The Architecture of the Ego and its 4 Distinct Components

I want to show you how the ego works. The ego is a system and it is four, I would say four different sort of internal voices arguing with itself. That's how I've come to understand it over the years. Four different things and these voices don't really, now we typically would see it as persona shadow, right? Jung's shadow concept, right? That's the two voices, there's a persona and shadow and they don't like each other very much, right? But I've actually come to see that within the shadow there's actually two aspects and within the persona there's two sort of more distinct voices. And how it works is sort of like this closed loop. This is what the ego is, at least this is the experience of ego most of us have on a day-to-day basis. And it would seem as if the four different parts of it have a unique or differing perspectives on things, right? So within the shadow part there's a lot of, the first thing is the sense of I'm unlovable, something's wrong with me, I'll never be accepted by other people, right? That part is typically in there, especially if we've had deep trauma in our lives. So that's the first voice. Now within the shadow part there's this other part that's also in there and it's also very unconscious, which is sort of like this inner judge or critic or a redemption arc. It's a sort of a sick form of redemption, which it'll say, yep, you're unlovable, so in order to be accepted or loved you're going to have to be something extreme, so like perfect, or you're going to have to work yourself to the bone, or you're going to have to get on well with everybody, or you're going to have to be super nice, right? They're always extreme. So it's a different perspective. This is saying I'm unlovable and there's something wrong with me fundamentally and this is sin. That's true, yes, but you can redeem yourself with something extreme. Yes, it's true, so you're going to need something extreme. And the next part is more of a conscious thing, which is now you're going to find yourself, it's much more of an anxiety experience. This is the implementator, the implementer. Now this part is very very busily trying to fix itself, trying to make plans, trying to accomplish things, and trying to make things happen in the world, trying to get people to accept it, trying to be productive, you name it, right? And then there's the last one when that doesn't work, right? So it'll either work by you can't actually pull that off, which is much more common, or the other one is you actually do pull that off, you actually implement the impossible, and you realize well actually the people didn't respond. I didn't really get from it what I unconsciously thought I'd get from it. And those four things are always happening at the same time within that system, right? Something's wrong with me, I need a massive perfect big plan for redemption, I need to go and implement it and get super busy and stressed, and then I'm going to get either angry at myself or other people. Now they sound quite different, right? They sound like the other four distinct things. But if you look at it, within that system there's one law that ties all of those perspectives together, one sort of directive. What all of them are saying, and this brings us to what the nature of the ego is, what they're all saying is that your salvation will be found externally. Don't seek within. So the first voice is saying there's something I'll never be accepted by who? By other people, okay? Or the big plan is yes, you've got to go now and try and do something, show your behavior, pull off a miracle. This is external to looking within. The implementator is definitely looking externally, trying to tweak and change behaviors and life conditions. And then the last one is rationalizing what happened externally, and that should have been different, and it has all these grievances. So the underlying thing, certainly where most of us start off doing inner work, is becoming aware that that is the prime directive of the ego. When you start doing inner work, you start to realize all it's saying, it might sound like it's saying lots of different things, really it's always saying look externally for your salvation, or to alleviate a sense of responsibility to blame. The blame is over there, or the salvation is over there for you. That's really what the ego is. So the very kind of first step in a lot of this, in using a different operating system than the ego, is realizing, okay, that's the nature of it, it's not going to change. The first thing, believe it or not, is to take responsibility. Now that sounds like a harsh word, but responsibility basically means it's not the outside world that's either my redemption or my suffering, right? Not to be going to denial about that, we're allowed to look plainly at what's happening, but really it's a sense of the response is to look within. It's not going to come from an external thing, or event, or person, or situation. To look within, to look at how I've been thinking, what are the beliefs I've been listening to, right, and carrying with me, what strategies have I been living by, unconscious contracts have I been carrying, things like this. So basically it's a response to something other than the ego, and in my work, and when I work with people, the alternative to the ego, the key is to take responsibility, but really it's a responsibility about using a different operating system and choosing an alternative, and that alternative, in my mind, there are many different words for it, but one of the words I like is intuition, right? So it's an intuitive internal guidance system that takes you out of that entire thing, into a different operating system entirely, which is a much different way of thinking about things, and living, and experiencing, and different strategies in life. It's much more creative, expressive, authentic, right? But the gateway to that is true responsibility, and truly leaning into using your intuition much more than in the egoic thought system. So takeaway from this short video is that the ego, if you break it down, ultimately, certainly when you start looking at the ego, is one of the first things you'll realize is that it's always saying the solution, or the problem is out there externally from you, and responsibility is realizing that's not true. It's not out there at all. That doesn't mean you withdraw from life. In fact, when you withdraw from your ego, the allegiance from the ego goes away. You start to live life much more fully than you've ever lived before. So keep that in mind. Useful idea about maybe what the ego is, and what its directives are. So keep that in mind. Hope it's useful, and I will see you guys very soon. Bye-bye.