Balancing the mind and the inner-being

In our lives, how do we successfully balance between our mind and our higher self so that the (ego-)mind does not dominate?

In Emerson's bio, it states that he thought all great geniuses have the shortest bio because there outward lives are unremarkable; their real life exists within the mind. We tend to let our minds control our lives, which creates fear and doubt. Therefore preventing us from exerpiencing the new and letting the past become our boundaries. Acting with ego-mind is using our knowledge and past experiences, while acting with our being or higher self is using our intuition and NOT letting our mind set a cage to our unlimited potential. If the ego-mind creates fear and prevents us from experiencing life to the fullest, how is that our real life exists within the mind and not the being/ inner-self?

http://www.selfmasterygroup.com/blog/the-ego-mind.php
http://www.srichinmoybio.co.uk/blog/self-improvement/how-to-reduce-the-ego/comment-page-1/#comment-1541
http://www.onsimplicity.net/2009/02/how-to-remove-mental-clutter/comment-page-1/#comment-5051
http://www.ayushveda.com/womens-magazine/how-to-overcome-ego/comment-page-1/#comment-257
http://www.virtuescience.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=495&p=5094#p5094


Hope those link help you guys

hm..ok, just doing some general brainstorming/freewriting here, hope you dont mind.
Emerson said a genius's outward life [as in physical/tangible? what the society values? like status, wealth, etc.] is not the impressive part because all the remarkable development occurs within the mind. real life as in the non-superficial aspects of life [what society values and defines for one to be successful]

ok, from the first site kat provided, i gather that the ego mind is something we need, but as we said in class, if it goes into overdrive, then we're going downn. we agree that the ego mind is a tool we need.

ok, lemme try a different train of thought. if we were to have the real life exist in our beings, what would that mean? are we able to express it? those geniuses probably reached some sense of essence but maybe they had to go back into the mind to "judge: or categorize, make tangible, what was happening when they went into being. in order to communicate with others, essence had to be locked down by the mind. so maybe then that led to the idea that we really live in our minds? when in reality, the mind is just a channel we're using to shine the beam of essence and express the real life we lived in being.

but hm...this is a really good question, kat. i'm pretty stumped [and maybe everyone else is too]
just for the fun of it =D [the smilies are soo cute!!]

Kathy, I think you just answered your own question. XD

Acting with ego-mind is using our knowledge and past experiences, while acting with our being or higher self is using our intuition and NOT letting our mind set a cage to our unlimited potential. If the ego-mind creates fear and prevents us from experiencing life to the fullest, how is that our real life exists within the mind and not the being/inner-self?

First, you already said that "If the ego mind creates fear..." Well, you just summed it up. To successfully balance between the ego mind and the higher self, just don't make the ego mind create fear. That is why Ms. Kay told us to 'observe the observer' in the first semester. If we observe the ego mind, it will be less likely to threaten you with fear, at least, unknowingly. Of course, one could also try meditating. Meditating reduces the incessant talking in the ego mind, which can grow into panic-causing thoughts if not taken care of properly.

You applied Emerson's thinking about how geniuses have the shortest biography because their real life exists within the mind. What Emerson is referring here is NOT the ego mind. If people live their life in their ego mind, that would be the same as being controlled by the fear coming from one's ego mind. I think Emerson here is just talking about the mind as in, well, the non-ego mind. The mind that we think with, the one that we use to establish contact with the collective unconscious. The mind that focuses and concentrates.

Hey!

Well... In my opinion, I would say that real life is in both the essence, or the inner being as well as the mind. As we have talked about in class, and from researching from the net as well as ur forum's discussions it is all saying that we need our ego-mind as a tool to survive in the world. However, our essence or the inner being gives us drives with feelings and with passion. Real life, is the experience in everything right? As the trenscendentalists emphasized the unlimited human potential and the vast world that people live in, a real life is not only the physical, the mental (ego-mind), or the spiritual, but it is the connection of everything, it is EVERYTHING.

As We have discussed in class, quantum physics are finding new information everymoment about this fasinating world that we live in and one of the major idea is that everything in this world, universe has a higher connection. This higher connection is a realisation in the human scientific field in understanding that everything is interconnected and have affect on others non-locally. This supports that to live a life fully, people have to explore and go deep into every aspect of life.

It is impossible for one to fully use ONLY one part of themselves in their life, either the spiritual or the ego-mind. It is easy for humans though, to forget and neglect the other parts of one such as the inner essence. This is exactly what we are learning about, how there is other parts of ourselves that we never really notice its importance. To live a life, one has to equally use all parts. This includes doing things motivated from the inner being, and using the mind and the physical body to accomplish them.

I guess, the reason why it said that the great life happens in the mind is because that everyone can live a great life of a great standard regardless of their status or hierarchy role in the world since everyone posseses unique essence and a different mind.

For not letting the ego mind go into overdrive, I think all that requires is conscious. As long we are aware of this ego-mind, we can keep it in check, whether through deep breathing or meditation. The ego mind is most dangerous when we do not recognize it is there. If we take these annoying voices in our heads as what defines us, then our perception of being and ego gets mixed up…which results as ego mind dominating. Remember, our thoughts create reality so for people who don’t even know about ego minds may not even see it as a problem, but more of a “ok” thing…you get my drift?
As for “How is that our real life exists within the mind and not the being/ inner-self?”...
Maybe Emerson means it is our minds that project what is termed “real life”. Our thoughts create reality, and that reality seems real because the mind thinks it is real. So in a sense, our minds are fooling themselves.
Therefore what Emerson may be hinting is that “real life” is only a label for our mind’s product, so therefore it does not exist in being. What exist in being is actually connectivity, Spontaneity…things that fuel our lives, not contain it.
Maybe life is more of a grand system...but lets not get into that xD

OK SO MY PREVIOUS TWO ATTEMPTS TO POST HAVE FAILED (uncool) so I will retype.... again. yay
Anyways, I think that by saying that geniuses "live in the mind," Emerson is actually talking about the mind as a collective unit of both ego-mind and essence. Geniuses usually start their "genius" as a question, or a problem to solve. This utilizes the left brain, which could be considered Bloom's Taxonomy, so that we can fully and deeply understand the matter at hand. Only by doing so, we are able to know exactly what we're dealing with. Seeing as this is the ego-mind, I do not think all work of the mind is bad--only when it goes into overdrive should it be stopped. Geniuses are good at that, I guess. On the other hand, the right brain reaches out to that Universal Being, essence, etc. through one's Intuition. Here is where what I think the true meaning of "genius" comes in--we then synthesize both sides to create something new, something GENIUS. Nothing can be purely ego-mind, or essence, just like nothing is black and white. It's always a tinge of grey. Geniuses are able to acheive that midtone of grey that has a balance of both mind and soul, which allows them to transcend to new heights and new realizations. That being said, we can all be geniuses--we all have an ego-mind, a connection to the collective unconscious, and the unlimited potential to grow and expand.
heeho

Hey kathy
I think that Emerson with the quote is trying to emphasize the inside being the beauty and ingenuity of great geniuses. The real life as we know it in ourselves greatly depends on our reception of the outer and it is our reception that cerates the "the outer" that is unique in everyone. We are given with tools such as the ego mind to deal with the outer stimuli but it is often confused by us as a component of ourselves. This is when teh egomind becomes dominant and changes our outlook which can become our life and reality and this I would not even call "experiencing life". If our ego mind becomes dominant, we overanalyze, categorize, create fragmentation, and become mechanical. Our reception of things would be scientific and logical which, as most of us know, will bring us to a neverending loop. The world, reality, and sprituality is contradictory in the logical sense. Logic cannot explain the flow of things nor can it give us enlightenment. This is why science, which seems neverending in expansion, is so limited compared to what really is out there and this is also why we should adopt methods that restrain our ego mind ( meditation and such) and put it in its proper usage. Ego mind is there to serve us and aid us through mundane and everyday routines that needs analysis. LIfe is evidently more than that. Only when we become part of the whole will we be able to see life in its potential rather then dwelling on explanations that won't get anyone anywhere. Back to the Emerson quote :p The thing is our mind creates our reality and I think what he's trying to say is that what we see as the world and what we make of it determines our ingenuity. Real geniuses can possibly see the world in its utmost beauty and it won't be because of what he physically sees but because of his "inner perception". That's why the real geniuses are able to make themselves a good life because their unique take of the world is an example of nonconforming which allows them to live in their world, control their lives which is heavenly. They don;t have to accomplish material means to find meaning in their lives.

To balance, we need to detach ourselves from the ego mind, since that will empower us to dissipate the negative overdrive and incessant thinking that are blocking us from expressing our higher selves and preventing us from reaching our unlimited potential. As Phil stated, we need to “observe the observer,” just step out and observe. We need to take ownership of our ego mind, which can be a challenge since our ego mind is loud.

They may have the shortest biographies, not AUTObiographies, because they live life more in the being, which is the form that a lot of people have yet to explore, seeing as “with great geniuses, their cousins can tell you nothing about them.” Great geniuses may have the shortest biographies because a lot of people are not at the level where they can understand the essence and higher being of great geniuses completely, as in they are still locked down with their minds controlling them, therefore they cannot encapsulate the lives of the geniuses properly. Or maybe, the fact that the word “geniuses” was coined implies that geniuses are not meant and are not expected to be understood by most people, since they’re “geniuses”?

Without the geniuses using the mind as a tool to communicate to others, others may not be able to understand them. Their lives may leave little for the cousins to remember because the cousins may not understand the true essence of those geniuses. Their cousin might only be functioning and viewing at the surface level, therefore they might dismiss something from the great geniuses as “irrelevant” or “pointless” when actually that is the true gem and truths of life. “Outwardly their lives may be unremarkable,” which means their lives may not be as eventful with society’s constant brainwashing of the man-made/ego-mind-made factors and standards of leading a successful life: wealth, status, power, etc. But who can label someone else’s life as unremarkable? In a way, who dares to doubt us, to limit us in a framework and draw us the boundaries? Who is there to tell us if we are successful or not? In Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” he urges us to not to conform to society. It is, again, just a matter of perspectives when it comes to labeling a person as successful or not. Someone may think earning so much money that one does not have to work anymore is being successful in life, while someone else might consider being happy as their greatest goal in life.

Emerson’s view is that “those who change our understanding of the world do so through the power of their ideas.” How can one communicate their ideas? By using the mind as a tool. Let’s refresh and remind ourselves that the mind is not so deadly. If we can learn it to use it to our advantage, the mind can serve as a medium for us to communicate our ideas and essence. “Their real life exists within the mind.” Notice how it says the mind, NOT the ego mind. The mind and the ego mind do not necessarily equate. So I guess my answer is that our real life exists with both the being and the mind, but we just display it more through the mind?

Hmmm.

Emerson's own bio isn't all that short and he is like the alpha hen of the transcendentalists. Thoreau too, who applied Emerson doesn't have any shorter of a bio. NOt that the length of a person's bio can really measure the remarkableness of anyone's outward life. A biography can be however long the writer of the bio wants but that's not the point. I think Emerson is on the verge of contradicting himself when he says that. Because though the real life exists within the mind, the mind controls our everyday. So if we have this great life going on in our minds it is inevitable that some poriton of it will permeate to the "outer" life. Think about it, what kind of healthy person keeps transcending thought/act, accomplishment, you-name-it, within and stay..normal?

About your main question...the ego mind tends to dominate with feelings like fear and other barriers. We've learned that it's impossible to have the mind stop thinking for more than a couple seconds tops, so I think the best thing we can do to TRY to balance at all is attempt to get in touch the higher self; that in itself is already more than the average person does. In being aware of our ego mind and detaching from is allows distance from the emotions of fear and obstacles. Real life is probably about doing exactly what you're brinigng up: finding a balance between the essence and the ego mind. Real life exists within the mind, but incorperating the being into this existence gives us less bounds and more control over what we feel. This is the balance we are trying to strike. We can't eliminate the mind because it simply will not cease to exist. The essence, with the softer voice, has to be brought out or else the mind will, as you put it, dominate.

HI KAT!!

hmm... i think like because you know how in class ms kay taught us that everything was interconnected and that we access the universal reliance through the 1st self and the essence? so like i think because everything is interconnected and so is the ego mind and the essence, it impossible to separate our brains, thoughts, whatever so that activities are like precisely divided into whether they are ego mind based, or essence based. so i think it is just like you said, which one should dominate. i think like because the ego mind is used as a tool in our everday lives (for things such as planning and getting organized in the busy world and everything) it is essential to use it but not to let it go into overdrive (like into that loud, annoying thing that bangs around the place) and so we should exercise ourselves to keep it in control. and when we have the motivation and drive to do something, it should come from our essence and beings, not the ego mind (because it only wants competition to outdo others), instead, we should strive to compete with ourselves to constantly become better and transcend our current state. with this as our main goal and motivation, we can exercise and train the ego mind so taht it becomes only a tool for our everyday lives and not the dominant thinking process. we would be more connected to the essence and being as our motivations are directed by the universal reliance and we live according to the surest guide, which is our intuitions!

