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The Ego Ate My Homework: Chapters 1-4

by Kate

There are books you can read in a day or in an hour.  Then there are books you read five pages of and know you want to savor: to drag out the enjoyment of as long as possible, like I used to do with a breakfast bar as a hungry kid wearing hand-me-down clothes reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Books by C.S. Lewis fall into that category, daily readers from Al-Anon the same, and a recently discovered author: Eckhart Tolle.  Of course, I didn’t discover him; he’s pretty well-known and has been for some time.  Just as when I read Mere Christianity, I find myself beginning to annotate more and more as I get a clearer glimpse of myself and others in the mirror.

An amalgam of all kinds of previous thought, I am learning much from A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, published in 2005.  The style, like Lewis’ is fairly easy to follow.  It does require a little less thinking, but, in order to get what he’s saying, a lot of experiences need to have been accumulated.

His focus is on the destructive nature of the ego and the importance of living in the present.  Not shocking for a transcendentalist, I readily confess, those have certainly been my happiest times: when I was unaware of passing minutes or hours and existence was to be enjoyed in all its regalia.  Meditations before sunsets or evening bonfires, quiet mornings rowing alone on the lake, or woodland hikes shaded in eternal twilight.

Here are a few essential quotations I have picked out from the first half worth mulling.  Who knows when I may finish this book, so I’m writing about it now.  Ponder and enjoy🙂

“Nonreaction is not weakness but strength.  Another word for nonreaction is forgiveness.”

“In a genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person in which there is no wanting whatsoever.  The alert attention is Presence.  It is the prerequisite for any authentic relationship.”

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”

“Suffering has a noble purpose; the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.”

“To love is to recognize yourself in another…love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality.  This is the birth of God into the world of form.”

“The ego doesn’t know that your only opportunity for being at peace is now.”

“I don’t have a life.  I am life.”

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Posted on March 12, 2013 at 11:59 am in Education, Things I Learned   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL

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31 Comments to “The Ego Ate My Homework: Chapters 1-4”

    
  1. Ryu
    March 12, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    Ughhhhhhhhhhhh

    More of that Eastern, Zen crap. Those books are designed to anesthatize you from the pain in living in this degenerate pigsty. If the Tibetans want to pray to Buddha while being machined gun, that’s their watch.

    No! Whites need more ego. We need to become power-hungry, driven maniacs. We need to become abnormal.

    Reply
    • Firepower
      March 12, 2013 at 12:35 pm

      NEIN!

      Eckhart Tolle ist ein Deutscher.

      Zo, You must LUFF him!

      Reply
      • Ryu
        March 12, 2013 at 1:32 pm

        I must be getting old. I remember when Tyler Durden and RSD were writing “dude, just read some Tolle and go out sarging.”

    • Kate
      March 12, 2013 at 1:01 pm

      All religion is anesthesia. Abnormal? We might already by there😉

      Reply
    • conchobar14
      March 12, 2013 at 5:18 pm

      suffering as a means to higher conciousness is about as manic as you can get, it is also not eastern zen stuff, but germanic. http://uppsalawayland.tripod.com/

      Reply
      • Ryu
        March 12, 2013 at 5:34 pm

        Wow. That’s a great site CB. Can I spread that around?

      • conchobar14
        March 12, 2013 at 5:38 pm

        yessir, i have been practicing “odinistic” (read improvisational) berserkgang states for the last year or so, induced by lack of sleep, and focusing rage into boundless energy, but i cannot say i ever achieved the berserker state (not that i really want to in my current environ)

      • Ryu
        March 12, 2013 at 6:08 pm

        There’s a piece of the puzzle that I believe I can give you. I will throw it into a post.

        I read that story, and knew exactly what they were talking about. Yes, that the MA that we should practice, our own, not some Asian one.

      • Ryu
        March 12, 2013 at 6:27 pm

        Are those guys racists, CB? Should I try to track them down? The great thing about paganism is no split loyalty with the non-white races.

      • conchobar14
        March 12, 2013 at 9:13 pm

        i don’t know really, but most odin-thor oriented guys seem to be racist to me, and the thing they talk about ‘Wod” or energy,etc is from “woden” the fury god, as in “out of body,etc. etc.” david lane used Woden, woden is more racialist sounding so maybe

  2. Mike in Texas
    March 12, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Back when I actually had recreational reading time, I was a SciFi/fantasy buff. The two favorites from that time period were Robert Jordan and David Eddings, but that has been several years ago now. Anymore, technical documents at work, automotive repair manuals at home, and a whole lot of net blog reading take up most of my time as I gather more information everyday that has tangible meaning now and in the future.

