Why does the ego corrupt everything?

[hinawashi]

Waking up in the middle of the night from this epiphany.

I was doing some introspection and trying to understand how the ego operates, and all of my observations point to this: The ego corrupts everything it touches. I mean literally everything that you and I can think of. We try to combat the ego through religion, yet the ego turns religion into idol-worshipping. Art gets corrupted by ego too, as the ego turns art from creation and expression into a tool to satisfy our desires. Ego also corrupts reality by turning nature into a playground for the ego, and twists our senses into judging everything by its "usefulness" to us. It taints happiness and tricks us into chasing external things that will never fulfill us.

The question is why? Isn't the ego there to help us survive? How can it end up enslaving us and harming us instead?

I think I'm over-thinking to the point that it's messing with my sleep. I should be going back to sleep now. I'll check for responses in the morning and see if there's anyone who can answer my questions.

[ajasatya]

the human race is very young. we're still learning how to use the mind. VERY SLOWLY.

[dude]

2 hours ago, hinawashi said:

twists our senses into judging everything by its "usefulness" to us.

And

2 hours ago, hinawashi said:

Isn't the ego there to help us survive?

That's basically it, how could you survive by not being afraid of pain and not chasing happiness. Happiness is the deception of it, it's gets us to chase things. Happiness is not attainable that's the whole point of it. The ego keeps you moving toward happiness, forever..... keeps you avoiding pain and seeking pleasure. Now appreciate ego for what it is, quite useful. But at some point you'll get the gist and you'll be able to transcend it.

Without ego you wouldn't exist, people wouldn't have anything to talk about, you would just be a little body floating through space, content. But you'll DIE understand that.

[Emptystickfigure]

5 hours ago, ajasatya said:

the human race is very young. we're still learning how to use the mind. VERY SLOWLY.

So it's not the ego that corrupts everything, but our (human nature/human beings) immaturity and ignorance

that corrupts everything.

[Faceless]

Thought is motivated by fear and security. We are thought/knowledge, and the movement of psychological time “becoming” further holds us slaves to the thinking process. The center “the me” a fragment of thought views itself as seperate and divided from others. An alienated entity. And where there is division there is conflict. Compassion, love, beauty, joy, are qualities of an undivided conciousness. 

[Faceless]

To have total perception into the structure, nature, substance of thought, is to be able to bring about a change in our reality. In this orderly seeing truth comprehends reality. 

The art of seeing is to place reality where it belongs.

[hinawashi]

So, my guess is that the ego must destroy everything in order to survive. Ego doesn't necessarily harm us, it's just very transient and inevitably doomed to destruction.

According to the spiral dynamics model, at some point the ego will sort of "disappear", but then the stage after that will introduce an upgraded version of ego that can coexist with enlightenment. That is, you can still do what the ego does, but now you are no longer the slave to it. It sounds kinda far, but it might be just around the corner for those who are actively doing enlightenment work.

[Faceless]

The words enlightenment and work seem to be contradicting one another 

 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Faceless

[Leo Gura]

@hinawashi The corruption isn't a bug, it's the main feature.

See... when nothing actually exists, the only way for it to come into being is through lies.

There is no reality. So ego has to make one up.

The reason you're not understanding this is because you assume a reality exists which can ground things. But in fact there cannot possibly be such a thing as reality. That's just the ego.

[haai14]

@Leo Gura what am i experiencing then.

[Serge]

@Leo Gura Leo, have you ever wondered, how come the ego came into existence? 

I mean, not in me, you, but at all? All the way back through human history? 

Were you ever interested in this question and/or has it resolved for you?

It might sound really weird, but I mean, maybe our world wasn't always about "kill to eat". Sometimes I think of "ego" as of something bigger than we usually speak of. All the time I see suffering and "death" in the world (not just human), it's like my mind tells me it's all somehow related. Like something in the past has happened and, like a contagious disease, spread throughout the world. 

P.S. I'm aware it's all happening  just in my mindville. I was just interested in your opinion. Peace!

Edited December 13, 2017 by Serge

[Nahm]

@hinawashi the ego hid the truth to allow the illusion. 

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, haai14 said:

@Leo Gura what am i experiencing then.

Nothing

[haai14]

@Leo Gura its nothing appearing as something? if yes its then not nothing nothing its nothing as something but still its nothing. Is it something like this? 

[Shin]

3 minutes ago, haai14 said:

@Leo Gura its nothing appearing as something? if yes its then not nothing nothing its nothing as something but still its nothing. Is it something like this? 

Talk non-dual to me 

 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Shin

[haai14]

@Shin What do you mean

 

[haai14]

@Shin what does leo mean when says im experiencing nothing. What are sounds and all other phenomena.

[Shin]

19 minutes ago, haai14 said:

@Shin what does leo mean when says im experiencing nothing. What are sounds and all other phenomena.

Just watch all enlightenment videos from Leo.

If you still don't understand you could come back and ask, but I doubt anyone could explain it better with a few words, because fundamentally it's something you either grasp or you don't.

If you don't grasp it, you may need more time to wake up a bit more to have some mystical experiences here and there.

@haai14 The good news is that you don't need to grasp it intellectually, it is virtually useless cause you'll still need to forget about it, one way or another (otherwise your mind seek a concept, not what is true).

Just meditate everyday, self-inquiry and be conscious of all your thoughts/emotions all the time.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Shin

[haai14]

@Shin I did but cant grasp it conceptualy. I may just need more time.

[haai14]

@Shin why is then understanding it important in the first place, if all i think is not the thing? Isn't then that just useless. Should i just know that there is something and just do practises.