28
Фев
2011

Correct Use of the Ego

Correct Use of the EgoThroughout history, humanity has tried numerous ways to annul the ego or artificially reduce it in order to reach equality, love, and social justice. Revolutions and social changes have come and gone, but all have failed because balance can only be acquired by correctly combining the full power of reception with the full power of bestowal.

The common law for all living organisms is the altruistic connection among egoistic elements. These two contradicting elements—altruism and egoism, giving and receiving—exist in every matter, creature, phenomenon, and process.

On the material level, the emotional level, or any other level, you will always find two forces, not just one. They complement and balance one another, and manifest in a variety of ways: as electrons and protons; a negative charge and a positive charge, rejection and attraction, acid and basic, and hate and love. Every element in Nature maintains a reciprocal relationship with the system supporting it, and these relationships consist of harmonious giving and receiving.

Nature aspires to bring us to perfection, to unlimited bliss. Hence, Nature has instilled in us a desire to enjoy. There is no need to cancel this desire; we need only correct it, or more accurately, change the way we use our desires to enjoy, moving from an egoistic approach to an altruistic one.

The correct evolution uses the full power of the desire to enjoy within us, but in its corrected form. Moreover, since the ego is our Nature, it is simply impossible to counteract it or restrain it indefinitely, because that would be going against Nature. If we try to do that, we will discover that we are unable to do so.

Although our present state does not indicate that Nature wishes for us to enjoy, it is because, Nature’s perfection is not apparent in any creature before it reaches its ultimate form. Just like a fruit which undergoes many phases until it is completely ripe. Not only do its preceding phases show no evidence of its sweet and fine-looking end, but as if to vex, they show the opposite of the final shape: the sweeter the fruit is at its end, the bitter it is in the earlier phases of its development.

The same applies to humans: our present state is not the complete and final state, since our egos have not completed their development.

This is why our state seems negative. However, just like the fruit on the tree, there is nothing within us that we need to ruin, or it wouldn’t have been placed within us to begin with.

The ego’s force is a wonderful thing. It brought us this far, and thanks to it, we will also reach our perfection. It is the ego that pushes us forward and facilitates unlimited progress. Without it, we would not have evolved as a human society, and we would not be fundamentally different from animals. Finally, thanks to our egos, we are now arriving at a situation where we have to connect into one global family.

The trick is to find the best and wisest way to use our ego to progress toward altruistic bonding with others. We shouldn’t suppress our natural egoistic drives. On the contrary, we should use the power of social influence to best and most effectively use them for social development.

For instance, we normally think of envy and honor in negative terms. But if instead of appreciating people who are successful in using society for their own, egoistical purposes, we would praise people who contribute to society and condemn those who do not – people would start envying a positive modus operandi. This way, our natural inclinations will enable us to attain balance with Nature and create a more sustainable world.

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