2001-03-31-Social Movements, Ego
Spokane #79
Contents
• 1 Heading
o 1.1 Topic: Movements, Ego
o 1.2 Group: Spokane TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Paulo
o 2.2 TR: Gerdean
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Opening
o 3.2 Dialogue
3.2.1 Social movements
3.2.2 Ego
3.2.3 Social movements
o 3.3 Closing
Topic: Movements, Ego
Group: Spokane TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Paulo
TR: Gerdean
Session
Opening
PAULO: Good afternoon, sports fans. I am Paulo here to play a game of skill or chance, ping-pong perhaps, wherein we may be amused and entertained and practice our craft, our skill and dexterity, and isn’t this exactly what life is about in one way or another? Becoming adept in the art of living such that a life is an extended athletic event encased in a prayerful estate? We had quite a few pieces of paper flying around with one question or another on it and I seem to have lost the folder. My transmitter is ineffectual, as I have her brain locked up and I can’t get her to help me find where I put the file, but I am sure these questions that are posed are ones that can wait their turn. Oh, yes! There was one about, “We can talk to Paulo about it when a group in its locomotion begins to move into an erroneous direction.” Is that something you want me to undertake? Or was that for your own amusement?
Dialogue
Social movements
THOROAH: I think it’s an interesting study, the context being a group of us trying to work together. We’re looking at the movement around the planet of everyone sort of coming together, and the analogy was that as the group comes together and gains this locomotion, that hopefully it’s moving in the right direction, and Paulo would know something about that. So we were at first concerned that something like that could happen, going the wrong direction, but that wasn’t exactly what that was alluding to.
PAULO:: You are thinking about the impact of sociology and bringing it into focus by looking at what you call “movements” for you yourselves are involved, on a heart level, in what you call the Teaching Mission which is a movement. You also are mindful of the “Urantia movement” and while once that bespoke one thing, these many years after its inception on Urantia, it has split off many times such that it is now a conglomeration of various movements that stem from the original revelation, and in these off-shoots of philosophic thought and, yes, compromise for the greater assimilation by yet other movements and more philosophic groupings, so many appreciations of what has value have their day in the sun and contribute to the over-all flow of knowledge. In the course of time these movements are like the zooids that come together in like-mindedness, cluster together and form a body which has locomotion.
And therein the question arises as to what would happen if one of these movements were to be found heading in an erroneous direction. Well, this happens all the time! This happens in every movement, depending upon who is assessing the direction. If it is truly without redeeming value, it will be found to be worthless and dissolve, wafting off into no-where-ville like a lost chord of music which has no direction, merely echoes off the wall of time and eternity. But some will be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth with great ideas and stimuli, even the kind of stimuli that will give rise to new movements.
These are always fraught with politics because of your propensity to make much of what you think about, who you associate with , and what for. You can see how everything is connected if you stand back and take a look., Even though you may not be in the immediate influence of a movement, it is in the mix in some way such that it is an integral part of the tapestry of movements that allow the living organism of evolving life to take place. Let me set aside any condemnation of any given movements, or any overt accolades, and gather instead a new strata of information, a new dimension t o contribute to the discourse. Therefore, we can expand our discourse in the next question which you have brought before me today.
Ego
THOROAH: Yes, Paulo. I’m interested in something I read recently about the ego, which in my perception indicated that the ego is not an entity nor a spirit but it is more of a function that takes pictures or records the events of our consciousness and assists us in interpreting what goes on around us. The lesson, to me, was that our ego is basically the framework through which we view things, offering us the evidence upon which we base our decisions. It isn’t so much that our ego wants to run our lives as much as it is the ego which most affects our lives, because if our ego sees things a certain way, be it right or wrong, we respond to its perceptions. So it would seem that the more we hold the Father Fragment light up to the ego, the better the ego can see, and thus give us a better picture of life and sounder reasons upon which to base our decisions. Those are some of the things that I read that I perceive, and I was wondering if you might want to add to this aspect of our lives, this ego thing, and enlighten us as to how better to perceive it and to manage it.
PAULO:: I will be glad to discourse with you in regard to this topic that is close to you, and which indeed does give insight into the study of movements by a recognition and study of the influences of the egos involved. Let’s have one of those cute things E28093 the E-G-O. One movement I am familiar with likes to reference EGO as the state of mind and being that Edges God Out.
Edging God Out (EGO) is the origin of that arrogant and obnoxious interjection of artificial reality that gives birth to movements like Skinheads or Nazis, racist groups or sexist groups that do not consider the deity aspects of life but rather base their interpretations of right and wrong on the skeleton that is left after they have Edged God Out.
And on the other hand, EGO gives rise to Exalting God’s Order, Enjoying Godlike Organization, but the Father Fragment is a part of the identification of the new-found appreciation for ego as that essential spiritual skeleton enhanced by an ego which is able to function and find balance in its movement and thus egos are important in any given movement and its development.
There must be leadership in order for these movements to take place. The Teaching Mission has enjoyed the autonomy of the cult which appoints authority in the realm of the Creator or the Prince or his teaching staff, thus these non-corporeal authority figures allow for the movement to enjoy a rather ego-less existence, but it is comprised of individuals who have varying degrees of effective egos which are finding themselves flowering under the tutelage of these invisible mentors such that manifest Enhanced Godlike (you don’t have enough “o” words in your language) Odor!
