Transcending and Including the Ego
Some years ago I caused something of a scandal when I pointed out that the original Sanskrit root of the word “Yoga,” meant “Union,” and that the objective of the spiritual path was not to get rid of the ego and of our imperfections, but instead to embrace and transform them.
Much later I discovered that I was not alone in my understanding:
“Transcending the ego” thus actually means to transcend but include the ego in a deeper and higher embrace, first in the soul or deeper psychic, then with the Witness or primordial Self, then with each previous stage taken up, enfolded, included, and embraced in the radiance of One Taste. And that means we do not “get rid” of the small ego, but rather, we inhabit it fully, live it with verve, use it as the necessary vehicle through which higher truths are communicated. Soul and Spirit include body, emotions, and mind; they do not erase them.”
–Ken Wilber (American Philosopher, 1949-)
“The Essential Ken Wilber: An Introductory Reader.” (Ken Wilber)
Inscribed In the Human Heart
“The transcendent element of an inward Gnosis is indelibly inscribed in the human heart; all the trivialities of the everyday world due to inattention and consequent ignorance are unable to extinguish its remembrance.”
–Stephan A. Hoeller (Hungarian-born American Writer, Scholar and Religious Leader, 1931-)
“The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead (Quest Books)” (Stephan A. Hoeller)
Communicating Transcendence
“I am compelled to testify that literary works can communicate transcendence.”
–Harold Bloom (American Literary Critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University, 1930-)
“Omens of the Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection” (Harold Bloom)
Developing Divine Qualities
“By pondering upon the good, the beautiful, and the true, we transmute our lower instincts into higher divine qualities. The attractive power of God’s instinctual nature, with its capacity to synthesize, to attract and to blend, cooperates with the unrealized potencies of man’s own nature, and makes his eventual at-one-ment with God, in life and purpose, an inevitable, irresistible occurrence.”
–Alice A. Bailey (English Writer, Spiritual Teacher and Founder of the Arcane School, 1880-1949)
Suffering, Hope and Transcendence
“Suffering is the leveler that reminds us of our common mortality, that none of us is exempt from the difficulties of human life. When suffering and despair come together, they provide us with the opportunity to affirm hope, love ourselves, and to say, against all odds, ‘And yet I will love, and yet I will hope.’ It is then that we learn transcendence; it is then that we know the beauty of oneness, of being part of the network of connectedness.”
–Carol Pearson (American Director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, a Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Maryland and Coauthor of the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator, 1944-)
“The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By” (Carol S. Pearson)
When You Finally Find Yourself
“When the ‘I am’ is discovered – and every enlightened tradition has said this – we find ourselves and we find God. Look for yourself, and you’ll find your creator.”
–Carlos Warter (Chilean-born Psychiatrist, Author and Lecturer, 1950-)
“Who Do You Think You Are? The Healing Power of Your Sacred Self” (Carlos Warter)
Transcending Mankind
“It is peculiar to mankind to transcend mankind.”
–Karl Wilhelm Fredric von Schlegel (German Philosopher, Writer, Critic and a Founder of German Romanticism, 1772-1829)
Your Special Moment
“Each person has his special moment of life when he unfolded himself to the fullest, felt to the deepest, and expressed himself to the utmost, to himself and to others.”
–Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Russian Writer and, in 1970, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1918-2008)
Transcendence and Creativity
“There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute dissatisfaction into a creative impulse.”
–Eric Hoffer (American Longshoreman, Writer and Philosopher, 1902-1983)
Stepping Onto A Higher Plane
“The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal.”
–Deepak Chopra (Indian-born American Physician, Writer and Teacher, 1946-)
