Thoughts on “What is the Ego?” in the ACIM Workbook
(Full text of “What is the Ego?” in the workbook)
The ego is a misunderstanding about who you are. It is that part of you that is, mistakenly, fully identified with form.
Source rolls forward into extension, into Creation, into us. We the feelers Source has extended into. We, the feelers, have mistakenly become identified with the enticing experience of expressing in form and then identifying with that form.
Since the true nature of Source and its feelers is boundless Love, the feeler that is thus limiting itself starts to feel unease. That unease is now part of the mind content of that feeler, and the mind uses it as a building block to project an image seemingly “out there”. The confusing or disturbing image that now appears in the world is the way the mind alerts the feeler to its wayward focus and calls it to awaken it to its true nature.
But when the feeler does not make the connection between the first the limited identification, then the feelings of unease, and lastly the projection that leads to a distorted image in the world that is interpreted as a disturbance “out there”, the feeler will not make an inward adjustment in focus. Instead, it will see in the image in the world a justification, or proof, for its feelings of unease. When that happens, part of the feeler’s mind is caught in a loop.
The first step out of the loop is doubt – doubt that perhaps the image in the world that gives rise to the interpretation of a disturbance is not true. That doubt allows a ray of Light and a sense of relief to enter the mind. They create a little space in which the mind is able to withdraw its focus from the identification with expressed form and return to a focus on the flow of creative qualities that wells up within and that is innate to all feelers.
The ego is that part of you that is identified with form and that experiences feelings of unease – it is caught in a looped pattern. The unease is suppressed and defenses are built to protect against the disturbing images. The ego is a misunderstanding about who you are.