Tag: ego identity

  • Ego Development

    Development of the Ego – sounds like a constuction site project and in many ways it is. There are foundations, structures, images (facades) and much more that seem similar to a housing project – and why not – when all is said and done a person lives within that structure – most are shut-ins, fearing to venture outside of their ego development (ego identity).

    Although many things are known about ego development, there is still much to learn.

    Ego development, as defined by Jane Loevinger, who developed a model to illustrate human personality development, consists of the changes in mental processes put in place by the self or ego (one’s self-image or sense of being) to make coherent meaning of what is happening as it experiences day-to-day life. Therefore, one could say that the ego is a meaning making machine, engaged in constantly organizing and reorganizing everything it sees, feels, hears, touches, senses, thinks and tastes. It does this to create and recreate a human viewpoint – your viewpoint. This is the individual perspective which each human can rely on to approach the enormous job of living life. Our egos work tirelessly on our behalf making our worldview out of the barrage of conflicting information that we are immersed in everyday. – Paul Marko

    A Google search on Ego Development shows almost 500K returns. Beyond the students of psychology and researchers who would be searching?

    Knowledge of ego development is invaluable for those on the spiritual journey. Ego development results in ego identity – what many spiritual seekers refer to when they say – false self.

    The true self that is sought is the self that exists free from identification with the ego and it’s structures. The “false self” does not need to be destroyed and we don’t need to engage in some holy war with it. Simple curiosity and understanding will allow the false to disolve and what’s true to remain.

    Understanding ego development helps this process along.

     

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  • Ego Identity

    Ego_identityIdentity – Ego Identitiy – True Identity

    What’s the deal with identity anyway. I remember my parents challenging me with – who do you think you are? At the time I was just a kid – I didn’t have a clue who I was and they didn’t seem to be helping me found out much either.

    What I felt in response to that question was judged and in trouble.

    In simplest terms ego identity is defined as – the sense of oneself as a distinct continuous entity.

    For Erik Erikson, identity is what maintains in the individual inner solidarity with the ideals and aspirations of social groups. The ego has a general balancing function: It puts things in perspective and prepares them in view of possible action. The strength of the ego, as Erikson conceived it, explains the difference between the feeling of being whole and the feeling of being fragmented. In the best of cases, it enables the individual to understand that the feeling of being at one with oneself comes through growth and development.

    A psychological inquiry into identity will lead to discussions of self-representations, self-images, and ideals. These are some of the components of ego structure that help to form a sense of identity in the mind patterned on the past.

    A spiritual teacher or guide might ask – what was there before ego identity?

    Does that survive ego death?

     

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