This essay,
Ego,
was conceived at the same time as
Getting Better.
Books and books and books have been written about ego. Yet almost all
of what's been written and said about ego has been written and said for
academia and for the psychological profession and for the psychiatric
profession and for the spiritual community. For the most part, what's
been written and said about ego isn't easily accessible. Even if it
were easily accessible, the material isn't in a palatable, pragmatic
format that can quickly and easily be gotten and applied to make a
profound difference in a person's life.
Of the multitudes of distinctions and definitions Werner has
articulated and spoken into being, into the listening of human being,
and into the very culture of being human on the planet today, arguably
none is as succint and so useful as what he says ego really is.
For starters, unlike the way ego shows up in academic, psychological,
psychiatric, and spiritual conversations as a noun, when Werner
distinguishes ego it is clearly a verb. "To ego" as
languaged in Werner's universe is literally to survive by perpetuating
your own point of view.
Distinguishing ego and isolating it in this no-nonsense way is
powerful.
Secondarily it allows for observing ego-ing and how it runs you.
Once you become willing to observe yourself ego-ing, you can choose to
continue ego-ing (that is to say being run by ego) or to generate a new
possibility for being for yourself and for your life ie to get off
it. If you tell the truth about it, you really do have a choice in
the matter.
Primarily it allows you to notice and to be with the space in which
observing ego occurs - in other words, to recognize the being you are
that ego-ing survives. You start to notice the being you are is
distinct from ego. By isolating ego you distinguish who you are.
Ego was originally designed to guard the being. Now it has usurped that
function and has become a full blown tyrant. You can choose to thank
the tyrant, to demote it, and to relieve it of its duties.
Ego is a basic ingredient of our essential make up. From time to time
ego will reign supreme anyway regardless of any attempts to defuse its
tyranny. When you are lit up by ego like a hundred watt lightbulb,
don't deny it. Smile, wink, and tell the truth about it.