Ego
An Ego is an integrated combination of perspective (eye), Self Awareness (I), imagination, purpose, and will. Human beings struggle to integrate two egos, a Spiritual Ego which is a "real" ego that emerges as the result of an Intensification of Consciousness, and a Bodily Ego, which emerges from the body's CNS.
Aspects of Ego
Ego > Imagination, Perspective, Self Awareness, Will
The Two Egos
The Two Egos > Bodily Ego, Spiritual Ego
Related LP Terms
Ego > Bodily Ego, Declaration of Self, Egoic Consciousness, First Birth, Monad, Monadic Consciousness, Monadic Intensification, Resident Monadic Consciousness, Spiritual Ego
Non-LP Related Terms
Ego >
Notes
Imagine yourself standing on a street corner looking down the street towards a sun setting in the sky. Imagine you sit down to enjoy that sunset. You have a perspective (looking north down the street), self-awareness (you know you want to enjoy the sun set), imagination (you can imagine what you have to do to enjoy that sunset), and will (the ability to take an action in accord with your imagination). You, therefore, have an ego.
The primary task of human development is the development of a healthy and strong Bodily Ego that is capable of "handling" a full measure of spiritual ego.
To achieve a healthy ego, ensure that all Seven Essential Needs are being met, from birth to death.
Toxic Socialization undermines the bodily ego and makes it incapable of containing a full measure of spiritual ego.
Most conceptualizations of ego do not distinguish properly between Bodily Ego and Spiritual Ego. For example, Edward Carpenter struggles to understand the emergence of ego, while amorphously flopping back and forth between a confused understanding of Spiritual Ego and Bodily Ego. Carpenter does correctly note however that the experience of perspective, conceived of as the experience of "separation," is a motivating force behind the instantiation of ego. "And so we find the first form in which the self fairly comes to consciousness is that of separation."[1]
Cosmological
Ego did not always exist. Before the Fabric of Consciousness intensified into the monadic spark of god, there was no ego, there was simply the blissful, but unaware, Fabric of Consciousness. However, at the point of the intensification, when god is born in The Fabric, so too is the first ego (i.e. I + eye + will) brought into existence.
This original monadic spark, and all subsequent intensifications in the Fabric of Consciousness may be referred to as Spiritual Ego
From the Literature
"We Indian people have traditionally divided mind into two parts — the spiritual mind and the physical mind. The first — the spiritual mind — is concerned only with the essence of things, and it is this we seek to strengthen by spiritual prayer, during which the body is subdued by fasting and hardship. In this type of prayer there is no beseeching of favor or help.
The second, or physical, mind, is lower. It is concerned with all personal or selfish matters, like success in hunting or warfare, relief from sickness, or the sparing of a beloved life. All ceremonies, charms, or incantations designed to secure a benefit or to avert a danger are recognized as emanating from the physical self."[2]
Additional Reading
Vogeley, K., May, M., Ritzl, A., Falkai, P., Zilles, K., & Fink, G. R. (2004). Neural Correlates of First-Person Perspective as One Constituent of Human Self-Consciousness. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16(5), 817-827. doi: 10.1162/089892904970799
Vogeley, K., Kurthen, M., Falkai, P., & Maier, W. (1999). Essential Functions of the Human Self Model Are Implemented in the Prefrontal Cortex. Consciousness and Cognition, 8(3), 343-363. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/ccog.1999.0394
Footnotes
