes place in is a soul-school like Planet Earth.

Humanity's Most Dangerous Enemy

Egotism is the deluded state of seperation from heart, soul, wisdom, love, life, conscience, honesty, goodness, responsible relationships with others and the world, enlightenment, spiritual reality, and ultimately God/Higher Self. It is the number one problem (mental delusion) for all souls having this human experience and it is from egotism that all other deluded, vicious, and sinful states of mind arise. The problem is that of disconnection from heart, soul, and God, and the arising of self-obsession, narcissism, and selfish mercenary desire.

The solution is to discover and heal the heart chakra and abandon our selfish desire in favour of love - the genuine wish to serve health and happiness to all

Egotism/Egoism

To eliminate our ego we simply need to purify, let go of, all these impurities. I have listed most of these impurities and the opposite healthy behaviour on the HELM PURIFICATION PAGE...

With understanding of the goal (to purify body, heart, mind, and soul) and a regular, steady practice, this achievement is not difficult.

Once the body, heart, mind, and soul - the individual - is purified then Enlightenment/Self Realization can be achieved much easier indeed.

"Egotism is the motivation to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself. Egotism means placing oneself at the center of one's world with no direct concern for others. It is closely related to narcissism (unhealthy and distorted self-obsession that is not healthy self love), and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, even at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud." - Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egotism

Egotism is the deluded state of seperation from heart, soul, wisdom, love, life, enlightenment, and God. It is the number one problem (mental delusion) for all souls having this human experience and it is from egotism that all other deluded, vicious, and undesirable states of mind arise.

Selfish attitude, inconsiderate of others, always wanting but never giving, narcissistic self obsession. An excessive or exaggerated sense of self-importance and anti-social inconsideration of others. Egotism is often accompanied by a very selfish and mercenary attitude to life. In extreme forms, egoism may include narcissism, antisocial and psychopathological behavior - complete and dangerous inconsideration of the lives and well-being of others. Selfishness, possessiveness, and attachment.

The ego doesn't love anything. It is possessive, controlling, vicious, selfish, and an entirely false and distorted experience of individuality. As an individual, The Real Self is the soul not the delusion of egoism. Understanding and overcoming egoism is a very important part of self development.

The greatest lesson in this world is to put LOVE before selfish egotism. The problems of the world are all based upon this decision - to be loving or to be selfish?

THE NON-SATTVIC EGO

In terms of the Yoga Gunas, the Ego thrives on Tamas (selfish aversion) and Rajas (selfish desire) gunas. This is why the Enlightened inform us to create and maintain a Sattvic, Spiritual lifestyle. Then we will be less entangled with the Selfish Ego and create an inner space to analyze, understand, purify, and overcome it.

Egoism: The worst sort of specialness

Egoism wants to be special and different in the worst type of ways, not as a beautiful expression of unique individuality, but in sick, dreadful, horrible, delinquent, and completely ignorant and selfish ways. The final word concerning "the ego paradigm" is that it is a state of mind of separation from the spiritual reality of life. The ego is separated from God's joyful laws of happiness, love, peace, fulfillment, consideration, and wisdom - the laws of mutual and cooperative good fortune. The ego is delusion, sickness, selfishness, self-obsession, and vice - everything that is not LoveWisdomGoodness and Spiritual Enlightenment.

Egoism: A Fear based attitude

Ego consciousness is fear based. Rooted in the fear that there is no soul, no reincarnation, no God, and no spiritual laws of justice and consequence (the Divine Laws of Karma). Ultimately, ego-consciousness is a fear-based, delusion and blindness to the bigger picture of life. Because the ego-consciousness is based on the false understanding of a non-spiritual reality, then when we live in this state of mind, we are in effect, living from a delusion based upon a lie, a falseness, a sham.

There will always be terrible pain and suffering on all levels of our being, until we release ouselves from the false perceptions of ego-consciousness, and accept the spiritual reality of soul and spirit. The soul is not dependent upon the physical body for it's existence. There is freedom, love, peace, and understanding within the spiritual truths of Life - it is your decision as to what to believe. It is my deepest wish that you at least try the spiritual paradigm for a while and just see how you get on with it. If, like me, you begin to relax into eternity, begin to realise that there is so much goodness to experience - an eternity of goodness - and perhaps realise that we are just awakening to the spiritual realities of life, then you may feel much happier. In this case, I suggest you stay with it, simply give it a go and see what happens. You will never regret it for one minute within eternity...

UNHEALTHY SELF OBSESSION

Egotism is a painful mentality and radically reduces the healthy enjoyment of life for everybody.

