Villification of the Ego?

[Guest guest]

Hello Alice, All!

I posted this earlier on another Jungian site, and wanted to post it

here also, hoping for some rich feedback:

I was recently asked to read some of Eckhart Tolle's writing and to

report back about what I thought of it. Before I do that, though,

I'd like to hear from some of you on certain parts of his writing -

to see if I'm just exercising my own bias when I read his work. He

dedicates a good bit of space to what I would call villification of

the ego, if not more. So, here are a few quotes from his writing

about the ego, and I'd love to hear what you might have to say about

them:

" Recognize the ego for what it is: a collective dysfunction, the

insanity of the human mind. When you recognize it for what it is,

you no longer misperceive it as somebody's identity. Once you see

the ego for what it is, it becomes much easier to remain nonreactive

toward it. You don't take it personally anymore. There is no

complaining, blaming, accusing, or making wrong. Nobody is wrong. It

is the ego in someone, that's all. Compassion arises when you

recognize that all are suffering from the same sickness of the mind,

some more acutely than others. You do not fuel the drama anymore

that is part of all egoic relationships. " p.76 - A New Earth

" Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist. The old

mind-pattern or mental habit may still survive and reoccur for a

while because it has the momentum of thousands of years of

collective human unconsciousness behind it, but every time it is

recognized, it is weakened. " p. 64 A New Earth

" On our planet, the human ego represents the final stage of

universal sleep, the identification of consciousness with form. It

was a necessary stage in the evolution of consciousness. " p. 292 A

New Earth

" Enthusiasm and the ego cannot coexist. One implies the absence of

the other. " p. 303 A New Earth

" In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory.

In truth, they are one and the same. " p. 109 A New Earth

" Egos only differ on the surface. Deep down they are all the same.

In what way are they the same? They live on identification and

separation. " p. 60 A New Earth

There's much more, but these are the ones I selected from just one

book. I'd like to hear some Jungian thought (other than my own) on

these quotes.

Love,

Joyce