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Individualisation Compilation (view source)
Revision as of 23:14, 5 October 2018
, 23:14, 5 October 2018→Ego
. . . the true individual is not the ego, but the divine individuality which is through our evolution preparing to emerge in us. . . . <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/25/true-and-false-subjectivism#p6</ref>
== What is the Ego ? ==
The individual ego is a pragmatic and effective fiction, a translation of the secret self into the terms of surface consciousness, or a subjective substitute for the true self in our surface experience: it is separated by ignorance from other-self and from the inner Divinity, but it is still pushed secretly towards an evolutionary unification in diversity; it has behind itself, though finite, the impulse to the infinite. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/the-origin-and-remedy-of-falsehood-error-wrong-and-evil#p28</ref>
What is this strongly separative self-experience that we call ego? It is nothing fundamentally real in itself but only a practical construction of our consciousness devised to centralise the activities of Nature in us. We perceive a formation of mental, physical, vital experience which distinguishes itself from the rest of being, and that is what we think of as ourselves in nature—this individualisation of being in becoming. We then proceed to conceive of ourselves as something which has thus individualised itself and only exists so long as it is individualised,—a temporary or at least a temporal becoming; or else we conceive of ourselves as someone who supports or causes the individualisation, an immortal being perhaps but limited by its individuality. This perception and this conception constitute our ego-sense. Normally, we go no farther in our knowledge of our individual existence. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/the-eternal-and-the-individual#p3</ref>
The formation of a mental and vital ego tied to the body-sense was the first great labour of the cosmic Life in its progressive evolution; for this was the means it found for creating out of matter a conscious individual. The dissolution of this limiting ego is the one condition, the necessary means for this very same Life to arrive at its divine fruition: for only so can the conscious individual find either his transcendent self or his true Person. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-release-from-the-ego#p1</ref>
The limited ego is only an intermediate phenomenon of consciousness necessary for a certain line of development. Following this line the individual can arrive at that which is beyond himself, that which he represents, and can yet continue to represent it, no longer as an obscured and limited ego, but as a centre of the Divine and of the universal consciousness embracing, utilising and transforming into harmony with the Divine all individual determinations. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/the-ego-and-the-dualities#p15</ref>
'''Before it's Formation'''
“...the first state of your being is a state of an almost total mixture with all things from outside, and that there is almost no individualisation, that is, specialisation which makes you a different being. You are moved—a kind of form which is your physical being is moved—by all the common universal forces, vital forces or mental forces, which go through your form and put it in motion. (The Mother, 14 December, 1955) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/14-december-1955#p18</ref>
'''It’s not the Cause of Individuality'''
It is purposely, mind you, that I have not mentioned the ego as one of the causes of the sense of individuality. For the ego being a falsehood and an illusion, the sense of individuality would itself be false and illusory (as Buddha and Shankara affirm), whereas the origin of individualisation being in the Supreme Himself, the ego is only a passing deformation, necessary for the moment, which will disappear when its utility is over, when the Truth-Consciousness will be established. (The Mother, 3 March, 1951) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/04/3-march-1951#p31</ref>
''' Growth towards Integral Self-Knowledge '''
Our self-ignorance and our world-ignorance can only grow towards integral self-knowledge and integral world-knowledge in proportion as our limited ego and its half-blind consciousness open to a greater inner existence and consciousness and a true self-being and become aware too of the not-self outside it also as self. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/knowledge-by-identity-and-separative-knowledge#p9</ref>
== The Role of Ego ==
The ego was created for the work of individualisation; when the work is achieved, it is not unusual for the ego to accept its own dissolution. (The Mother, 7 December, 1968) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/16/7-december-1968#p2</ref>
...before speaking of merging one's ego in the Divine, one must first know a little what one is. The ego is there. Its necessity is that you become conscious, independent beings, individualised—I mean in the see of independent—that you may not be the public square where everything goes criss-cross! That you may exist in yourselves. That is why there is an ego. It is like that; that is why also there is a skin, like that... though truly, even physical forces pass through the skin. There is a vibration which goes a certain distance. But still, it's the skin that prevents us from blending into one another. (The Mother, 28 July, 1954) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/28-july-1954#p56</ref>
