Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Wrestling With Yourself

Your Ego Is Your Friend?….

Last updated on: May 16, 2014 at 2:22 pm   by David Matthew Brown

Your Ego Is Your Friend?…. 2014-05-16T14:22:15-06:00 David Matthew Brown

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Many people in spiritual circles admonish the “Ego”. Some call it the enemy, some come up with clever phrases about it, such as “Electing God Out”, yet as we begin to move in our practice through meditation, prayer, contemplation, self-reflection, and discernment, we begin to discover that this so called enemy is really just lost and yet we identifying with it as who we are, so we are lost.  As we move closer to who we really are, which is “unconditional love”, we discover that the Ego and Spirit actually are in union together.  We discover this because, everything is connected in love, and all is one, and the one is in all and all are in the one.

With this inner knowing we see the movement of the Ego. The Ego is not bad or good, but when the Ego leads then we find ourselves in trouble.  The Ego is not a good leader, in fact it is a horrible, self centered, and selfish leader when left on its own.  But as when we begin to recognize ourselves as Spirit and stop identifying ourselves with Ego, then we begin to see how helpful the Ego movement is.  For example, the Ego is here to protect us from harm, without it we would be in trouble. Lets say you are walking on the street and see someone coming at you with a knife, your Ego will either tell you to run or fight. Hence flight or fight.  This is part of a healthy Ego. Many people in their practice want to rid themselves of Ego to become perfect, but that is still Ego using them.  Ego is subtle, for example, Ego is impatient, until we discover that we are love and then love teaches us that love is patient. So here again Ego comes in to teach us and help with our growth back home. Underneath Ego’s call, is a call for love.  It is popular in most circles to say that Ego is evil, or the enemy, but that is still Ego. All is one. It is difficult to hear this message. Truth is Truth, it doesn’t need belief.

But when Ego leads your life, then separation dominates, judgment, condemnation, fear, greed, lack, etc… and these are created by something that is lost. When we are lost in the Ego as who we are, then we are “lost” till we are “found”.  The finding is that we are unconditional love. But in our practice we are moving from all conditions, traditions, and beliefs. That is its function, to protect, that’s it.    So it is makes no sense in our practice to say that EGO IS THE ENEMY when it is not. Everything is working for us.  EVERYTHING IS LOVE.

Here is a feature I wrote on Unconditional Love that recently appeared in REAL US: REAL US

spiritual

Uncategorized

awareness

Breath

David Matthew Brown

forgive

Forgiveness

freedom

heart

Hot Yoga

Joy

kindness

laugh

listen

Love

Mother Mary

Naked Mystic

Nature

now

Peace

play

Presence

relationships

The NAked Mystic

Twitter

understanding

wrestling with yourself

You

Previous Post



May 12, 2014

Wait...Where?

Next Post



May 18, 2014 Wait...What? Really...


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 90 Days straight of Hot Yoga spiritual Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010




TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the Roman emperor during Jesus’ birth?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nero Herod Caesar Augustus Tiberius

Related posts from Wrestling With Yourself

New Visions

Last Blog...Sweet Adieu

Wrestling With Yourself

New Visions

Part 2: Wild Heart, Wild Feminine

Wrestling With Yourself

New Visions

The Joke

Wrestling With Yourself

New Visions

The Paradox of Our Age /Time - By...

Wrestling With Yourself

TRENDING AT PATHEOS New Visions

Did Prayer Cure His Cancer? Or Was It...

At 4 AM one morning, Joshua W. Brown’s wife awoke to a...

8 Ways a Near-Death Experience Rewires the Soul

Does Consciousness Survive Physical Death? After 50 Years of Research, Dr. Raymond...

Holy Longing: What Our Restlessness Is Telling Us

“One can find so many pains when the rain is falling.” -John...

The Making of a Dumbass

  What this is NOT about.  This blog is definitely not about...

Who Told You That?

Who said the Israelites were God’s chosen? That’s right, they did. Who...

The Spirit World Is the Real World: God...

A Monk’s Wisdom on Body and Spirit I sit with Brother Martin...

view all New Visions blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube