When I used to meditate 10 years ago, I kind of got a new world view, that the ego in some ways should not be respected. That it was in a way good if people’s egos got hurt, because it would help put them on a path to become more spiritual and see the truth.
On the other hand
When I started practicing loving kindness I saw the world through a different lens, almost the opposite, that the ego should be respected, that suffering is real.
So is suffering and the ego real or not? Or is it just two different lenses to view the world, with both being true?
As I see it what you experience makes up your reality. If you experience suffering then it is real, if you don’t then it’s not. If you experience an ego then it is real, if you don’t then it’s not.
The ego isn’t something thrust upon you, it’s something that you created over time. Of course you should respect the ego, it is your creation and as such it’s as good a place as any to try understanding yourself.
Understanding that suffering is a choice to a large extent doesn’t take away from its reality. We suffer due to desire, and fair enough it’s true but when we desire we aren’t just reflecting edonism; for example we desire justice and we suffer when it’s not meted out, now we can stop our suffering by simply removing our desire for justice but ultimately we value our desire for justice more than we value our immediate wellbeing, and so we suffer in order to feel like ourselves.
I have little respect for either viewpoints, they both lead nowhere worthwhile in my opinion and they both lack the understanding that suffering is a way in which to express ourselves, both sides seeing it as a strict negative and unnecessary, both sides being wrong. Both viewpoints are necessary for certain people, some people need to hear that they don’t have to suffer because they’ve had their knees on their own necks far too long, focusing on expressing themselves only through their negative emotions. Other people need to really hear that suffering is real because they are using what can be to hide from themselves what actually is.
Ego is formed when we have done something that we are proud of or we are good at something and we are able to repeat it. It becomes toxic when we become arrogant about it.
Suffering is subjective and it is inevitable. We need to find meaning in everything that we think or do to overcome that I guess. It is really really hard. Only very few are meaningful and strike the cord that everyone has.
I recently read a book by Maggie Gee “My animal life”. It was really good and she explains about soul in a very different way where soul have only one direction that is forward in time. The memories and feelings are tied to soul. There was more I could not put it the way she explained. Maybe have a read.
