A short micro-lecture by Brian Johnson exploring Richard Rohr’s 'paradox of the ego': that one needs a strong ego/identity to be able to let it go and connect with a larger, transpersonal purpose. Johnson supports Rohr’s claim with quotes from Joseph Campbell, Ken Wilber, and Nathaniel Branden, and reframes letting go as 'plugging' the constructed self into the divine rather than destroying it.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another arete One degree, a micro chapter from my new book, Activate youe Heroic Potential. This one is called the Paradox of the Ego. We need a strong one to let it go. Let's spend another moment or three with Franciscan mystic Monk Richard Rohr. We're going to talk about what he calls the paradox of the ego. As we discussed in Falling Upward, he integrates his Catholic faith with ancient myths and modern wisdom. His book is all about the two halves of life, or the two tasks of life. Note the two mountains in David Brooks's great book, the Second Mountain are essentially his take on this idea. As Father Rohr says, and I quote, there is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life. The first task is to build a strong container or identity. The second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold. The first task we take for granted as the very purpose of life, which does not mean we do it well. So two tasks. First, we build up a strong identity by playing the normal games of society. Then we move beyond that to connect with our higher purpose and something bigger than ourselves. It's basically moving from an ego level to a soul level. But here's the paradox. As Rohr says, and I quote him again, you ironically need a very strong ego structure to let go of your ego. He continues by saying, and I quote him again, in fact, far too many have lived very warped, defeated lives because they tried to give up a self that was not there yet. This is an important paradox for most of us. Father Rohr leans on the wisdom of Joseph Campbell and Ken Wilber to make his point. So let's invite them to the party to hear what they have to say on the subject. In Pathways to Bliss, Campbell tells us, and I quote him, of course, to reach the transpersonal, you have to go through the personal. You have to have both qualities there in one taste. Ken Wilber tells us, and I quote him, but ego less does not mean less than personal. It means more than personal. Not personal minus, but personal plus all the normal qualities, plus some transpersonal ones. There is certainly a type of truth to the notion of transcending ego. It doesn't mean destroy the ego, it means plug it into something bigger. Put bluntly, the ego is not an obstruction to spirit, but a radiant manifestation of spirit. Nathaniel Brandon offers another way to look at it. In the Art of Living Consciously, he tells us that we can't let go of something we never had a firm hold of again. As Father Rohr tells us, you ironically need a very strong ego structure to let go of your ego. That's the paradox of the ego. So Richard tells us that building this ego container is the primary task of the first half of life. Then we need to empty it in the second half of life and refill it with God. I think the simplest way to think about it is to go back to Desmond Tutu and his brilliant reminder that we're just the light bulbs. Our job is simple. Stay screwed in. To do that, we must have the wisdom and the discipline to create a very strong sense of self such that the divine light can shine through us. Rather than delete the small self, it's more powerful to think about the fact that we're plugging our little selves into something much bigger than ourselves. So it goes all caps, like this little S E L F self to all caps. S E L F. Let's plug in and do that today.