When I think only of myself then I am miserable, narcissistic, selfish, and vain – there is no real happiness in this attitude.
When I think of others with warmth, compassion, and love then I experience meaningful connection, kind heartedness, giving, happiness, and a deep peace – this is good.
Life is an opportunity to love.
The grasping hand is never full. To be full it must give .

Narcissism

A psychological illness of "distorted self-love" and self-obsessed self-infatuation.

Anti-Social AND ANTI-LIFE Behaviour

Self centered, disrespectful, inconsiderate, and barbaric attitude to life, often accompanied by attention seeking behaviour, narcissism, and personality disorders.

PRIDE

The person who is too proud to acknowledge their faults and weaknesses cannot improve and it is difficult for them to ask for help concerning their problems. They are too concerned and self-conscious about their self image (how they appear to themselves and others) to realize that their pride is preventing them from learning and growing.

They quickly develop egotism and personality disorders.

Humility and modesty are the opposite to egocentric pride and allow us to be less self-conscious and more open to education and learning.

THE EGOTISTICAL ATTITUDE

"This little me, all puffed up with selfishness and self-importance, in the delusion of separation from the great Ocean of Life - unloving, narcissistic, vain, conceited - thinking only of me, me, me!"

Egotism, and the resulting narcissism and vice, is a direct symptom of the soul's fall from God and grace.

Ego Consciousness v's Soul and Spiritual Consciousness

Ego consciousness is all that is not LoveWisdomGoodness and Spiritual comprehension. It involves the individual being separated from soul realistion, spiritual reality, and LoveWisdomGoodness. It is like being stuck on an island, cut off from the mainland of Spiritual Reality. The individual believes that they are the physical body, that "one life is all you get and then we die", selfish behaviour predominates, and our spiritual heart center is blocked. The individual rushes through life, completely inconsiderate to others, and grasps at all their selfish desires. Nothing satisfies and eventual the individual becomes more and more unhappy and desperate. At this point, the individual may become depressed, begin to realise that ego consciousness does not make a happy and fulfilling life, and may even have spontaneous spiritual experiences or a spiritual awakening, as Spirit intervenes in order to help the individual gain insight into their unhappiness, and guide them to overcome the experience.

Spiritually speaking, each individual can choose "ego consciousness" or, when we are ready to, we can choose "Universal Spiritual Consciousness" - being aware of our spiritual identity as a soul and our interdependence with everything; others, the ecosystem of this world, and Spirit (God, Buddha, Tao, Allah).

The answer to the question "Why does ego consciousness exist?" is answered by realising that it is a state of mind that is characterised by a lack of knowledge concerning spiritual reality and it has been with us for many, many lives. We can give it up whenever we are ready to do so. If we sincerely form the intention to move away from ego consciousness then life (and Spirit) will begin to educate and guide us out of this unpleasant experience.

What are the experiences of ego consciousness?

Everything that is not LoveWisdomGoodness, Peace, and Enlightenment. For example:

Wrath: Persistent and non-specific anger, blame, judgement, prejudice, condemnation, violence, and hatred. A constant state of projecting all our intense negative feelings and self-dislike upon others.
Inferiority/Superiority Complex: Constant competitive comparison with others: Highly competitive personality, not just in secular life, but in social life also. Petty, conceited, infantile, "one upmanship", narcissistic, vain, has to feel better than everybody around them, tyrannical, immature, pathological liar, and constantly putting other people down to make them feel superiour. The very root of the inferior/superiority complex. This constant social comparison produces emotions like anger, hatred, jealousy, envy, self-dislike and depression.
Personality Disorders.
Selfish Greedy Grasping: We try to satisfy all our selfish desires and aversion, but we find only unhappiness and an unfulfilling experience.
Vice and undesirable Attitudes: The individual may find their lives and experiences becoming increasingly full of vice and viciousness.
Isolation, self-pity, depression, and "the pain of separation": The individual acutely feels this "pain of separation" which is real. The individual soul within ego-consciousness is separated by this state of mind from the spiritual realities of the soul, reincarnation and eternal life, LoveWisdomGoodness, and the spiritual realizations.

The decision to want to develop out of the isolation and unhappiness of ego-consciousness (to rise from the Fall into Spiritual Ignorance and Darkness) comes from deep within the individual's soul. This guides and moves the individual in advance of this decision being realised in the conscious waking state. The soul is desiring to throw off this heavy, dark cloak of ego-consciousness, and to connect with life in loving, satisfying, and meaningful ways.

Once the decision is made then this intent creates the ability for the healing to take place. The soul is completely connected to the interdependent network that is spiritual reality and circumstances begin to support the soul in their healing journey of meaningful and satisfying interconnectivity with life and the real nature of everything which is what we can call "spiritual reality" - reality is completely spiritual in its nature.