A definition for "Ego Busting":

Lao Tzu or some Taoist once wrote that

It is the empty space

within the bucket (vase, glass, jar, jug)

that makes it useful.

An "ego bust" either shatters the bucket completely,

or cracks it open touching or revealing the useful empty space within.

Sometimes or often, just taking a wider perspective does this,

cracks open the bucket, or shatters it completely,

revealing the glorious emptiness that was always within.

Davidd:

ome

 a forum member who likes to lurk (so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to give his name!) pm'd me in response to my previous post and reminded me that Randomturtle's point about seeing things in writing had been made long ago by Marshall McLuhan.  McLuhan famously claimed that technology changed cognition: the invention of the printing press, which enormously increased human ability to see its own thoughts 'out there' instead of being lost in transitory speech, completely changed the way we think and altered culture forever.  McLuhan died before the invention of the internet, but much of what sounded like science fiction a few decades ago has come true. Anyway, having not spared McLuhan a moment's thought for about 20 years, my lurker friend (hi there in Florida! ) has influenced my own 1st person processes through his post....

Kudos to the lurker!

This same idea extends to photographs, sound recordings, video and film. Orange really did bring about the objectification of the entire world.

Who has not be shocked to hear their own voice on tape, see their own image in a photo or see, hear and for the first time objectively observe themselves in a film or video?

timelody:

This same idea extends to photographs, sound recordings, video and film. Orange really did bring about the objectification of the entire world.

Who has not be shocked to hear their own voice on tape, see their own image in a photo or see, hear and for the first time objectively observe themselves in a film or video?

Methinks another thread beckons for this theme, Tim...?  For now, though, yes indeed. Do you think that the 'objectification' was a bad thing, or a necessary stage in the evolution (growth) of consciousness?   McLuhan was pretty ambivalent about it.  Our shock at seeing ourselves on video etc is because we are so identified with our manifestation in UL, tending to overlook the UR and LR (not to mention LL!) expressions of who we are....  We 'pose' for photos so that we can approximate to our UL fantasies of what we look like/should look like - hilarious, when you consider that everyone else in the world can see the UR, LR and LL truth for themselves..    But this is diverting the flow of the thread, sorry Keith.  Perhaps I can haul it vaguely in the direction of the thread by pointing out that viewing our Right quadrant manifestations can be another ego-busting practice - even people who are generally admired for the beauty of these manifestations seem to be insecure about that.....

~ David

geomo:

Really, this has to do with the "Road Rules" that are supposed to be our honor system here when we post.  We are supposed to be speaking from our "Highest Self," and sometimes I write a post and realize it is not that, so rather than posting just because my ego is attached to what I wrote, I delete the post.  I guess when I say "ego busting" I mean reducing ego by not allowing myself to post when my motivations are felt to be coming from my own desires (to be part of community, to get attention, to feel important, to sound smart, etc.) rather than just inspired sharing.  Usually the best posts are ones that just flow and don't require a lot of editing for me.

Keith

Your post gave me to think a lot Geomo.  I thank you.  Something moves me in that.  I believe I understand what you mean doing that but the image I saw is one in Da Vinci Code, the flagellation. It's the same image I saw whith the description of Father Thomas "the saint". I had a lot of sadness in me.I hope you don't see it like unrespectuous, it is really not the case.  I feel it as so reducing of who He is and who You are.  

If I want to respect the Road Rules expressing my Highest Self, it is what my Heart is saying. 

Martine 

David,

I worked on your post a part of the day but the answer doesn't going here, I'm going to start another thread eventually.

Davidd:

Methinks another thread beckons for this theme, Tim...?  For now, though, yes indeed. Do you think that the 'objectification' was a bad thing, or a necessary stage in the evolution (growth) of consciousness?   McLuhan was pretty ambivalent about it.  Our shock at seeing ourselves on video etc is because we are so identified with our manifestation in UL, tending to overlook the UR and LR (not to mention LL!) expressions of who we are....  We 'pose' for photos so that we can approximate to our UL fantasies of what we look like/should look like - hilarious, when you consider that everyone else in the world can see the UR, LR and LL truth for themselves..    But this is diverting the flow of the thread, sorry Keith.  Perhaps I can haul it vaguely in the direction of the thread by pointing out that viewing our Right quadrant manifestations can be another ego-busting practice - even people who are generally admired for the beauty of these manifestations seem to be insecure about that.....

~ David

I want to leave it up to Keith as to whether we should start a new thread about this, because I think we are just discovering broader, wider and deeper aspects of the same initital idea. I know I defined "ego busting" rather spiritually above, but we could just as well and even more easily define it as being "busted" out of what is primarily a 1st person perspective. I can think of a million vaired examples right now and you have already begun to situate it in an AQAL context. (Which should be one of our priorities here.)

But I want to leave it up to Keith to answer further. Your questions about "Do you think it's good?" and even your last about people generally admired for their beauty have millions of illuminating implications - for all of us, I think. (And even on the Violent Porn thread -which I will save for there.)

But this is a hot topic. So, let's here it Keith!

Davidd:

... So the world is seen as flattened rather than in a hierarchy.  So Green tends to be sensitive but flatland.

When I see the AQAL diagram, I see a 1^st tier diagram,  could it be more explicit if it was in 3-D, specially on the net.  I already saw checkers or chess -I don’t know for sure the kind of game- in 3-D.   I wonder it would be easier to see at the same time, the perfection of the web and the need to imprison the murder in the gross.

Reaching back to a part of your original post, Keith --

geomo:

It's more that in the middle or even at the end of composing something I recognize I don't have anything particularly valuable to add, so rather than post something that I don't care about just for the exposure, I scrap it.  I tend to get a kick out of it when it happens....have a little laugh at my little self.  Anybody else ever do this? 

I was thinking today that there's this ironic thing that can happen, though, wherein scrapping your own post can actually turn into an ego-boosting practice if the scrapping is done with the intent of "busting ego" ...  Ego can begin to take a subtle self-satisfaction in its ability to "dethrone" itself!

"Check me out," Ego gigglingly whispers to itself, "I just denied myself the feeling of self-importance that I often receive from posting! I must really be spiritually evolving!"

Thus, I'm not sure if ego-busting can really do any ego-busting .... Ego cannot take on projects to dethrone itself and expect success .... if we do so we just end up unwittingly reinforcing egoity ...

Mary