Spirituality and the Ego

Spirituality it seems, as an interest, is on the rise.  It was only a few short years ago that I very rare heard the term in general conversation, but of late, I have noticed it mentioned in a variety of settings. 

There seems to be a developing awareness of the distinction between “spirituality” and “religion”.  I am of the belief that eventually, no matter how convoluted, all paths lead to the One Universal Spirit or whatever you are comfortable calling it. 

Admittedly, there are still many people who will get upset and judge me just because I did not use the terminology that they use in defining (actually it is not definable in the first place) this Omnipotent power. 

Fortunately, I am caring less and less about petty judgments and idiosyncrasies these days.  It makes for more inner peace, this is for certain.  In conversations on Spirituality, I have heard the argument around having or not having an “ego”. 

Thanks to Oprah and Eckert Tolle’s international webcast that was originally done in March of this year, an estimated 11 MILLION people worldwide were in dialogue about the concept of ego.  This is great, as it makes it easier for me to talk about it now without “double takes” or the proverbial “doe in the headlight” stares. 

I’ve heard people, most frequently around the discussion of spirituality, say they don’t have an ego, or, more commonly that the ego is the “enemy” and something to be fought against.  I find this to be a battle that will never be won and is self-defeating.  What I mean is, I believe that you cannot be human, or live productively on this planet without one. 

The key is not to rid yourself of a part of your humanity, but to HEAL the ego. 

Rejection is only going to lead to more repression of dark tendencies and as the saying goes, “what you resist, persists”.  Denying your weaknesses and focusing on what you don’t want (pushing away the dark tendencies) will only lead to hypocrisy and embarrassing skeletons jumping out of your closet at the most inopportune times! 

We see this in the media all of the time from those over zealous “religious” leaders.  Instead of denying your tendencies, why not have some compassion for yourself so that you can heal these disowned pieces of the psyche, the ego self. 

My goal is for a healthy ego.  A major role of the ego is to give you the ILLUSION of separation, a separate identity.  It also helps you to accomplish your goals by being able to keep other egos at bay from pushing their agendas down your throat. 

You may have noticed that you are at a major disadvantage if you cannot say “no” or speak up.  Even with my cat today, I had to put my foot down and make her stop pushing me to feed her off schedule.  If I feed her every time she wanted to eat, she would be larger than that fat, lazy cat Garfield. 

A major key to spiritual development though is to know that you are NOT your ego, you are really a spiritual being, having a human experience and the ego is a function of the human aspect.  Heal your ego, and you will become more empowered than you probably ever thought possible! 

Spirituality is not mutually exclusive of ego.  Becoming whole is healing ego so that it serves your spirit instead of trying to run your life by inhibiting your spirituality!  Any thoughts?