(hope that made sense and somewhat answered the question...? )

ok, so these are the few conclusions I've gathered up thus far
- we need both the mind and being to cooperate and work in harmony to reach the level of genius. it's that balance that defines "real life." can't let one side dominate, just like need to let left brain and right brain work together to reach insights. and, as Emerson says, everything happens for a reason. humans have been given the ego mind for a reason, and that is to be used as a tool as we tap into our unlimited potential (no overdrive but it still needs to be there)
- a genius's biography is not as long as you think it is because as a genius, what he/she discovers is very likely beyond the physical domain and therefore hard to put into words. as anita said, this could be that that person is misunderstood by everyone else, but as Emerson says in Self-Reliance, "to be great is to be misunderstood."

but ok, back to the starred question, didnt we learn that to not let the ego mind dominate, we need to quiet it down. so dont turn it off, just lower the volume. and this can be done by the methods people have previously stated above.

<-- that is SO not a monkey

Walk my shoes, just to see
What it's like, to be me
All be you, let's trade shoes
Just to see what I'd be like to
Feel your pain, you feel mine
Go inside each other's mind
Just to see what we find
Look at sh** through each other's eyes

This is the chorus of Eminem's new hit "Beautiful" from his new album "Before the Relapse".

Humans use the mind everyday, every minuite of our lives. Many times we generate thoughts faster than we blink. The mind is in use frequently in our lives, too frequently. We have to have a balance between the mind and the being.

Lets break Eminems words chunk by chunk just like we did for Emerson's essays. The whole "shoe" part is to establish the cliche of "wearing other people's shoe" or in other words, know how another feels, understand how another thinks. Eminem has been facing the trouble of publicity as a celebrity. He wants us, those that are not under the radar of the whole populations focus, to understand his situation. The next part is interesting. "Go inside each others mind" What goes inside each others body to find out what anothers mind is currently thinking? The Being is the YOU in this situation. The being is the one going in anothers mind. Eminem knows the fact that humans function primarily with the mind. Whatever happens in ones life, however one feels in a situation, is processed via the mind. But when you want to understand someone elses mind or even when you want to understand your own mind, you have to use your being, or more appropriately be your BEING, release your being. You are the BEING but the mind and the being MAKE UP YOU. This is the paradox of human design, the oxymoron of human nature, the question of human identity. What is really YOU?

In the end, Eminem concludes

Be yourself man, be proud of who you are

It doesn't matter if you dont know who is the real you. In the end, it doesnt really come down to distinguishing your being and your mind. Whats crucial, is you just being you. You are what the being tells you to be. You are the innate analytical mind which has been a tool for 16 years in my case. Taking pride in how you truely are, not the social corrupt product, not the peer pressured ping pong player, but who you really are. Be yourself.

Ok, first of all, I have to tell you that I disagree with what you say about the ego-mind. Bad consequences only result from bad use of the ego-mind, letting it control us, not using it properly, it's more like a tool or like a limb you can use. When you say that it creates fear and doubt, that implies that it solely creates negativity, that's taking things too absolutely, you want to look at things in hues and shades, not solid colors, and you need to look at the good it DOES create. The ego mind is not evil, it is a part of us that is anchored to the physical world. It's kinda like a converter-portal, it converts potential into certainty, and then helps it manifest in the physical realm. Without it, your higher self wouldn't be useless, but it'd make life a lot harder, imagine yelling at your arm for knocking over a glass of water, and now because you only see the bad parts of it, you decide to cut it off. You don't want to do that.

So that aside, how DO we find that balance? The answer is, we don't. Because trying to balance it is still working against it, balancing it is forcing them to work together, that doesn't ever end well. Again, it's not two separate entities of good and evil. It's a brain and an arm working in sync, the two have to harmonize, work together, be one entity. If you want to "control" the ego-mind and prevent it from doing any harm, just make sure that you're working with it, not against it, you aren't trying to restrict it, you're trying to cooperate with it.

