Fear and the death of the enculturated ego

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

Copyright 2008 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

The enculturated ego is the identity we have been taught to believe we are. It is that identity given to us by our parents, our religion, our society and the experiences we have had based on our enculturation. Although we may have an adult body, the enculturated ego is usually an identity of childhood with childhood beliefs performed in an adult body. It is normally unique to our expression on the physical plane. Contrary to popular belief, most individuals live their lives through the eyes and beliefs of a child within an adult body. Few individuals truly replace their childhood view of the world with an adult view based on how they really believe the world functions.

The identity we come to believe we are ultimately is neither good nor bad. However, our society may judge it good or bad based on its expectations for its members. The issue is not that we cannot live and experience life with the enculturated ego. Rather, it is not necessarily reflective of who we really are and what we came to express in this incarnation.

We need do nothing and can continue to live with the ego we choose - that is, to live the ego given to us during our indoctrination into society or one of our own making. We receive no judgment by the universe for our choice. The only pain that we suffer as a result of the laws of the universe is when we live a life where what we believe with our mind is opposed to the truth of our being. So as long as our thoughts, words and actions are consistent with our beliefs, our life will be generally internally satisfying. There are things that will, or may, occur because of our genetics or the role we agreed to play in this incarnation such as certain illness. But, in general, we should not have a lot of dis-ease of the body as a result of the inconsistency between our actions and our beliefs. But it is almost assured that we are not living the life we came to experience if we claim our enculturated ego as our identity.

Society does not particularly embrace individuals living from their heart and the truth of their being because they tend to be passionate and uncontrollable about what they believe in their heart. Society wants individuals who pick up and perform their life according to the roles and expectations society needs to have filled so that society can continue to exist in the form that it is in. Whether we experience pain because we receive judgment from society for our choice is not pain caused for violating a law of the universe.

We must learn to become clear as to what is the occasion for our pain. Within the mind body connection, pain is ultimately caused from sources internal to us and not from external sources. The external source is only the occasion to cause the pain to be felt. Its cause is a result of us holding onto something that needs to exit our life for the situation at hand. To move to the identity of the heart to access our creative power, usually, the identity of the mind must die. It is to die before we die. It is this death of the enculturated ego that most fear because it can be quite painful since we hold on so tightly to the elements that make up that identity. Additionally, loss of that identity may cause a loss of our role and recognition in society, which encompasses a whole different set of fears because of what needs to be released relative to that society.

There is a general impression that the ego must somehow be annihilated and the ego, that identity that we choose to express, is somehow evil or bad and must be subdued. Many authors and teachers continually talk about the negative aspects of the ego, almost to the point of creating cults around subduing the ego. However, to hold our creativity sacred is to participate actively in the creation process and to choose to eat and engage life. The ego is the vehicle we use to participate in the process. Ego itself cannot be judged as good or bad. It is no more than a collection of beliefs about who and what we think we are to create a unique view and experience of life. The enculturated mind of who and what we think we are, is not to be destroyed or given up. The mind is to be used for the function it was made and that function is as a vehicle of awareness: to become aware of that which is. It is only in the choice of who we think we believe we are that there is a problem and we can change who we think we are whenever we want.

The ego is nothing more than a vehicle used to experience the physical plane, in the same way we use a plane or train to travel across country. The vehicle we choose will make a huge difference in how we experience the journey. But, one vehicle is not necessarily better than another. It is all a matter of perspective: The question is, "What do we want experience on the journey and how much time do we want to spend in a particular location?" The ego is a vehicle and does nothing. The "I" of ego will be cared for, maintained, and operated by its owner - the one who observes. If we don’t like our current ego, we can always exchange it for a new one, whether or not we realizes this. The ego can be changed, the body cannot. But we associate the ego with the body and the experiences the body has had and, as a result, we think ego cannot be changed.

We must be detached from the ego and accept the ego as it currently is and consciously and knowingly engage in life mindfully. We need to observe and exert discipline on the thoughts which puts the ego into action. It is like having a car with a very sensitive gas pedal. To call the pedal good or bad is useless. In fact, claiming that the gas pedal is responsible for how we drive is foolish. We must learn to press lightly on the pedal or suffer the consequences. The ego is the gas pedal and the thought is how we push on the gas pedal and allow the gas pedal to respond. We, as the driver, can learn to regulate the sensitive gas pedal by how we push or don’t push on the pedal.

It is the same with ego. Ego of itself is neither good nor bad. It only gives shape to our lives at any given moment by defining who we are and how we are going to view how we perceive reality. It tells us what we believe about what is occurring in our lives the instant it is occurring. Ego is purely a reference marker used to measure, gage or define the experience we are having. We can be fully into the ego and think that I am the ego and all it represents. Or, we can transcend the ego and realize that the ego is only holding the form of the experience. Without the ego we could be one with the All That Is in clear cosmic consciousness for the world but no "I" to separate us..

The issue is not doing away with the ego. We can choose the beliefs that determine the ego and how we experience that which is happening in our life. The issue is learning to step aside from the ego and view the world and act from a more cosmic perspective as a detached witness. But this ability is needed for another reason. It is necessary to step aside from beliefs or thoughts that are untrue. As a human, it is impossible to walk through walls or be in more than one location at a time. But if one learns to step aside from how being human is defined and held by most people, one can learn to bi-locate.

When one learns to step aside from their ego by developing a strong personal power, they are learning to step aside from beliefs that define their reality and the experience they are having. In reality, the experience we have is not affected by the beliefs we carry. Rather the beliefs we carry define the experience as we see it. Although our beliefs create the experience we have, they do not determine the experience we have when we experience the creation we created with those same beliefs. To experience reality differently, all we need to do is change the belief we are using to experience reality. To change our beliefs the enculturated ego must die.

The beliefs about reality that come from our heart are not the same as the beliefs that come from our mind. Our current mind is taught that we are separate individuals and that we need to be, do or act in a certain way to be acceptable by society. Our heart says that everything is interconnected and that when I cry and feel pain, you can cry too and feel my pain. The beliefs of the heart are quite different than that of the mind. In living the heart, the ego does not die. We still need a vehicle for experiencing the physical plane. What dies are the beliefs that define our ego, and some beliefs we hold onto very tightly and cause they much pain when we need to give them up. If we learn to stand aside from the ego as a detached witness, we can see what happens in our life through any view that we choose. In doing so, we can choose to view the experience by what we think about the experience and what is happening before or to us. Or, we can experience what we feel about what is happening. The choice is ours. The difference is enormous. There is no need to fear the death of the ego. We need not fear we will have to give up our car and walk everywhere. We only need to choose a car, an ego, that better suits the life we would like to live. Our recommendation is that we choose from the heart for it is the life that we came to experience.

Related topics
Ego
Enculturated ego
Die before we die
Need to become empty

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