The “ego” wants Spirit. It wants what it is. Innocently.
(a) The “ego” is another name for identified mind, and specifically for (i) the tendency of mind to identify, taking images and thoughts as true, and (ii) what happens when mind identifies.
(b) Identified mind wants something. It wants money, a partner, a nice house, a nice job, respect etc.
(c) When these wants are traced back, I find what identified mind really wants is very simple. It’s love, trust, safety, connection, contentment etc.
(d) The only way to really find this in a satisfying way is for what we are to notice itself. For Spirit (awakeness, presence, love) to notice itself as what’s here. This may happen through recognizing this field of experience as awakeness, and then that what’s noticing it is awakeness itself.
(e) This means that “ego” – identified mind – is really seeking Spirit. And since identified mind is Spirit too, this is Spirit (i) temporarily forgetting itself, (ii) seeking itself (in all the ways mind seeks), and (iii) possibly/eventually finding itself.
It’s all quite beautiful and innocent. Identified mind is really Spirit seeking itself, and sometimes “forgetting” that’s what’s happening.
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notes:
The “ego” wants spirit, it wants what it is. (Innocently)
The ego is seeking reality
– peace, trust, rest, love, all is ok, connection
– seeking the effects of reality recognizing itself, and a human self living w/in that context
– if the “ego” is made into an enemy, it’s identified mind fighting/struggling with itself
– when the “ego” is recognized as innocent, seeking Spirit, and Spirit itself, it’s befriended
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Draft 3….
Thoughts may label something “ego” and then say it’s bad.
And it may seem quite different when explored a little closer.
The “ego” means identified mind, the tendency for mind to take images and thoughts as true, and what happens when it does.
The “ego” wants something. When I explore specific expressions of identified mind in my own life, and trace it back to what it really wants, I find it’s love, trust, a sense of safety and so on.
The only way to find this in a satisfying way is for Spirit to recognize itself as what’s here.
So the “ego” is really seeking Spirit. And the “ego” or identified mind is no other than Spirit appearing as identified mind.
It’s all Spirit temporarily “forgetting” about itself, seeking itself, and then possibly/eventually finding itself.
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Draft 2…..
I keep coming back to this:
The “ego” – identified mind – seeks Spirit.
It seeks the love, trust, rest, connection, a sense of safety etc. that comes when Spirit notices itself as what’s already here.
The “ego” innocently seeks home.
It’s Spirit temporarily “forgetting” itself, seeking itself, and then finding itself as what’s already here.
This may seem a little odd when presented in a nutshell like this. And it’s also very accessible for investigation.
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Draft 1…..
I keep coming back to this:
The “ego” seeks Spirit. It innocently seeks reality.
The word “ego” refers to the dynamics that happens when mind identifies with it’s own images and thoughts, when these are taken as true.
Tracing back what “ego” wants, what’s the hope behind mind identifying with images and thoughts, what’s revealed is something very simple.
What is really sought is love, trust, rest, connection, a sense of safety. And that’s Spirit. That’s what’s here when Spirit notices itself as what’s here, as all there is.
The “ego” is the mind seeking home, it’s Spirit seeking itself. It’s awakeness (presence, love, wisdom) seeking to recognize itself as what’s here.
The “ego” – identified mind – is innocent. It’s love. It’s showing the way home.
Seeing this, over and over, with the “ego” dynamics that are here, it’s all recognized as innocent, as love, as a guide home, even as profound wisdom.
This is mind consciously befriending itself as identified mind. It’s Spirit consciously befriending itself as identification with images and thoughts, and what comes out of it.
It’s Spirit recognizing itself as it all, and the innocence of it all.