Tuesday Text: Chapter 4: The Ego's Struggle to Preserve Itself, S 3: The Making of the Ego

Tuesday Text Class

Ch 4: The Ego’s Struggle to Preserve Itself

S3: The Making of the Ego

          The best question that you can ask is how the mind created the ego. There is no point in giving a historical answer. History as we know it would not exist if the same errors were not being repeated in the now. 

Abstract: Relating to general ideas rather than an actual person or object. So abstraction is where we leave out of the equation one or more properties of a complex object to attend to others. This concept applies to knowledge. Knowledge is impersonal so examples are irrelevant. Perception however is specific. Perceptual Distortions are not abstractions, they are merely confusion. Perceptual distortion is seeing yourself or others incorrectly. 

          We make an ego for ourselves and it’s unstable so it can vary greatly and we make one for everyone we perceive which also varies. The interaction of egos changes both because it is not made by the unalterable. This happens whether the interaction takes place in the mind as when it involves physical presence. Thoughts are things and minds are connected. The ego is an idea not a reality based thought, i.e. a thought you think with God. 

          Jesus gives us an example of how the mind could have created the ego. He is talking about Helen Schuchman the scribe of ACIM and how she can swing from revelation level experience to total ego action. So she has real knowledge at times and yet throws it away like it never occurred. This is willful. She has made this. So if we can make an ego like this now, why are you surprised that this could happen in the past. Psychology rests on the continuation of behavior. More of the same plus more of the same gets you just that, more of the same. You can be surprised if you are unfamiliar with the concept but you shouldn’t be shocked when you see the same thing cropping up repeatedly. 

          Good teaching devices like ACIM in the hands of a good teacher have the goal of rendering themselves unnecessary. Those who are in, “I am that,” territory do not need props. So in the above example, Helen’s state of mind, this polarity is how the mind can work but it doesn’t have to work that way. A good TOG shares his ideas which he believes. Otherwise you can’t profess them, you have to make the ideas your own first. So we see the transitory nature of this person’s state of mind swinging between spirit and ego and the feelings of peace and frenzy occurring at the same time. When she is ego dominant she doesn’t know her spirits the ego intrudes. The ego is not her natural state and it is not because of lack of knowledge that she gets there. Why are you surprised that the ego was created in the dim past when it’s obvious that it is happening now. 

          The subject of your real creations is a bit unknowable beyond the pages of the Course subject. We protect our egos. The question is not how you respond to your ego but what you think you are. Belief is of the ego. Knowledge is of spirit. If your origin is open to belief at all, you are looking at yourself from the viewpoint of ego. Belief does apply to Jesus, you believe in his teachings and in his Course. When you go beyond the point of needing a teacher or this Course then you will simply know God. To think that there is a way beside God’s or that you can usurp His power is the loftiest idea that the ego can cook up. It contains a hint that the ego isn’t the self. 

          It seems painful to uproot the ego’s thought system. Real self preservation and the undoing of further harm comes from ripping out the ego action. FROG: Full Reliance On God- When you find yourself in ego action get back on track. You don’t perceive your own best interest. You are likely to pick something destructive. Harmlessness and helpfulness must go together. The outcome is as certain as God.