2. Ego and Ego Processes

Veils to the Soul

A Fresh Look at Ego and Ego Processes, with Oliver Baum and Nicholas Rosseinsky
The Importance of 'Ego'
Naturally, 'Ego' is not as important as Ego would have us believe! (Psycho-therapeutic in-joke!) By now though, even those who aren't therapeutically-expert or spiritually-inclined will have come across (or even made!) references to the 'egos' of loved ones, co-workers, politicians, celebrities, and so on. But what is meant by the word 'ego'?! What does it label, or point to?
At Least Two Meanings of 'Ego'!
In this epsiode, Oliver and Nicholas discuss (at least!) two meanings of 'ego'. One is a set of localized psychological functions and activities. Far from being problematic (as ego is often taken to be), in this sense ego is necessary for individuated relating. Another major meaning of 'ego' labels a process that is more-or-less synonymous with separation from real-Reality*. In this sense, separative ego-process is the root of all problems!
The Origin of Separative Ego-Process: Early Life, or ...?
It's becoming common in psychotherapy to attribute the beginnings of separative ego-process - the start of identification with a false Self, in psychospiritual terms - to early life events (the events of birth, infancy, toddlerhood etc.). In this series, we question whether early life is really fundamental to the origin of separative ego, or whether there's a deeper dynamic at play.
Ego: What's to be "Done"?!
Obviously, 'what's to be done' depends on what we mean by ego! We discuss one major confusion in which people seem to believe separation (ego, in one sense) is necessary for boundaries, and therefore vital to basic relating of differentiated beings. Here, conflating separation and differentiation is a major mistake.
Another confusion relates to spiritual awakening: awakening is certainly disinvestment from separation, and ultimately synonymous with the ending of separative ego-process. Nevertheless, to walk the path of awakening typically requires very 'strong' (or 'healthy') ego-functions. (For example, boundary-holding!) This isn't paradoxical, once we realize and disambiguate the multiple, somewhat-contradictory, meanings often assigned to the single e-g-o word!
*For more on terminology like 'real-Reality', keep listening! Or visit Episode-1 (at 30mins+), or Episode-18, for further clarification.

Thanks for listening!
Find out more:
For Oliver's Psycho-Spiritual work with Individuals, Couples and Groups, please visit http://www.oliverbaum.co.uk.
For Nicholas' In-Person work, please visit http://www.liveyourdeepestself.com.
For Nicholas' Scientific work, please visit http://www.cfdis.org.