Ego & the Paradox of Consumerism

"Paradoxically, what keeps the so-called consumer society going is the fact that trying to find yourself through things doesn't work:  The ego satisfaction is short-lived and so you keep looking for more, keep buying, keep consuming." ~ Eckhart Tolle

For a long time, I resisted reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. What I had read about him and his teachings is that they are nothing new; they are rooted in ancient eastern philosophy.  My reasoning for overlooking this immensely popular spiritual teacher's writings is that I prefer to read the old ideas, not new translations of old ideas (It probably didn't help that his christening by Oprah Winfrey made him much too mainstream for my taste).  My mind, however, never closes to anything.

I stumbled over A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose at the library and thought I would skim through some pages but found myself interested in (and relating to) most of Tolle's philosophies, which many are similar to my own.

I like his idea of ego; that it is an "illusory sense of self," dominated by one's memories and thoughts.  The ego associates with (and is drawn to) the physical world of forms (e.g. money, material wealth, social status, visual beauty); and, hence, the unconscious human will spend a large amount of energy (and dollars) on pleasing the ego.

To overcome the ego, one simply must be aware of it.  I've always thought (and continue to write) that self-awareness is the key to financial success and success in all areas of life; that meaning must come before money and purpose precedes planning.

Ego, or rather the lack of awareness of ego and its influence on your thoughts and actions, can lead to incredible financial, spiritual, and physical harm. 

I'll have much more thoughts on this in the coming weeks...

Comments

[Eric]

i do jiu-jitsu, in this environment the ego can be your enemy and completely slow down your learning curve.

i believe the same is true in life.

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Eric:

Good point! The ego gets in the way of a life well lived. It is 'normal' but not healthy.

Thanks for the comment...

Kent

[GregLinster]

I'm convinced that you can never really transcend human emotions like envy, but you can limit their impact on your life. People search for image and ego food in all realms of life. Maybe they just need to find meaning???

You said it best,

"self-awareness is the key to financial success and success in all areas of life; that meaning must come before money and purpose precedes planning"

Cheers,
Greg

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Greg:

I agree. Human emotions cannot be completely overcome; and it is even unhealthy to ignore them or attempt to eliminate them.

With self-awareness, however, one may observe the occurrence of a damaging emotion and neutralize it.

Ego cannot coexist with awareness...

Kent

[greg perry]

I'm with you Kent, on Tolle and the real power contained in moment-to-moment self-awareness--that's what keeps us in this moment. As you've probably read, Eckhart writes that one definition of ego is "an unhealthy relationship with the present moment." That felt pretty fresh to me when I read it.

Another way into Tolle: Audio. The New Earth audio book is always somewhere in my mix, and I really enjoyed his interview with Krista Tippet's interview with him. it's here:

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/tolle/

[greg perry]

And for Kent and all, another recommendation-- Jacob Needleman's "Money and the Meaning of Life" in which he asks the question: What's the one thing money can't buy?

The book's been on the shelf since the mid 90s, so could be old news to you. Worth a trip to the library. Here's a '97 interview he did with Fast Company, near the peek of the dot com insanity...

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/09/meaning.html

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Greg:

Thanks for sharing the links. I've not ready Needleman and will certainly check him out.

On a separate but related note, I've learned more from readers like you than from many of my master's level courses!

Thanks again...

[Kasasa]

Being aware of your finances should definitely be a top priority in life. Oftentimes, we’re complacent with our finances and bank with whomever, wherever, because it’s all we’ve known. Today though, you have many more choices about what to do with your finances and decisions to make regarding who you bank with. One of our products could actually help the ego when it comes to finances – Kasasa Giving. Don’t just bank, why not get money from your institution to contribute to a charity you care about on a regular basis? We think this might contribute to a healthy ego too. ☺

[Christian Louboutin]

An ignorant girl is often led on by her irresponsible lover.