Help
Sign In
enlightenment
February 2009 
Ego, Desire, Development and the Way of Enlightenment
Posted on Feb 22nd, 2009
by 
Venita
Venita
This is an excerpt from a piece I wrote to Seattle Integral's discussion list in January of 07. I thought it was worth a revisit.
Namaste and Thank you to all of you. Venita
personality as concepts constructed by humans that are useful in
helping us function and learn. I see development as a (constructed)
continuum. And I see all of these concepts as useful tools...the
ego/self, body and personality are vehicles through which to manifest
the Absolute. Without a self/ego and without a personality with it's
quirks and limitations we wouldn't be worth much, nor be able to
function as humans.
When does a person develop enough of a self to "let go of the
self." That is a really complex question because it seems to vary
from person to person and depends on many factors and nuances
(states, stages, types, lines, shadow elements). And really, as
humans, I agree with Genpo Roshi that it seems we never truly let go
of the self or the ego. A question instead would be does it have us
or do we have it. If we can see that the ego is a useful tool, just
like our intellect, our theories, our personality, our understanding,
our skills, etc and live as spirit inhabiting the body and the ego,
then we can use this particular vehicle that we have manifested to
fulfill our greatest capacity in this lifetime. We go from developing
an ego/self to thinking we are the ego/personality/self to seeing
that we have one (them), to surrendering them to spirit or mystery or
life's secret impulse, to identifying as That consiously and then to
bringing That into and through the vehicle, using the vehicle
(ego/body/personality/self) as our way of manifesting the absolute in
this lifetime. On that "continuum" we go from thinking I have no
choice and that I am at the mercy of life, to learning that i can
take responsibility, i have power and i can choose, to realizing that
all of it is true and that with awareness and presence, one can act
and surrender in a way where the two become one and you begin to
allow Life to live itself through you. You are the seeker of the
way, the follower of the way and you are the Way. According to
Shaivism and tantra, there is nothing wrong with desire and
especially the desire for transformation. It is Eros moving you
toward the Absolute and once reached, the Absolute longs to embrace
it's Beloved Other which can only take place by descending back into
the Relative.
Access: Public
