Is the "ego" our enemy or "satan"

[Ron Alexander]

Even if we think our "ego" is our enemy, should we not "love our enemies." Actually, the term ego is one of the 3 divisions of the psyche organized by Sigmund Freud. The other two is the id, which is what most people think the ego is - it is the lower ("snake brain") instinctual part of us where fear and survival competitive issues remain. The ego is described by Freud as the CONSCIOUS mediator of reality for us - the part of us that can drive our car and take care of our body. Simply,it is known as our "self". The other part is the "superego" which we would call our Higher Self as in Reality.
Helen was the one who started demonizing the ego when she channeled ACIM. When I was studying with Bill Thetford(the Scribe) in the mid-80's, he told us to "tear out those pages." He had embodied the wonderful essence of ACIM - Oneness in Love! One average size book could be written called The Essence of ACIM and it would be one of the greatest Holy Books ever written!

And remember from the Bible - "the body is the temple of our spirit."

And to be here now, we need our body and ego!

I do believe in the ending of St. Francis's Prayer - "it is letting go of the self, that we are born to eternal life." However, I think you have to be ready to let go of your body also, and we will always have to face that profound choice. However, as of now at age 66, I have never felt more alive!

[Linda Slasberg]

Thank you Ron for this.
It is a clear explanation of something I have been trying to find for myself and a discussion group I started.
I am 63 and also feel more alive now than ever have.

Thank you again

[Ron Alexander]

Linda Slasberg said:

Thank you Ron for this.
It is a clear explanation of something I have been trying to find for myself and a discussion group I started.
I am 63 and also feel more alive now than ever have.

Thank you again

After Ron thanked her:
Linda Slasberg said… You are very welcome, its nice to read something that makes sense.
Thanks again for writing itLinda

[Rita O'Gorman]

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

[Richard Boothe]

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

[Rita O'Gorman]

Thank you, Richard. I first developed this notion while read Tolle's "The New Earth". He has much to say on the topic of ego. And I agree on the 2 paths. I gathered that if love was unity than separation must be the opposite. My main point here was that our battles are within...No devil out there lurking around. I had my fill of that during the years I spent as a bible thumping fundamentalist. I also agree that we make our experience.

Richard Boothe said:

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

[Ron Alexander]

Love Ego - It has a Job to Do!

Love your ego for what it is and for the great job it has done to keep you alive and bring to this point. Don't fight it; embrace it and love it. Teach it that your spirit is in command and that it must back down when instructed by the guidance from God. Utilize checks and balances to keep it in its place. It has a job to do; your survival. When you deny that, it will retaliate at the most inappropriate moment to teach you a lesson. Love it for what it's worth. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.

Buffy Per Sempre: I like this a lot Dean. Ego has kinda been given a bad rap - since we all have one. I've tried everything to deal with my ego and LOVE works best. ღ
Ron Alexander: Thanks Dr. Dean, it is better to have a healthy balanced ego than to have a weak one (feeling less than, guilt, shame, fear, etc.) and to be aware of our "earth guide" (Gary Zukav) is the key!
Photo of Gary Zukav who coined the ego as our "earth guide" -
.Manoj Kumar ‎:-). thanks dean. it is only with ego that egoless state can manifest. kind regards.
Pankaj Saini: Lovely sharing...When Love comes in beween :) God is there in Between....thanks Dean for sharing....
Carlos Ortas: Embrace everything with Love, even ego. Then it feels protected, safe, and expands...until it is...Love. ♥

[Ron Alexander]

Rita O'Gorman said:

Thank you, Richard. I first developed this notion while read Tolle's "The New Earth". He has much to say on the topic of ego. And I agree on the 2 paths. I gathered that if love was unity than separation must be the opposite. My main point here was that our battles are within...No devil out there lurking around. I had my fill of that during the years I spent as a bible thumping fundamentalist. I also agree that we make our experience.

Richard Boothe said:

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

Love Ego - It has a Job to Do!

Love your ego for what it is and for the great job it has done to keep you alive and bring to this point. Don't fight it; embrace it and love it. Teach it that your spirit is in command and that it must back down when instructed by the guidance from God. Utilize checks and balances to keep it in its place. It has a job to do; your survival. When you deny that, it will retaliate at the most inappropriate moment to teach you a lesson. Love it for what it's worth. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.

