In wester psychology “ego ” is seen as adaptive; the ability to integrate and organize experience into a shared and conventional reality.
People with weak egos do not function very well. Frequently they are frightened or aggressive, isolated and unable to connect or love. They have difficulty caring for themselves and are not apt care takers.
People with weak ego functioning do not demonstrate the qualities of empathy, harmony, peace, love and joy that we seek to invite through our studies.
Perhaps what our studies challenge is our tendency to make ego function into ego identity, i.e. to interpret function as entity. Once this organizing tendency is understood as our identity then this way of knowing must be perpetuated lest we lose our “self”.
While it is useful to see the limitations inherent in self referencing tendencies (ego identity–this is me) it is useful to maintain ego function as a tool in order to serve ourselves and communities.
Hayward
Hayward,
I think the use of the words self and ego — have a wide range of meanings and interpretations — and thus, without being precise, we don’t say a whole lot or communicate in ways that are penetrating.
I like your differentiation between “function” and “entity” — very useful. Like in Buddhism, relative world requires functioning (use of senses, thoughts and reasoning)–the healthy mental processes–what you refer to as function.
But to represent our functions as a permanent fixed independent self–is a big leap–and a leap we habitually make!
Ron
What you say about needing a well developed ego in order to feel empathy for others seems really pertinent. I drowned when I was two years old and I never thanked the lady who jumped into the frigid March waters of Lake Ontario to pull out my dead body and make it possible for me to be revived. For many years I felt no appreciation for the life that had been saved. I had to reach a point where I felt grounded in my own selfish orientation before it was possible to even think of exchanging that self-centered perspective for a wider one. An interesting codicil: when the person who saved you is no longer there to thank, you notice that there are a lot of people around you who are still drowning. –Michael