“Why do I do this”, “Why are we here”, “Who am I”, “Where did I come from”, “Why do I feel this way” are all questions that excite my curiosity.
I find few things more fascinating than the human mind – particularly perception, consciousness, the ideology of "Self" and personality. For whatever reason, I'm most drawn to the complexity, elusivity (or is it elusiveness?) and mystery surrounding these mental phenomena….
Blame it on my inquisitive nature, but I love figuring out “what makes people tick”.
Most people (myself included) go around letting their brain think whatever it wants. Since the thoughts are there, we believe them to be the truth. In turn, our thoughts influence our behavior and emotions. Most of the time, we are compliant servants to unconscious forces, our ego drives dominate.
Ego, in Jungian terms, refers to the "I", the central experience filter, the inner mental voice used to perceive the world.
The ego is just one facet of the mind, separate from our true "self" or "soul". It shapes our intellectual paradigm - the way we experience/explain/understand the world.
Our ego is not "good" or "bad", but has the potential to influence our overall Self-image.
A lot of us go our whole lives without realizing that we have self-identified strictly with our ego. Often, it has been (dys) functionally programmed in response to early trauma (its role is to protect, defend, make us "happy", prevent "hurt").
We cling to the ego voice out of habit, so were unable to decipher defense mechanism from actual thought. (Falsity from Truth).
"I deserve this", "I need this", "I can't do this" are nothing more than flagrant lies that the Ego desperately wants us to believe. Most of the time these lies are programmed into subconscious awareness and we rarely acknowledge how they dictate our lives.
I'm a great believer in understanding the intricacies of people by psychological labels. It's a solid way to describe our complexities & uniqueness.
Anxiety, depression, personality and mental disorders are, in my opinion, often sprung from HABITUAL EGO THOUGHT.
*** In order to be happy, it's important to become conscious of, and be willing to change, whatever intellectual paradigm we are empowering !! ***
So how does one become aware of their thinking??
It’s as simple as quieting the mind, separating from thought, being in the here and now.
Meditation is a tool to see past the illusion of ego, and into the true nature of your mind.
Yes, it's tough at first. Especially since your ego thoughts have been strengthened through a lifetime of reiteration. But it's not impossible and once you get the hang of it, it’s quite easy. What’s difficult is putting in the time/effort to actually practice!
Meditating isn't for "hippies" or "New Agers", etc. It's for anyone with the desire to become more relaxed, in tune or self-aware.
Isn't it crazy that as human beings, we possess metacognition and the ability to self-actualize , but choose not to??
The way life is set up is ingenious, really. We suffer and suffer until even our EGO can't keep up with the suffering - and we eventually surrender to our true nature. Or we continue to resist suffering by listening to our ego and driving ourselves mad. That's my perception, based on my own experiences, at least.
I may not be the most credible in terms of “giving advice about the mind”, considering I’m often emotionally reactive and a regular slave to my feelings. But, I do have the knowledge and the skills to move past that. It's really a choice, at the end of the day.
Sometimes it’s easier to believe the Ego, despite its negative & self-defeating talk. Habit is comfortable, no matter how debilitating that habit may be.
I am not perfect, I am not in any way “Zen” or a “guru”, but I am someone who see’s past the illusion. At least tries to. No matter how hard I try to resist or numb it, I am awakened. I am NOT my thoughts and neither are you.