    Reply
    • Kate
      March 12, 2013 at 1:07 pm

      Too much time spent reading can mean too little time spent living. I vascillate. Fiction, for the most part, has pretty much lost its appeal. I recently read The Hound of the Baskervilles, though, and remembered why I used to love fiction. That’s when it dawned on me that it was because its masculine reading: mentally engaging and problem-solving. Mysteries were always a favorite of mine: the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew…

      [ednote: total fiction abandonment is too harsh. simply read non-fiction to fict in a 2:1 ratio and you’ll never be bored, while keeping the spark of education’s desire alive]

      Reply
      • conchobar14
        March 12, 2013 at 5:25 pm

        exactly, while it is hypocritical to write long winded responces to writing with this stance, action is reality, being your actions is the essence of the kind of change that needs to occur in the white middle class, we need to stop with all the comatose fictional dreamscapes wherein our ideas are free to latch onto false actions in a false narrative instead of focusing our energy onto the very moment we live, it is possible to feel this way. i find it usually in the mdst of suffering, during overwhelming stress and exertion your mind becomes very clear and you can feel the floor fall away from beneath you, you then realize that you are merely action and all your worries and little concious problems are vain whispers of your spirit, you can experience the “great contempt”, and once you have silly little stories serve ony one purpose, guidance, not bourgeois “entertainment”.

      • Kate
        March 12, 2013 at 6:05 pm

        Meditation has always interested me for that ability to put oneself on “stand by,” so to speak. I should really attempt to practice it more often. I suspect most suicide is prompted by the desire to kill the ego.

      • conchobar14
        March 12, 2013 at 6:18 pm

        hmmm thats an interesting point, i never thought about that really. i think since suicide is selfish in nature, (there are instances where it can be honorable) it is the opposite, the truimph of the ego over the body and the connections to others through the body and material world, i.e. family, comrades etc.

      • Kate
        March 12, 2013 at 6:42 pm

        And my thought is that if the ego is the seat of the self and the source of suffering, someone who wants to “die” really only wants to conquer themselves: to end their pain. What is so interesting to me about this book is that it describes the ego as almost an alien entity that invades the host body and, in order to live peacefully, we have to bring it under our dominion. In someone who succeeds in committing suicide, the ego has actually won. They were not able to defeat their suffering. Someone mentioned Fight Club the other day and, although I haven’t read the book or even seen the entire movie, I did see the end of the movie and that is what it is like to me: trying to destroy that part of ourselves that is wrecking our peace.

        I don’t see suicide as “selfish” exactly. They do not comprehend that their life is valued by others, so they don’t see taking away their life as hurting anyone. They are more likely to be selfless people, in my opinion. I do agree there can be honorable suicides. Again, those are likely to be due to shame

      • Kate
        March 12, 2013 at 6:46 pm

        grrr comment posted before I was finished. I believe there is a special term for a defeated warrior who commits suicide, but I’ve forgotten what its called. Is it a Samurai thing? Does anyone know?

      • conchobar14
        March 12, 2013 at 7:02 pm

        seppuku, hari-kari, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Antony, and the myth about odin hanging himself

      • Kate
        March 12, 2013 at 5:58 pm

        lol- its a simple question of weight ratios🙂

      • Mike in Texas
        March 12, 2013 at 10:08 pm

        Reading now is for information on survival once the non-flesh eating zombies no longer get their stipend from the government. When the subsidy checks stop flowing, and they can’t support their habit or 20 children, or whatever…

        I wish I had time for recreational reading.

        I spend more time on target accuracy, and what load is more accurate with my firearm.

      • Kate
        March 13, 2013 at 8:08 am

        A lot of recreation falls by the wayside in a streamlined life. There is not room for anything that is not purposeful. Yet another reason men and women need each other: one does the reading, the other the shooting🙂 While a case can be made that its better not to be dependent on others, the strength of a unit is each person doing their part and making an overall better team.

  3. Brandon
    March 12, 2013 at 11:12 pm

    Eckhart Tolle: False prophet. Telling “deep truths” to a mass audience whom said truths were not meant for, and making money off it. “Freely you have been given…so freely give.” Oprah Windfrey guru basking in the applause of thousands of deceived spiritually hungry females.

    Reply
    • Kate
      March 13, 2013 at 8:10 am

      What do you mean when you say “to a mass audience whom said truths were not meant for”? Why do you consider the women “deceived”? I’m genuninely curious.

      Reply
      • Brandon
        March 13, 2013 at 10:56 am

        The deep spiritual things are not for the masses, but for the FEW MEN, that’s why Jesus chose 12 MEN. Any women followers were MEN HELPERS. The female was made for man. She is his helper, but today she has been turned into a man HINDERER AND STUMBLING BLOCK. If you can hear this…the female is the embodiment of “earth”, as in the phrase, “heaven and earth”. The male is the embodiment of heaven and he has the inner capacity to know spiritual things that the woman does not.

        Because of this, the woman is more susceptible to deception than the male. I speak of the genuine male, not the feminized mangina metrosexuals of today. If a woman has a proper father who taught her the proper ways of femalehood and he then transfers his authority over to her husband, the woman can avoid deception. The idea of independent women is a lie from the pit, for she NEEDS the protection of a male who knows his role.

        Mr. Tolle is a fulfillment of this Bible passage in 2Timothy 3:6 “For of these are they who enter into the houses and captivate silly women laden with sins led on by manifold covetings, ever learning and never unto a personal knowledge of truth able to come”. He “enters into houses” via his books and televitz appearances.