Buffy Per Sempre: I like this a lot Dean. Ego has kinda been given a bad rap - since we all have one. I've tried everything to deal with my ego and LOVE works best. ღ
Ron Alexander: Thanks Dr. Dean, it is better to have a healthy balanced ego than to have a weak one (feeling less than, guilt, shame, fear, etc.) and to be aware of our "earth guide" (Gary Zukav) is the key!
Photo of Gary Zukav who coined the ego as our "earth guide" -
.Manoj Kumar ‎:-). thanks dean. it is only with ego that egoless state can manifest. kind regards.
Pankaj Saini: Lovely sharing...When Love comes in beween :) God is there in Between....thanks Dean for sharing....
Carlos Ortas: Embrace everything with Love, even ego. Then it feels protected, safe, and expands...until it is...Love. ♥

[Richard Boothe]

What I was trying to point out is that, while we must resolve internal conflict to experience peace, we must do the same thing with exterior reality.  I agree that if we fully come to terms with our interior reality, we will generally do likewise with the exterior one too.  The key, however, is the word fully, because transcendent peace requires complete surrender to not just our internal reality, but the entire Universe.  This, in turn, usually demands an apprenticeship period to rediscover our connection with Nature.  For example, during the '60s, we began living in the forests and going barefoot all year - which greatly expanded our connection with, and awareness of, the natural world.  That process also involved turning our backs on the man-made world, with all of its negativity, attachments and illusions.  Every step along that path, in turn, took us farther and farther into the Divine realm, until some of us actually entered Paradise.

Paradise is the immortal realm which Jesus was teaching his disciples how to enter.  He distinguished it from the afterlife heaven of the Gentiles, stating that it is not in the sky, but lies within us - according to the Christian bible, at least.  But in the Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in the Nile River valley, in 1945, he explains that "The kingdom of the Father lies within us and outside of us," and "is spread out upon the earth, but men do not see it."  The reason they don't see it is that the attachments and illusions of the man-made world blind them to the true reality of Planet Earth - which is still the Garden of Eden.

So, while one may gain momentary peace during meditation, it is far different from fully entering Paradise, which conveys a serenity that's permanent, as long as one remains.  It lasts from one day to the next, and is both perfect and beautiful beyond compare.  Although we may all experience that state naturally as little children, it is rare in adulthood.  Why?  Because one must release all attachments to the man-made world, and undergo both physical and spiritual purification before we can do it.  Even then, contact with the man-made world can easily corrupt us, because we do not understand the rules we must follow to remain there.  I've been studying this for most of my adult life (I'm 72), and the best I've been able to learn is that we can only do this successfully in Nature - the real Garden of Eden.

 

WRita O'Gorman said:

Thank you, Richard. I first developed this notion while read Tolle's "The New Earth". He has much to say on the topic of ego. And I agree on the 2 paths. I gathered that if love was unity than separation must be the opposite. My main point here was that our battles are within...No devil out there lurking around. I had my fill of that during the years I spent as a bible thumping fundamentalist. I also agree that we make our experience.

Richard Boothe said:

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

[Ron Alexander]

Richard Boothe said:

What I was trying to point out is that, while we must resolve internal conflict to experience peace, we must do the same thing with exterior reality.  I agree that if we fully come to terms with our interior reality, we will generally do likewise with the exterior one too.  The key, however, is the word fully, because transcendent peace requires complete surrender to not just our internal reality, but the entire Universe.  This, in turn, usually demands an apprenticeship period to rediscover our connection with Nature.  For example, during the '60s, we began living in the forests and going barefoot all year - which greatly expanded our connection with, and awareness of, the natural world.  That process also involved turning our backs on the man-made world, with all of its negativity, attachments and illusions.  Every step along that path, in turn, took us farther and farther into the Divine realm, until some of us actually entered Paradise.

Paradise is the immortal realm which Jesus was teaching his disciples how to enter.  He distinguished it from the afterlife heaven of the Gentiles, stating that it is not in the sky, but lies within us - according to the Christian bible, at least.  But in the Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in the Nile River valley, in 1945, he explains that "The kingdom of the Father lies within us and outside of us," and "is spread out upon the earth, but men do not see it."  The reason they don't see it is that the attachments and illusions of the man-made world blind them to the true reality of Planet Earth - which is still the Garden of Eden.

So, while one may gain momentary peace during meditation, it is far different from fully entering Paradise, which conveys a serenity that's permanent, as long as one remains.  It lasts from one day to the next, and is both perfect and beautiful beyond compare.  Although we may all experience that state naturally as little children, it is rare in adulthood.  Why?  Because one must release all attachments to the man-made world, and undergo both physical and spiritual purification before we can do it.  Even then, contact with the man-made world can easily corrupt us, because we do not understand the rules we must follow to remain there.  I've been studying this for most of my adult life (I'm 72), and the best I've been able to learn is that we can only do this successfully in Nature - the real Garden of Eden.

 

WRita O'Gorman said:

Thank you, Richard. I first developed this notion while read Tolle's "The New Earth". He has much to say on the topic of ego. And I agree on the 2 paths. I gathered that if love was unity than separation must be the opposite. My main point here was that our battles are within...No devil out there lurking around. I had my fill of that during the years I spent as a bible thumping fundamentalist. I also agree that we make our experience.