Now, how to we apply this in reality? Bit harder to say, but basically the best thing to do (for me anyway, I'm saying this from personal experience, so it might be wrong) is to constantly remind yourself of who you are and what you live for. If you can't accept and know your place in the world, then you'll be lost, you're connection to the ego-mind will weaken, and that's when it starts to run wild. If you have no idea what your "true" purpose is, what your "true" identity is, find something to believe in, find something to MAKE your reality. If you can find, keep reminding yourself of what you truly believe, live for yourself, not for others, do what your higher self would do if it was present in physical form on the earth. Then, in a sense, your higher self WILL be living on the earth, letting its presence be known THROUGH the ego-mind and thus keeping the ego-mind a part of you.

Hope that answered your question

Hmm Kathy I don't think Emerson was referring to the ego-mind when he said the real life exists inside the mind. I think he's distinguishing between the physical life and the nonphysical, inner life? The physical, material life was created by the ego-mind, which is when the mind is used wrongly, or when the mind uses you. However, when Emerson says that the real life exists within the mind, I htink he means that these geniuses/great men knew the limitations and boundaries of the physical life, that they were aware of a deeper connection with others other than the superficial, surface level "reality." In other words, Emerson was aware of the collective unconscious. Perhaps he is also implying of a greater presence behind the mind, that "intelligence" that is controlling the mind and utilizing it efficiently. This is the nonlocal domain, which controls the quantum domain, which controls the physical domain. Hmm maybe our real "lives" are defined as in the mind, because maybe in the spirit (the nonlocal domain) it's not really a "life", it just IS? Sorta like you just exist, you just are, in the nonlocal domain; your presence/absence is all that can be discussed in that domain, whereas when you start using labels like "life" you start to organize and categorize things a little bit more, which is what the mind will do for you. The mind is the great organizer and is useful too, otherwise why would it exist in the first place? This kind of parallels the "everyone was born good" idea; things were all created "good." The mind was created as a "good tool" to help us manage our existences and to help us cope with this world, this reality. However, due to corruption and post-creation influences, it can go into overdrive and can have dire consequences for us. Hm so basically I think Emerson was focusing more on the division between the physical and the spiritual life, and the mind and the soul would kind of both just fit into the latter category. Geniuses realize the need to stay in tune with the spiritual life, because in the physical world it is much too easy to miss the connection/oneness of things and get carried away by the apparent "separated-ness" of everything. That is when competition against each other in a struggle for "survival of the fittest" come in... only we aren't trying to become the fittest by improving ourselves. We start to try to become the fittest by eliminating others, our "competitors." That is when things get out of hand and the world is thrown off course because, when we're all one and part of a greater whole, attacking each other would ultimately lead to our own destruction. It's like when cells of the body start attacking other cells of the same body - the essence behind the autoimmune diseases (when the immune system fails to recognize self-cells and start seeing every cell as "enemies" and "competition" and "non-self"). The cells in our body and the body itself is a microcosm of the outer world. Geniuses realize the need to return to the spiritual side of things - not to completely escape into it and neglect the body that the spirit inhabits and works through. No, the geniuses realize that a return is necessary because we have not been balancing the spiritual and the physical parts of ourselves well, and as of now more spirituality is required for "equilibrium" and "peace." The ego-minds are when the mind tries to overthrow the power of the Being - when cells become cancerous and endangers the rest of the body, and so great people realized the potential harm in devoting too much of ourselves to the physical world.

Sorry, this was more of a freewrite than anything else

hey guys!! thanks for responding, you guys were all REALLY REALLY helpful. i had like a billion inspirations while i read your answers ( x 10000)
anyways, so basically i just finished reading all your comments haha and i took out what i thought was most important in each and added comments to them. so yeah you'll see parts of your own writing here sorta like a synthesis of all your ideas intertwined with my thoughts.