The "I" or the little ego is constituted by Nature and is at once a mental, vital and physical formation meant to aid in centralising and individualising the outer consciousness and action. When the true being is discovered, the utility of the ego is over and this formation has to disappear—the true being is felt in its place. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/the-true-being-and-the-true-consciousness#p2</ref>
In order to become a conscious, individualised being, one needs his ego; that is why it is there. It is only when one has realised his own individuality sufficiently, has become a conscious, independent being with its own reality, that he no longer needs the ego. And at that time one can make an effort to get rid of it. (The Mother, 22 September, 1954) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/22-september-1954#p42</ref>
Individualised life-force here is an energy of individualising and ignorant Mind, Mind that has fallen from the knowledge of its own Supermind. Therefore incapacity is necessary to its relations in Life and inevitable in the nature of things; <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/death-desire-and-incapacity#p13</ref>
== The Paradox of the Ego ==
The ego is what helps us to individualise ourselves and what prevents us from becoming divine. It is like that. Put that together and you will find the ego. Without the ego, as the world is organised, there would be no individual, and with the ego the world cannot become divine. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-ego#p14</ref>
Certainly, if one were to lose one's ego too soon, from the vital and mental point of view one would again become an amorphous mass. The ego is surely the instrument for individualisation, that is, until one is an individualised being, constituted in himself, the ego is an absolutely necessary factor. If one had the power of abolishing the ego ahead of time, one would lose one's individuality. But once the individuality has been formed, the ego becomes not only useless but harmful. And only then comes the time when it must be abolished. But naturally, as it has taken so much trouble to build you, it does not give up its work so easily, and it asks for the reward of its efforts, that is, to enjoy the individuality. (The Mother, 12 January, 1955) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/12-january-1955#p25</ref>
When we have passed beyond individualising, then we shall be real Persons. Ego was the helper; Ego is the bar. (The Mother, 28 November, 1956) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/28-november-1956#p7</ref>
So, for everyone—except for those who are born free, and this is obviously very rare—for everyone this state of reason, of effort, desire, individualisation and solid physical balance in accordance with the ordinary mode of living is indispensable to begin with, until the time one becomes a conscious being, when one must give up all these things in order to become a spiritual being. (The Mother, 28 November, 1956) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/28-november-1956#p15</ref>
...to begin with, a tremendous labour is required to individualise oneself, and afterwards one must demolish all that has been done in order to progress. (The Mother, 20 February, 1957) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/09/20-february-1957#p16</ref>
I suppose the ego came there [into human activity] first as a means of the outer consciousness individualising itself in the flux of Nature and, secondly, as an incentive for tamasic animal man to act and get something done. Otherwise he might merely have contented himself with food and sleep and done nothing else. With that incentive of ego (possession, vanity, ambition, eagerness for power etc. etc.) he began doing all sorts of things he might never otherwise have done. But now that he has to go higher, this ego comes badly in the way. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/ego-and-its-forms#p1</ref>
== Safety and Limitations of Ego ==
To live without a fortress is extremely difficult—people have the feeling that they are not living, that they are not individualised, that they are floating about. It is extremely difficult to live in something infinitely vast, moving, constantly changing, perpetually in progress, not to be held by anything to which one can cling, saying "I am this; this is my way of thinking." It is very difficult, one must not try it too soon; there are those whose mind gets deranged by it. (The Mother, 12 March, 1951) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/04/12-march-1951#p19</ref>
… it is impossible for a divided and individualised consciousness with a divided, individualised and therefore limited power and will to be master of the All-Force; only the All-Will can be that and the individual only, if at all, by becoming again one with the All-Will and therefore with the All-Force. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/death-desire-and-incapacity#p5</ref>
== Psychic Being ==