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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Canuck Singh" data-source="post: 83515" data-attributes="member: 6614">I have never personally bothered with debates as to definitions etc., but I think that many people have taken time to respond here and so shall I share what I have come to know... Definition's are ego's friendly companion's. With definition's the ego finds a place and pedestal upon which it can thrive. What is ego? It is Edging God Out as stated by an individual who has passed in north america. Whenever someone define's another person, they do not define that person by their own definition, rather they define themselves (their egoic self) as someone who needs to place labels upon another person. This is a rather gray area, because when it comes to distinguishing things in reality, for example a person who is American it helps to know their place of origin. But when 'American' becomes an egoic identification with a superficial sense of self, then its purpose is lost and the individual whom in their patriotic sense of self places themselves at the top of the world. Why is it that when American's define themselves as American they are proud that they are primarily responsible for much of the economical and destructive forces playing in the world. Why is it that American's feel 'they' will fulfill the manifest destiny, why is it that 'they' feel that 'others' are the enemy? WHy is it that people rarely question the definition of an American, but they question often the definition of a Sikh, which by its very nature is inclusive and humble compared to that of American? 'American Sikh' is almost a classical paradox. On one hand a power hungry materialistic definition that purports that it stands for freedom, and on the other hand a humble self inquisitive definition that is struggling for freedom.   All of this is a function or rather dysfunction of the mind, known as the ego. There is group ego, such as seen in national pride. Most of the world's atrocities have occurred by normal people who in times have become satan on earth. Examples include the various Genocides, Partition in India etc. Group think and mindlessness diffuses the responsibility of the individual to the group. This is known in research that has studied the diffusion of responsibility of self, and in legal courts a group of people can get away with murder so long as the Instigator is discovered. Interesting... Another level of ego, is the transient Role Playing ego. This is the level at which the mind needs to identify with a role to create a sense of self purpose. This is seen with the teenage child who plays nice and courteous in front of family, and is wild and ravenous with friends, and a disgruntled student at school. The ego feeds off of role playing, being sucked into the realities that each situation creates. Is it the environment that create's the person? No, it is the ego that identifies with the role. The ego will actively pursue it's self creation, and by identifying with that which continues to feed itself the ego pushes out rationality, discipline, and courtesy because it is bludgeoned with a sense of survival. The ego constantly adapts and feeds off these various roles.  Another state of the ego, is that of the individual and of their own experience of their mind. A person confined to a cell does not last long before mental health deteriorates. Why is this? When the ego is not fed, the mind creates a dual self. Thoughts of "you are worthless, you are all alone, no on loves you" are given to the host (human) to coax it into believing that happiness is 'out there somewhere' and to force the host to feed the ego in another manner. The ego is temporarily fed with anger, lust, and chasing of materialistic possessions. Take that person out of their cell now, and the ego will continue to feed upon the environment of the host. It will believe that "my happiness is in her/him, without them I will die", when in reality the ego will easily feed off another person just as easily. The ego always attacks the host, because it needs to be fed to survive. The ego will always Edge God Out, because it becomes thought, and the thoughts that it is is thoughts of self identification, and thoughts of anger, lust, materialism, jealousy, and others...  In rare moments of existence the ego is pushed out of the way. This is due to a developing consciousness within the human. During primitive times when survival was important, the human existed almost purely out of ego. Fortunately this can be summed as thus " In the distant past, sheer necessity brought us together in first chakra consciousness. Think of the pioneer couple on the wagon train traveling across the country to start their own homestead. Their relationship was one of survival: work the farm, till the field and have children to help with the non-stop physical workload. Fast forward to the Victorian era. The Victorians: the angst and drama, love from the wrong side of the tracks (Romeo and Juliet).  This is second chakra consciousness; coming together from a longing to merge with another human being, passion, fantasy, no boundaries and very messy. Third Chakra consciousness is all about personal power and the little ‘s’ self. Dynamics of submission and domination prevail. Relationships become more like business arrangements. You do this for me, and I will do this for you. Secretly, we may view our partner as our enemy and spend our days just waiting to be betrayed."Although this describes a personal level of human consciousness, it can be applied to the greater scale as well. We can see that ego is primarily at the center, but necessarily for human survival. The ego can not survive without the host so it is necessary for the host to survive. Yet, the host could easily survive without the ego if and when there was something to replace it.  What is there to replace it? Gurbani says that amongst millions, rare is that individual who has Love of the Lord in their heart. Very few and rare individuals' realized and accepted the True reality in their lifetimes, and here we are today attempting to discern their message...</blockquote>

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