Ego is the Enemy, (19) Meditate on Immensity, Notes

Post date: Apr 12, 2019 11:57:57 AM

Ego is the Enemy

Meditate on Immensity

• • A monk is a man who is prepared for all and who is in harmony with all. -- Evanius Ponticus

  • Sympathy - a connection with the cosmos.

  • You are not just one drop in the ocean but the entire ocean in one drop. The ‘Oceanic Feeling’ is a sense of belonging to something larger, of realizing that “human things are an infinitesimal point in the immensity and we are drawn toward important questions: Who am I? What am I doing? What is my role in this world? Nothing draws us away from those questions like material success-- when we are always busy, stressed, put upon, distracted, reported to, relied on, apart from. When we’re wealthy and think that we’re important or powerful, the ego tells us that meaning comes from activity, that being the center of attention is the only way to matter. Ego blocks us from the beauty and history in the world. Our ancestors are a part of us, we are a part of the tradition. Embrace the power of this position and learn from it. Yes, we are small. We are also a piece of this great universe and a process.

  • “Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” -- Emerson

  • “When I look up in the universe, I know I’m small, but I’m also big. I’m big because I’m connected to the universe and the universe is connected to me.” -- Neil deGrasse Tyson. We just can’t forget which is bigger and which has been here longer.

  • Great leaders and thinkers throughout history have ‘gone out into the wilderness’ and come back with inspiration, with a plan, with an experience that puts them on course to change the world. In doing so they found perspective, silencing the noise around them, they could finally hear the quiet voice they needed to listen to.

  • Creativity is a matter of receptiveness and recognition. This cannot happen if we are convinced the world revolves around us.

  • By removing the ego--even temporarily--we can access what’s left standing in relief. By widening our perspective more comes into view.

  • Actively seek out this cosmic sympathy: to see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. -- William Blake

  • Transcendental experience makes the petty ego go away. Feel unprotected against the elements or forces or surroundings. Remind yourself of how pointless it is to rage and fight and try to one up those around you. Get in touch with the infinite and end conscious separation from the world. Reconcile a bit with the realities of life. Realize what came before you and how wisps of it remain. Let the feeling carry you as long as you can. Then when you start to feel better or bigger than (when the ego returns), go and do it again.