So yes, in many ways, that which you purport is true. The ego is not a personality or a spirit but a composite framework of thought, perception, conditioning and the like which provides a hologram through which you may represent your essential godlike origin, even as it is in the process of Enlarging Glorified Objectives. It’s very easy to see the blowhard ego of old whose popularity was often profitable but also relatively short-lived, for unless egos are stoked like a coal furnace, they burn out and some egos require so much fuel to keep themselves flaming, they alienate all of their associates, and so the fire fizzles and sputters and goes out. All of you have a framework to operate from and with. All of you thus have egos. And by your fruits you shall be known as to how your ego stacks up in comparison to others.
It’s virtually impossible to get anything accomplished without an ego. Even with God doing everything for you, it is still necessary for you to go through the footwork, the paces. You have to get dressed and brush your teeth. You have to step out of the house. By and large nirvana does not come to your door like Avon calling and make itself at home in your heart without a commotion. Your ego, your configuration, your structuring, your conditioning, your background, your beliefs, etc, etc, are disinclined to be disrupted to make way for new paradigms. All of you want to give your stamp of approval on all the changes that come down the pike that are going to affect you, and this is very time consuming but it is also a very natural and healthy part of normal healthy egos.
Social movements
PAULO: Getting back now to Movements. Movements come into being when several people think a similar thought (like-minded) and the energy of the group configuration gives rise to stimuli that might lend itself to movement, to a sense of advancement, to an accomplishment. If this is a sport, an event, an organization, a religion, a fad, a technological advance, it impacts on all those it touches and if it has effective leadership will impact even more people and in the results, which are set out in the beginning, in the by-laws of the movement, in its statement of purpose, essential goal orientation is met, and this is satisfying to the creature. What kind of ego do you suppose Jesus had? Imagine how it would have felt t o be his companion in the days of his sojourn here.
Can you imagine hanging around the shop with him, talking about the things that young men talk about ? Can you imagine him being your elder brother, helping you to settle dispute s that you’re having with your siblings and helping him decide upon appropriate discipline for those who have allowed their egos to act inappropriately such that they have gotten out of bounds of gracious group behavior? Can you imagine being a traveling companion of Jesus like Ganid?
His identity was sufficiently strong as to give forth a powerful presence, even though he was a humble man. He had self-respect. He was able to think and plan, stimulate and resolve. These are healthy qualities of a human being (son of god / son of man). His life gave rise to Christianity which became and remains a major movement on Urantia and it has fragmented into hundreds of movements which comprise the Christ-based belief systems that your planet enjoys. Even so, there are other major spiritual movements that have arisen as a result of a need and have been sufficiently sanctioned by the divine right of free will to be a comfort and courage to many devotees. The planet is aswarm with movements. That which makes them right or wrong i s in your mind. And how is your mind constructed, as far as your ego? Are you Edging God Out? Or are you Exemplifying God’s Order? Expressing Godlike Objectives?
There are also some people who just rub you the wrong way. This does not mean that their ego is faulty or that yours is faulty. It means that you are imperfect, and perhaps there are unconscious reasons for you to be attentive to those influences which you find distasteful or evoke concern, even suspicion. Most movements are not formed as a fight against something but a statement for something. Find therefore that which you can be for, and enjoy the company of those like minds that constitute your kindred spirit and supporters of that which you hold dear.
Yes there are egos that you would be happy to identify with, that are a pleasure to be around, that reflect fruits of the spirit, that indicate a well-balanced personality, that indicate the marriage between the human and the divine such that the individual presents a sense of warmth and intelligence, compassion, capability, humor and strength that would nurture you by its presence, one that would allow for other energies and values besides itself to prevail. In short, giving God an opportunity to express itself in conjunction with the human right to express itself, and to incorporate the value of all present in this community of egos.
If you are having difficulty preparing your ego for effective presentation, get with your personal teacher whose great delight it is to help you work on those personality matters that have been short-changed, curtailed, retarded or aborted by the vicissitudes of life, that element of ego that has curled up in a self-defensive ball of wounds, frustrations, angers, self-pities, etc., that render it ineffectual. If you will work with your spirit guide, it will help you reveal to yourself your personality such that you will be able to present it in accordance with your handle on ego.
It’s a word that needs redefined, perhaps, and we’ve done that in our discourse today, but you will understand if we mention it again as time goes by. I’m only going to encourage you to allow yourself to be developed, be all that you can be. This is the enhancement of identity. It’s what will give you the vehicle in which to portray spirit value, God’s will, higher purpose, political resolution, creative up-reach, and so forth. Give yourself permission to allow yourself to be all that you can be, and give yourself – as Jesus would – liberty, spiritual liberty. Set your captive ego free to cavort among the angels and realize the joys of sonship.
Closing
PAULO: Well now we have our Eggs Gathered Onto a little pile and can leave them to be hatched by others. I am Exiting, Going Out. See you next week.
THOROAH: Thank you, Paulo.
