Glen, many of the major religions and spiritual traditions promote the idea of lessening the weight of our egos, so why in the world would I want to find it? Well, because if I don’t understand what or where it is, then how can I possibly lessen its weight? It is confusing to me. What do you think about this? (An inquiry from a reader of my book and blogs.)
Response: Humbly and respectfully, we don’t have to work hard at finding our ‘egos’ as such, they are manifest in everything we do and don’t do. And not all of what makes up our egos necessarily has to do with good or bad things. If there is a Heaven or ‘key to the universe,’ they are rooted in true honesty, promoting of true happiness and true freedom, but most importantly, needing less and less to hide behind (i.e., our egos).
In the ages-old arts that I teach, coach, and endeavor to follow, it is believed that we can allow ourselves significant objective insight into the notion that nothing is perfect on this Earth, e.g., by way of deep realization that among the brightest of blessings is that there is ALWAYS room for improvement…most especially vs. getting permanently stuck in the living death/purgatory of stagnant plateaus. It is often the weight of our so-called ‘egos’ which hinders our appreciation of this dynamic. In these arts, ‘true mastery’ is found in the notion that, no matter how skilled on becomes (in any area), one can ALWAYS realize greater and greater levels of mastery. True appreciation of the blessing of this dynamic may be among the greatest of gifts on this earth. It has a substantive association with greater and greater levels of skilled mindfulness and embracing of change (most especially, healthful change).
In my traditions (the Bright Beautiful School of Thought – Ming Chia – as set forth in my new book), it is believed that we can work toward a significant level of true mastery in honestly playing the part of of the loving, selfless, and altruistic unblemished Witness to our internal and external environments…which is a most beautiful means by which to know one’s ego (ideally witnessing it without expectations or preset patterns of thinking). So yin to yang, one can know oneself best, including one’s ego, by alleviating the pernicious WEIGHT of ego and seeing it for exactly what it IS (AND in a fashion which is LIGHT of varying levels of hate, greed, and ignorance). If our egos are quite heavy, e.g., weighing us down, they do not best allow us to enjoy extraordinarily benevolent sparkling spine-tingling/shivering insights/moments AT WILL, they ONLY allow us such ‘glimpses of Heaven’ in spontaneity (vs. AT WILL). AND in spontaneity, we often do not realize the significant of these moments.
It is so VERY much about doing the right thing for the right sake, without the need for selfish recognition and hidden agendas…which is likely impossible, while overtly hanging onto the addiction of ego. Oh boy! This is tough stuff, to say the least: It has a LOT to do with realizing true appreciation as a way of life. It has a LOT to do with what we coin as the true responsibility of making the world a better place, AND with asking ourselves…how healthful do I want to be? – Dr. Glen Hepker
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A Glimpse of Heaven: The Philosophy of True Health 