Richard Rohr on the Ego

The problem of “ego” is so recurring in different religions, through successive periods of history and under various disguises, that we know we are dealing with some foundational and core issue, and one that must be almost unconscious. It is an issue that cannot be dealt with by simply being “moral” about this or that, or joining the right group; but by a fundamental “dying” which almost all of us are afraid to do. As Jesus himself says in any number of ways: “Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). This is why I continue to say that moralism is always the cheap substitute for mysticism (or mature religion).

Richard Rohr – Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction – 3 – The Power of the Ego

I think we have underestimated the power of the ego. I see it at every level of the church… Our moral theology has acted as if the shadow [our sinful nature] was the problem – to get people not to do nasty, and bad, and unkind things. But that concern for the sinful behaviour, for the shadowy behaviour , as we have defined it, has in some ways been the smoke screen to cover up what the real issue is of where evil is coming from – the overarching ego and the need of the ego to look good, to be in control, to control our life and other people’s lives…

Religion is the most effective way to cover up your own darkness.

Comment – Generally, religious systems define holiness in terms of avoidance of sinful behaviour and, in their best instances, encourage the acquiring of positive character or behavioural traits that counterbalance the negativity of the first. Yet, according to Rohr, and following a spiritual tradition that transcends Christianity, this only scratches the surface of our sinfulness. It was not so much sinful behaviour, but the self- deification impulse of the ego that led humans to build the Tower of Babel, and leads every one of us to building our own thrones, using all the means available. The more religious this looks, the more credible in the eyes of the immature, naive and gullible. Thus, religion becomes a very effective smoke screen behind which the ego reigns.

Richard Rohr – Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction – 2 – A Spirituality of Addition

Meister Eckhart – ‘the spiritual life has much more to do with subtraction that with addition’

Comment – Generally, we imagine spiritual maturity as amassing more spiritual ‘goods’, as defined by our own spiritual tradition – general knowledge of Scripture; number of Bible verses memorised; extent of time spent in prayer, or fasting; our performance in terms of spiritual disciplines; rarely we add to these matters of social justice; etc. Yet, according to Meister Eckhart, and Richard Rohr, spiritual maturity has more to do with what we are ready to leave behind, than with what we acquire.

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What we are involved in is in great part a spirituality of addition. Where did that come from? It comes from the consumer view, from the capitalist worldview… which is [that] we see reality, we see other experiences, other events, other people, other things, in fact everything, as an object for my consumption… This is the nature of the capitalist mind, that reality is ‘what’s in it for me’.

Comment – This is an interesting thought. There may be more that one explanation for our tendency to understand spirituality in terms of addition (like, for instance, our bent towards performing in order to ‘merit’ God’s grace – a real oxymoron), but we have to admit that this view of spirituality fits perfectly with the selfish worldview of capitalist consumerism.

Richard Rohr – The Ego’s Four Splits 4

The Fourth Split: Acceptable Self from Unacceptable Self

The final split is the split of the acceptable self (persona) from the unacceptable self (shadow). What this split tries to accomplish is allowing us to identify with an idealized, more acceptable image of ourselves.  We identify with what our group or tribe says is admirable.

For the Franciscan mystics, there is no idealization of the self. Francis wore a habit with many patches and said, “I’ve got to wear patches on the outside to let everybody know what I’m like on the inside.”  Now that’s a facing of the shadow. He’s saying, “There’s no disguising that I’m a weak person, and I don’t want you to think I’m better than I really am.” That translated into an identification with the poor, the marginalized, and those on the edge, not those on the top.  Once God is found at the bottom, not at the top, and you stop idealizing the top, your politics change.  Your identification with your place in society is very different.

Richard Rohr – The Ego’s Four Splits 2

The Second Split: Life from Death

The Second Split is the split between life and death. We come to this as children, when we first experience loss, perhaps the death of a grandparent or beloved pet. They were alive a moment ago, but are suddenly gone forever. It just boggles the mind. Suddenly, instead of being an integrated whole, life is here and death is somewhere else.

Once you integrate that life and death are one, you are not afraid of death anymore. You don’t waste any more time and energy in a neurotic building, defending and protecting in avoidance of disappearing. There’s nothing to be afraid of, and you can’t avoid it anyway. You are already living the seamless process. Francis says, “Face the first death, and the second death can do you no harm.” He is pointing to the death of the illusion of the separate self (the first death) vs. the death that is ascension to the Beloved (second death). Francis made a proactive move into death. In other words, he met life at the bottom, at the place of humility, at the place where there was nothing to lose. The place where reality, every moment, is what it is.