Death of the Ego IV – The Tree of the Ego
Source: humanityhealing.net
Trees have been a powerful ancient symbol through history of Humanity. Examples include the Yggdrasil[1] in Norse mythology, the Egyptian Sycamore sitting on the threshold between life and death, and the Kabbalah Tree of Life. There is no doubt that the icon reaches down to the psyche of human beings with its figure of branches reaching towards heavens but with roots deeply grounded on Earth.“Hail, thou Sycamore Tree of the Goddess Nuit! Give me of the water and of the air which is in thee…”
~Egyptian Book of the Dead
“The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. With its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, it dwells in three worlds- a link between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance, and a masculine, visibly phallic symbol- another union[2].”
To understand the mechanisms of the Ego, we use the analogy of the tree. A tree develops itself through the nutrients it can gather from the soil, depending exclusively on its roots. Its main concern is to grow and expand but only in one direction, upwards. Its growth is eminently vertical and one-dimensional.
The same analogy can be used to define the Ego and how it depends totally on little details, and such as a the roots of the tree, the details are the elements that channel sufficient energy to the centers of our body, the physical human “machine”, to keep the Ego alive. These details are our psychological defects, our weakness and our imperfections.
If we develop the stamina of soul to face our inadequacy, and faultiness, we can cut the roots of the Ego and through a “psychological death”, the Ego progressively loses the grip over our actions, our outlook in life and our emotional reality. The need of the Ego for a survival of the personality in its early stages of development is necessary, because it performs the task of the protector. But once one reaches the maturity of heart to intend for its own freedom, the Ego becomes yet another layer that needs to be shed, like a garment that needs to be left at the threshold of a new life.
Without limitation, the Ego will inevitable become too strong and powerful and can keep one completely paralyzed by fear, jealousy and resentments; damaging the multidimensional sense of being human; and reducing every opportunity to enact our life mission into a circumstance of mere survival, competition and conflict. The Ego is also known to transform the general human predisposition of being rational, cautious and proactive beings, into beings of reactive nature.In this way, every time one strives to perfect himself, or to change his perspective and cultivate a universal and open outlook in life, one is contributing to the uprooting of the fears and projections of the Ego. These roots are imperfections that may have been accumulated over the period of many lifetimes.
They may not all be known by us, because they can manifest themselves not only into repetitive patterns in our relationship with others, but they can also appear as surprising reactions and verbal behaviors that we sometimes do not even know where they came from.
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Read the full article at: humanityhealing.net