        Deception most always enters the family through the woman, especially when the husband is a weak male and his internal male/female aspects are upside down. This is when the wife takes over the husband role and he ,in essence ,becomes the submissive one. This is what happened abroad in this country starting in the early 20th century when the female was eventually given the right to vote. The push for this of course started long before that.

        So the preponderance of men in the country gave way to their wives and we have the distopia of today that resulted.

        The female, as the embodiment of one of the two spheres of which God is, has greater power then the male, hence it is necessary that she be “under control”, for if she’s not she is like an uncontrolled nuclear explosion, destroying everything in her path.

        “A wise woman BUILDS HER HOUSE, but a foolish woman plucks it down with her hands.”

      • Kate
        March 13, 2013 at 11:30 am

        Very interesting. Thank you for that thoughtful reply.

        Things I am still curious about if you care to elaborate later:

        1. “the female is the embodiment of “earth”, as in the phrase, “heaven and earth”. The male is the embodiment of heaven and he has the inner capacity to know spiritual things that the woman does not.” Why do you believe that men have more capacity to know spiritual things than women do?

        You will have no argument from me that women need protection from men who know their role.

        I don’t know alot about the author, so I am only going by his text, but his purpose seems to be along the lines of ex’toll’ing a “personal knowledge of truth.”

        2. What do you mean by this? “The female, as the embodiment of one of the two spheres of which God is, has greater power then the male…” What greater powers does a woman have. What could they have been intended for?

  4. Brandon
    March 13, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    To kate @ 11:30am: Perhaps we should continue this via email? bclaym@gmail.com.

    Reply
    • Kate
      March 13, 2013 at 12:58 pm

      Thank you, Brandon. That is so nice of you to offer. I don’t have a generic email right now though. I’ll be on the lookout for your future comments🙂

      Reply
      • Brandon
        March 13, 2013 at 5:54 pm

        Okey dokey. Probably a good thing that you don’t , for your own safety.

        1. Perhaps if you are interested in having a detailed answer to this you may want to go to my place back to Mar 2010 when I started writing and read forward from there. I’ve covered quite a bit regarding male/female things there and how they are actually a picture in the visible world of what God is, but in the Bible is described in hidden language.

        A personal EXPERIENCE of truth is what is important and can only be reached through a “death” experience. I know…I’m raising more questions than I’m answering.

        3. God is a two sphered being, not as the theologians say a “trinity”. That is false. The two spheres appear as light and darkness, male and female, expansion and contraction, heat and cold, heaven and earth, will and desire, an out goingness and an inward drawingness, and on and on. The two spheres are two principles or aspects of what God consists of.

        The female is a visible tangible form of the spiritual principle of darkness. Darkness is the principle that created circularity and the tendency to cause adherence or make things stick together. Darkness was the primary worker in forming all that is, the universe of planets, stars, sun, etc and causes the orbits of same. It’s the unseen spiritual substance upon which the orbs of the universe “float” and move. The darkness principle, however, must have a “controller or restrainer” and this makes necessary the existence of the male principle of Light. Not the light of the sun, but much like electricity. Power which is run sort of like a perpetual motion machine which never runs down. Light is also wisdom and understanding.

        The scientists think they have discovered something they call “dark matter”. They can’t find it with a microscope because it is in a minute particalized form and is of another dimension. It’s like tiny water droplets or a mist like form.

        The woman’s greater power, is the the power of INFLUENCE for good or evil. When she displays herself to men in the manner of the fashions of this day, she influences the men toward shall we say, a downward direction. Women don’t understand, unless they are taught it by a knowledgeable father or husband, the consequences of behavior and choices. Every choice made and acted on, such as dressing in skimpy clothing in public brings a “reward” immediately with it. The reward is either a good or an evil, depending on the character or nature of the choice made, and takes place in the soul, either producing more life or death. The reward may not be consciously realized in the person, but will eventually occur in the physical body as sickness/disease of some sort or mental problems, or may even come out in one’s children. I’ve taken note in various places about the large number of women who are on drugs of one form or another because of depression, etc.

        The power of influence is intended as a “building” instrument- holding together and sustaining, not initiating (reminds me of another description of the two thing I mentioned above – male/initiation; female/response to initiation) wherein she is mans helper in building civilations. She is the influence to goodness, but today among the mass of females she has become the opposite.

      • Kate
        March 13, 2013 at 7:42 pm

        This is fascinating stuff! Thank you so much for answering my questions🙂 I think I would enjoy a look at your writing. While some of it is preaching to the choir, there is definitely some new stuff in there I haven’t heard of before. The email thing is both a safety and a sanity thing. Thanks for not taking it personally.

        [ed note: if anybody wants to contact another, i can exchange emails for you]

      • Kate
        March 13, 2013 at 7:48 pm

        Oh, and Tolle does talk about how our mental states are often to blame for physical sickness, which is surely not a new idea, but one that interests me very much.

    

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