The mind is just a channel we're using to shine the beam of essence and express the real life we lived in being.Emerson here is just talking about the mind that we think with, the one that we use to establish contact with the collective unconscious. We need our ego-mind as a tool to survive in the world. However, our essence or the inner being gives us drives with feelings and with passion. Real life, is the experience in everything right? As the transcendentalists emphasized the unlimited human potential and the vast world that people live in, a real life is not only the physical, the mental (ego-mind), or the spiritual, but it is the connection of everything, it is EVERYTHING. So if everything has that underlying connection to one another, the mind and the inner being must have that connection, therefore when using one part, the other part will be in use. We just have to be aware of this so that one does not dominate because both are needed.
I guess, the reason why it said that the great life happens in the mind is because that everyone can live a great life of a great standard regardless of their status or hierarchy role in the world since everyone possesses unique essence and a different mind.
In order to not let the ego mind take control of our lives, we need to be conscious and aware. As long we are aware of this ego-mind, we can keep it in check, whether through deep breathing or meditation. The ego mind is most dangerous when we do not recognize it is there. Emerson may be hinting is that “real life” is only a label for our mind’s product, so therefore it does not exist in being. What exist in being is actually connectivity, Spontaneity…things that fuel our lives, not contain it.
We need the mind to understand and comprehend things (like Bloom’s Taxonomy) and because everyone has their own uniqueness (individualism), then use the knowledge obtained with the mind and articulate it into words with their essence and being. It is like the concept of Emerson’s Self-Reliance, one has to be an individual and grow to the fullest possible potential without being caged by other’s ideas, then come back together as a whole / community and help the “oneness” reach strive for its unlimited potential.
We are given with tools such as the ego mind to deal with the outer stimuli but it is often confused by us as a component of ourselves. Our thoughts create reality and therefore the mind creates our “real” life, but when the ego-mind dominates, we tend to think the outer world is our being and then overanalyze / try to categorize everything. Science has only so much to explain and classify, that’s why the spirit / intuition is what is boundless, and therefore we cannot let the ego-mind dominate. So if one is aware of the ego-mind and its limits, we can therefore create a balance. When Emerson said our real lives are lived in our mind, he is trying to say that we should not be stuck and stopped by the physical world (tangible; where everything is the same to everyone) and let our imagination guide our lives --> unlimited possibilities (everyone has unique being and self therefore we perceive life differently from everyone else; individualism). When we are aware of the ego-mind and understand how it works, we can then take control and create a balance instead of letting it dominate and control us.
As joyce said, “Dont turn it off, just lower the volume.” (the ego-mind is needed, just needs to be controlled)
If one is aware --> conscious of the mind and the being/ self --> then the balance will automatically be created (nonlocal domain) In the end, the two main elements, the mind and the self, just need to cooperate and work together instead of trying to outbest the other.

Wow Kat. You go girl. Good synthesis of everything thrown at you within the last 48 hours or so. Completely agree with what you have about the connection of the physical, mental, and spiritual and the need to be aware of the ego-mind's nature in order to keep our selves in check. I'm a bit shaky about what you have said herethough: "We are given with tools such as the ego mind to deal with the outer stimuli but it is often confused by us as a component of ourselves." I really don't think the ego-mind should be regarded as a tool. Tools are mechanic devices that serve as aids with some task. The ego-mind, however loud and boisterous, IS a NATURAL component of ourselves and will never cease to exist. I think what you meant was that we get confused and think that the ego-mind is our complete identity (when it is clearly not)? Our identity consists of the "everything," and everything's connectivity with everything else.

this is an outstanding discussion all of you. Kathy, you're gaining an answer, apparently, and it looks to be a good strong incorporation of what your classmates have said.

I particularly enjoyed the visual of Kenny's comment of yelling at our arm for knocking over a glass of water, as well as JT's use of Eminem's new song, which reminds me of a plaque my mom had hanging up on the living room wall of our seventies green velour with mirrored material as the interior of the diamond with the green velour surrounding this mirror like material causing an enhancement of the diamond shape. This was the seventies. And the room we danced disco to after Thanksgiving dinner, and other lesser celebrations.

"Do not judge another before walking in their mocassins."

Brady Bunch perhaps, right?

Annie, Joyce, like Sophia, all of you are really just amazing in your capacity to appreciate these teachings, understand them rather naturally and expand them.

What a great conversation!
Keep it up,
love n light,
ms k

From what I am hearing, it seems that we all basically agree that
1) The ego mind is a useful tool
2) The ego mind is capable of fear and overdrive
3) The ego mind is dangerous when we rely on it too much
4) The ego mind may block our access to spiritual being
5) Instead of just sticking to one side, we synthesis both the ego mind and being into one (which "balances them)
To just add something, I think the ego mind is meant to keep us in check of our survival method. According to Ms. Kay, the ego mind WANTS to live, and to live it must keep us breathing. This is why it is constantly nagging us. It wants perfection because it generalizes that perfection increases our survival chances. Sadly, human beings are not perfect so the ego mind cannot be silenced. Now if the ego mind is always there, it may become frustrated with us to the point it wants to control our lives totally. This is overdrive, and maybe the way to prevent it is to theorize how the ego mind came to be.

