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integral theory
November 2007 
Leggo My Ego
Posted on Sep 16th, 2007
by 
scotty
scotty
The line between being an active force in the world and making positive things happen because it is the right thing to do and doing it because it makes the ego feel good to be "that" person is so fine sometimes. And yet, despite the subtlety of the difference, it is precisely that difference that will often times determine the real success of your actions. This is not to say that every egoic move towards glory accumulation will result in failure, the world is rife with examples disproving that notion. But movements that seek to create an energetic possibility for real transformation, something that is more than just surface, require a minimum of authenticity.
And whether those whose choose to participate are immediately aware of it or not, they seem to be able to judge (consciously or subconsciously) whether that authenticity is present, and therefore help to determine whether the offering is successful. In one of his works (Zarathustra maybe?) Nietzsche talks about the uber-mensch's ability to determine right from wrong without a reliance on "social norms." One might say that for Nietzsche, the uber-mensch had developed a built in "truth-o-meter." At times it seems like we all have built in truth-o-meters, that, regardless of what our egos/lower selves might desire, almost immediately tell us what is the right course of action. From a "buddhist" (I use quotations b/c I don't claim to have much in the way of formal buddhist training and so need to informalize my use of the tradition) perspective this notion of a built-in truth-o-meter could be seen as the subtle(/causal level) intuitions of your own already fully awakened amness.
So on some level, I'm always already aware of when I'm acting out of an egoic space and when I'm acting out of an authentic space (with the qualifier that this is not a strict dichotomy: I am not either acting completely out of ego or completely out of authentic self, there are variations and gradations between the two poles in this self-created spectrum) I just need to continually work towards developing a greater degree of attentiveness to the whole process and be prepared to listen at all times.
Ahhhh... if only it were all as easy as we like to tell ourselves it is. And it is. Or is it?
sp
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