Understanding the Ego by Studying the World

So, one way of understanding our own ego is to see how it functions in society. Society is the big model out there. One reason people love movies is you can sit in the safety of your home, and without getting personally involved, watch the vagaries of the ego as it works itself—it’s easy to see “out there.” So, if we understand something about the functions of the ego, its mechanisms, and its structure, and we observe its functioning in the world, it’s an easy step then to see that it’s probably going on within myself. If it’s not going on within myself, I wouldn’t find the world interesting. If it’s not going on within myself, I wouldn’t recognize it in a movie. So we can say then that the world out there is a projection of what is within us; and studying the world then gives us an indirect; it’s easier to accept; it’s easier to see out there.

Then, the serious student says, “And how is that going on within myself?” “And how is that happening within myself?”

New! Beyond Illusion: Exploring Perception, Ego, and Meditation on the Path to Truth, Ch. 1, pg. 3

This book will be released on April 29th.