The ego mind is a survival tool. We see it as a "demon" because we no longer have that many life-death situations anymore. Maybe in prehistoric times, the ego mind forces us to think and ultimately make "smart" choices to increase our survival chances against fatal odds. Being preoccupied with other factors, we don’t pay attention to the ego mind voice; we instead accept it as a part of us. After awhile we may start to rely on it because we incorrectly define the voice in our heads as our identity. But as time passes and civilizations develop, human beings generally have a safer environment to strive in and therefore have more time to explore our own minds. When we realize about the existence of the “ego mind", we would want to get rid of it because it interferes with daily life. Now provoking the ego mind to go away makes things even harder because it wants to be there. It feels that its purpose is to help us while we as the observer think it is the opposite.
Therefore, we should show the ego mind that we do not require it to go overdrive because there is nothing that endangers us. We should just sit down and not think. By cutting off all of our thoughts we give the ego mind no chance to judge ANYTHING. It will not be able to function and therefore do nothing. It is then where we start to feel something else stirring inside us; our being. So basically, a helpful way to keep the ego mind in check is through meditation.
By the way, great synthesis Kathy...I didn't see your post until I was finished with typing this one so my post is sort of pointless at the moment as you have already tied everything together XD

Nice synthesis kat. Although you gave a full length description tying in everything together, one term questions my understanding of your conclusion. What is consciousness? The first time i read your synthesis i basically read it just to read it. Consciousness just struck out like being awake in the morning and having a clear mind to operate. The visual of huge eyes cranked open by two toothpicks just flashed over my eyes. Is that what consciousness is? Then, i took it deeper. Maybe its not only the activity of the physical, it the ego being full on ready to recieve information or the mind cleared up focus to what we do every single second. Is that what consciousness is? Then I took it even deeper. It may be the observer actively watching out for the ego going into overdrive. It may be YOU listening to your quiet being wisper to your mind. Is that what consciousness is? These are the three domans of life, these are the three levels of consciousness within human beings. Yet, to reach a balance, we must be conscious. To be conscious, we must have balance or more of awareness. Adding on to what Kathy mentioned, the oneness in humans beings is crucial. The awareness of the universal origin affecting one's being, one's being influencing ones mind, one's mind taking control over ones physical. The awareness of interconnectivity of EVERYTHING within ONE. The Oneness within one. Bricks make up a house. Pages make up a book. Physical, mind, and being make up one. Thus, this awareness of componants forming a whole is so called ONEness. Having awareness is having consciousness. Having consciousness results in the balance.

Perhaps he is also implying of a greater presence behind the mind, that "intelligence" that is controlling the mind and utilizing it efficiently.

Is this what Emerson means with “We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity?” By tapping into our intuitions, we are able to gain control over our minds?

We start to try to become the fittest by eliminating others, our "competitors." That is when things get out of hand and the world is thrown off course because, when we're all one and part of a greater whole, attacking each other would ultimately lead to our own destruction.

This reminds me of those reality shows where people backstab each other as an attempt to degrade others and satisfy their own insecurities and superiority complex. Of course, by doing this, they are degrading themselves, and they do not gain much out of it rather than the superficial happiness that their mind tricks them into thinking that they attain. I guess this relates to the “happiness” that one thinks they can get out of excessive consumerism? That is the ego mind, not the being. As we eliminate others and smile at our achievements, are we not building our happiness on top of other peoples’ tortures? This is a sign of letting the ego mind dominate. If we would just detach ourselves from the ego mind, we would realize, just as Emerson implies, that we are all a part of a greater whole therefore there is really no need for competition with others. The greatest competition is within ourselves, and our ultimate challenge is to transcend ourselves, which includes for the mind and the higher self to cooperate together harmoniously?

