The fundamental question that occurs to people regarding their spiritual health is, What do I need to overcome to be closer to my spiritual health? The answer is ego. The definition of ego varies depending on religion but the one thing everyone agrees on is that ego needs to be overcome. The fundamental problem humans need to overcome is ego because ego is a barrier between an individual and their spiritual health. The ego affects human’s paths to spirituality because it averts us from reality, it creates social barriers within society and it keeps us distant from the rest of the world.
Ego can be classified as the illusion, in which humans believe that they are in control and have power. Humans have a tendency to become obsessed with pleasures and luxuries and we tend to want more and are never satisfied. Essentially, ego can create a rift between an individual and their spiritual health as we become limited to ourselves and forget about others. For instance, in Sikhism’s religious scriptures it states , “Ego can lead to selfishness and conceit, foolishness, ignorance and a lack of trust. He dies in agony, like one dying of thirst; O Nanak, this is because of the deeds he has done" (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 260). (RealSikism Organization, 2007)” Basically, it means that egotism can take control of a person in which they commit selfish deeds which results in them becoming distant from their spiritual health. Ego is a barrier to our spirituality and we must remove as ego will cause nothing but misery and ignorance. Similarly, in Buddhism they have a similar opinions and approach to the topic of ego. There are several names given to our ego according to Buddha: self, soul personality, etc. According to the teachings of Buddha there i...
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Maha Thera, K. S. (n.d.). Is there a enternal soul?. What Buddhists Believe - Is there an Eternal Soul?. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/ 115. htm
Naft, J. (2001). Illusion of Ego. Inner Frontier. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.innerfrontier.org/Practices/IllusionOfEgo
RealSikism Organization (n.d.)Five Vices We Should Overcome. Sikhism: Beliefs and Principles of Sikhism - Sikh Religion. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.realsikhism.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1250025675&ucat=
West, D. (2013, October 14). Ego - Overcoming the Limitations of Personality While in Search of the Cosmic Self - Waking Times « Waking Times. Waking Times. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/10/14/ego-overcoming-limitations- personality-search-cosmic-self/
In Erickson’s psychosocial stage theory, one of the main components he focused on is the development of the ego identity. Ego can be defined as the conscious sense of self that is developed through interaction. According to Erickson, our ego is constantly changing due to the new and different interactions that we have on a daily basis. We can either hinder or strengthen our ego identity by the interactions we experience. Erickson believed that a hindered ego or an ego that isn’t developed can lead to a person feeling an inadequacy as well as losing the meaning of life. However, if a person’s ego is strengthened and mastered a person will feel accomplished as well as the sense of belonging. This feeling can also be referred to as the ego strength or ego quality. During the times of ego identity, the person’s potential of growth is high, however, the potential of failure is also present.
The ego lies within the conscious and unconscious realm and seeks to satisfy the id’s
In other words, ethical egoism states that there are objective moral facts and an action is morally good if and only if it promotes my personal happiness and it is morally wrong if and only if that action hinders my personal happiness. Apart from Ethical Egoism there is another topic to be known clearly, it is called Psychological Egoism. Psychological Egoism It is the claim that each person, in fact, pursues his/her own happiness.
• Once more, the ordinary science’ proves itself as the master of classification, inventing and defining the various categories of Egoism. Per example, psychological egoism, which defines doctrine that an individual is always motivated by self-interest, then rational egoism which unquestionably advocates acting in self-interest. Ethical egoism as diametrically opposite of ethical altruism which obliges a moral agent to assist the other first, even if sacrifices own interest. Also, ethical egoism differs from both rational and psychological egoism in ‘defending’ doctrine which considers all actions with contributive beneficial effects for an acting individual
Cervone, D., Pervin, L. A. (2008). Personality: Theory and research (10th Ed.). New York: Wiley.
We created our ego self in our attempt to protect ourselves from the losses we fear loss of self, loss of other, loss of security, loss of face. As children, when we didn’t get the love we needed, we decided that our true Self must be unlovable. In our attempt to feel safe, we buried our true Self and created the false self the ego, our wounded self. The ego self then went about learning how to feel safe through trying to control others and outcomes. The ego believes that having control over how people see us and feel about us, as well as over the outcome of things, will give us the safety we
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, K. W. (2016). Personality Psychology: Understanding Yourself and Others. Boston:
As long as you are alive and your mind functions in and through the body, ego will arise and exist. This ego or pride is not permanent and unquestionable reality. It is a temporary experience; it is only lack of knowledge that invests it with permanency. It is a concept; it is lack of knowledge that elevates it to status of reality. Only enlightenment can bring this wisdom.
Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority then others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness).
P.J. (2004). Personality: Theory and Research. USA: Wiley. SMITH. T. W. and WILLIAMS.
The ego is the most important part of the brain, and the ego is the center of what controls our actions and thoughts. This is vital to making some who they are, for better or worse. The ego by Freud standards is not the same as today 's standards. The ego is the epicenter of all actions, but it can be swayed by the other areas like the id and superego (Wilson 24).
Ethical egoism can be a well-debated topic about the true intention of an individual when he or she makes an ethical decision. Max Stirner brings up a very intriguing perspective in writing, The Ego and its Own, regarding ethical egoism. After reading his writing some questions are posed. For example, are human beings at the bottom? Following Wiggins and Putnam, can we rise above our egoism and truly be altruistic? And finally, if we are something, do we have the capacity to rise to a level that we can criticize and transcend our nature? These questions try to establish whether or not we are simple humans, bound to our intrinsic nature, or far more intellectually advanced than we allow ourselves to be.
McAdams, D. P. (2009). The person: An introduction to the science of personality psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
The first feature, the id, feature of personality is the most common and everlasting element that exists since birth. It is completely unconsciousness and consists of natural and original behavior. As it is the main element of personality, id is considered the main source of psychic energy. According to Freud id is compelled by pleasure principle, which attempts for immediate satisfaction of desires and needs. It will result in a state of anxiety or strain if the needs are not satisfied immediately. Secondly, the ego is a component of personality in charge of dealing with reality. As stated by Freud, the ego progresses from Id and confirms the desires of the id, articulated in an acceptable manner in real life. The main function of ego is to handle conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. It helps to satisfy needs of id in a socially suitable way. Besides, it supports to release tension with assistance of a process where an object found in reality is created by id’s p...