Richard Boothe said:

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

Ron Alexander: Anything or anyone we consider separate, including our ego or manmade artifacts, is placing us squarely in duality. There is no evil, satan or hell, unless manmade by dualistic thinking. "God did not make any junk." and God (Love) is omniscient, omnipresent &nd omnipotent. Thanks for the enlightening dialogue Richard & Rita!

[Ron Alexander]

Richard Boothe said:

What I was trying to point out is that, while we must resolve internal conflict to experience peace, we must do the same thing with exterior reality.  I agree that if we fully come to terms with our interior reality, we will generally do likewise with the exterior one too.  The key, however, is the word fully, because transcendent peace requires complete surrender to not just our internal reality, but the entire Universe.  This, in turn, usually demands an apprenticeship period to rediscover our connection with Nature.  For example, during the '60s, we began living in the forests and going barefoot all year - which greatly expanded our connection with, and awareness of, the natural world.  That process also involved turning our backs on the man-made world, with all of its negativity, attachments and illusions.  Every step along that path, in turn, took us farther and farther into the Divine realm, until some of us actually entered Paradise.

Paradise is the immortal realm which Jesus was teaching his disciples how to enter.  He distinguished it from the afterlife heaven of the Gentiles, stating that it is not in the sky, but lies within us - according to the Christian bible, at least.  But in the Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in the Nile River valley, in 1945, he explains that "The kingdom of the Father lies within us and outside of us," and "is spread out upon the earth, but men do not see it."  The reason they don't see it is that the attachments and illusions of the man-made world blind them to the true reality of Planet Earth - which is still the Garden of Eden.

So, while one may gain momentary peace during meditation, it is far different from fully entering Paradise, which conveys a serenity that's permanent, as long as one remains.  It lasts from one day to the next, and is both perfect and beautiful beyond compare.  Although we may all experience that state naturally as little children, it is rare in adulthood.  Why?  Because one must release all attachments to the man-made world, and undergo both physical and spiritual purification before we can do it.  Even then, contact with the man-made world can easily corrupt us, because we do not understand the rules we must follow to remain there.  I've been studying this for most of my adult life (I'm 72), and the best I've been able to learn is that we can only do this successfully in Nature - the real Garden of Eden.

 

WRita O'Gorman said:

Thank you, Richard. I first developed this notion while read Tolle's "The New Earth". He has much to say on the topic of ego. And I agree on the 2 paths. I gathered that if love was unity than separation must be the opposite. My main point here was that our battles are within...No devil out there lurking around. I had my fill of that during the years I spent as a bible thumping fundamentalist. I also agree that we make our experience.

Richard Boothe said:

Historically, Satan was simply the accuser - not, as Gentile Christians later characterized, the Devil.  Such concepts changed over time and now bear little resemblance to their original meaning.  During a web search for the terms Hell and Hades, I learned that Hades was long considered the god of the underworld - which was, moreover, not a place of punishment, but the resting place of the dead - all the dead (similar to the Hebrew Sheol) - and that Hell had a similar background.  Jesus taught his disciples there are but two paths in this world: a broad one to destruction, and a narrow one to life.  In order to follow the latter, he told us to love and forgive each other, not judge or condem, because we will reap what we sow.  What few realize is that we experience this existance as heaven or hell depending on the relationship between our inner and outer realities.  When we truly connect with spirit, we connect with all spirit - including what Native Americans call "the Great Spirit," or God.  If we hate ourselves or others, however, we also cut ourselves off from God, because God is love.  Jesus, thus, taught his followers how to be filled with light and love, and experience the Divine - here and now - rather than the destruction and separation that comes from greed, envy or hatred (which breed division).  Ego, therefore, is simply the false self, which sees itself as separate from external reality and others, rather than the greater self, which is one with all.

Rita O'Gorman said:

Well, ego as Satan has been a consideration of mine. If not ego then what? An evil being? Negative energy? A fallen angel? I prefer to think that all the battles are within and that the idea of separation from, say Spirit, each other, comes from the individual identity or ego. Help me out here. Thanks

[Ron Alexander]

 

Ron Alexander: Anything or anyone we consider separate, including our ego or manmade artifacts, is placing us squarely in duality. There is no evil, satan or hell, unless manmade by dualistic thinking. "God did not make any junk." and God (Love) is omniscient, omnipresent &nd omnipotent. Thanks for the enlightening dialogue Richard & Rita!

[Rita O'Gorman]

Ron, yes and yes...and here is the contradiction I was brought up with. That while God was omnipresent, it was possible for him to not be within me, or that he might leave me, or that I could lose him. Where could he go? Where is this place that he is not? And, this teaching of the separation from God is anti-Christ in as much as it opposite unity. When I consider how all encompassing love is, I can feel his embrace and I have to shed some tears of joy.

I have a friend who is going through a hell all her own. Her family is being torn apart, she is laden with guilt and battling breast cancer. She ask me if I thought she had given up on God. I told her, with all confidence, that God has not given her up and wasn't leaving her. He has no where to go cause there is nothing outside of him.