Thanks for the synthesis Kat! The fog in front of me is clearer now

I agree with Anita. Recently at TAIMUN some kids from our school were complaining that kids from the host school were taunting our delegates. For whatever IBSHers did to deserve this degrading, I thought it was actually more saddening than hurtful on our part. In my eyes, the only reputation degraded was their own. But taking a step back from this war or words, you have to wonder, why all this hate? Is it that our ego mind instinctively takes over when provoked? That competition with others has tragically outweighed competition and transcending within the self?
As Emerson stated, we are all part of the Universal Being, so hurting others is ultimately hurting ourselves. We all congregate at MUNs, with similar goals, to better ourselves but it often plays out less harmoniously. And not just in MUN, but in life. We forget that despite having seemingly different destinations in life, our efforts are ultimately all directed to the similar goal or bettering humanity. (Emerson's point, too.) Sorry if this was too much o f a digression from the original topic. Just wanted to put it out there.

The awareness of the universal origin affecting one's being, one's being influencing ones mind, one's mind taking control over ones physical.

I like that JT. its really clear and concise so easily understood :]

Maybe people compete with others and try to degrade them because they are not yet conscious of the oneness between themselves and everything else. They are still unaware of the overdrive that their ego-mind dived into. and because they let the ego mind dominate them instead of them controlling it, they are unconsciously hurting themselves while bringing others down. People feel the need to bring others down when they are not confident and self-reliant and trusting of themselves, so they THINK (rather the ego-mind) in order to win, they have to outbest others. But in reality, doing that won't get them anywhere because they are not being themselves. They are just trying to be something they are not, and this maybe because they do not know who they are yet. They have to become aware and start learnging how to take control and balance their mind and their inner being. When they do that, they can finally show who they are with confidence therefore, not want to compete and degrrade others in order to grow and strive for the unlimited potential within all and everyone.

These points about competition goes to support the statement made about grades competition. It shouldnt be about beating others but about striving to do the best you can and improve yourself. What's the point of pushing others down? What they grow and expand to become is more insights to share with everyone else! We shouldnt try to supress that growth! So, like we said in the pop quiz about Emerson's view of competition, it's a competitions between ourselves to push ourselves to transcend and reach for higher grounds.

To close up a weeks worth of interesting discussion, I think it's safe to say that being aware of the higher self is the most obvious key to maintaining the balance. This however, is much easier said than done. To be aware of the high self in times of deep anger or frustration is very difficult and is apparently made easier with training in meditation. We've also discussed the consequences of having the ego-mind go into overdrive and "dominate" and did not like the results (bitter competition, putting others down etc.) THis is because when we try to degrade others we really degrade ourselves at this higher nonlocal domain, where we are all unified in the universal being.
Thanks for the intruiguing topic Kat, and the rest of the participants' thoughtful contributions =)

Wow nice discussion here I'm glad I joined this discussion, it really does help me further understand the transcendentalist ideas.

Okay, just to contribute a bit of my bionerdiness to you all out there (since I spent a year of my life on this subject, why not put it to good use?) I've been thinking about how the egomind in overdrive is dangerous, and I remembered someone mentioned earlier in the year about how it's the one that constatly tries to nag you while you meditate and do other stuff... Like when you're sitting there clearing your thoughts and trying to just observe, the egomind is the one that's constantly telling you things like "Ow, that itches, scratch your knee now!" or "Your legs are numb. SHIFT!" and it constantly prevents you from total inner peace. Well, in bio we learned that populations of species evolve from survival of the fittest (which could be why competition against others are so strong in this world - we're constantly striving to be "the fittest" so as to survive and pass on our genes), and certain mechanisms develop to help us achieve that. That would mean, in this case, that the egomind developed because it was beneficial to us at some level - that's why the human race is one of the most (if not the most) successful species out there, right? Because we possess traits that help us survive better than most other animals. That makes the egomind important and useful - but it's a trait to HELP us, meaning that yes it IS a tool (to Steph C), but just not a "mechanical" one. It's a natural tool that evolved in the homo sapiens to assist us, and as we grow more and more advanced we develop mechanical tools that may one day replace some of the egomind's helpful functions. (To Andy) Yeah, I agree, perhaps it's because circumstances have changed now that we tend to see the egomind as more harmful than beneficial. We need less and less of the egomind to achieve this equilibrium between the physical and the virtual because the environment now demands less and less of it. Perhaps that's why it's so easy to overuse the egomind - because we're equipped with an egomind that has powerful functions but we dont require as much of its powers as we did before.