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I’ve been reading Wayne Dyer’s companion book to “The Shift” movie in dribs and drabs and, while I’m enjoying it, I’ve also been noticing how much of the discussion is about ego. And he talks about ego as if it’s something to be eradicated. His view is one I’ve seen in many places. In Huna, I encountered a rather different idea about ego and I like it much better.
Huna considers us to have three levels of being. Serge King calls them ku (unconscious), lono (conscious/mind) and kane (higher consciousness).* Ku’s characteristics are very close to those of ego as described by many sources. It adds a little more omniscience and is known for controlling the physical, but otherwise quite similar.
In this philosophy ku is considered to be the level that looks out for you and tries to make sense of the world and create a set of rules for life. Ku always wants to move in the direction of what’s best for you or what will feel the best. However, ku develops its basic view of the world based on your early life when your caretakers control life and death over you.
Whatever they do that threatens or frightens, whatever negative beliefs and admonitions they hold, ku takes all of that in, develops your belief system based on those experiences, and then runs your life by that system. But ku’s main function is always to choose the path of greater happiness.
So if you talk to ku and work with him/her, you can change the original set of beliefs and get ku to work with you on creating a new reality. Show ku your vision of happiness if you released an issue or got the job or … and ask ku to remember its mission to move you toward the greater happiness.
Explain to ku with kindness how grateful you are for the service she/he has always tried to offer and ask ku to take on new beliefs that will serve adult you better. I love this way of acknowledging a level of myself that’s always going to be part of me and, instead of treating it like a demon needing an exorcism, to work with my unconscious to create a new belief system.
I mentioned recently that I’m seeing a lot of the thinking of Judeo-Christian institutions permeating New Age/New Thought thinking and this tendency to characterize ego as evil is an example. When I read these discussions in which ego is spoken of as if it’s some outside agent of the devil, I feel as if I’ve wandered into the church’s world of black and white and good and evil.
I think ego is just part of you, doing the best it can to keep you safe. And more than willing to listen to you and work with you on changing course. If you can save your infected toe or your weak heart you’d do it without a blink. Why would you be willing to try to stomp out your ego? It’s part of you.
*The typical words used in Huna are longer, but King likes to keep things short and simple and I like his easy-to-remember names. The concepts are exactly the same as in any other discussion of the three levels. (i.e. a rose by any other name…)
Perfect Leigh 🙂 The ego does have great purpose…it guides us so that we do get to ‘know’ one end of the scales of life, so that we can then appreciate the other end all the more. Without it, we would not understand.
Even to understand ‘our’ conditional love, so that we may then ‘know’ and appreciate unconditional love too.
And unconditional is when we finally, truly release all of our fears, and accept ourselves unconditionally, and then give from that place. How would we ‘know’ we were in an unconditional place, if there is nothing to measure it by.
The ego is a guide, just like a signpost. Our paths are exactly as we need them, so that we can truly find ourselves.
Without that signpost we would be forever blind, staggering this way and that with no purpose 🙂
Interesting view of ego.
Thanks!
I have never understood people who want to eradicate the ego. It’s part of us, and it serves a purpose. For me, I see it as the animal human survival part of me that is afraid of death and pain, as opposed to the spirit being part of me that understands that we never die, and that love heals all and matters the most. And as we live in human bodies, it’s important to cultivate a partnership between the body and the spirit, that serves both well.
Well put! Thanks for adding that.
It came to me during a healing hypnosis session, at the end, when my higher self was coming through; the partnership thing.
I love this Leigh. It’s so much kinder than the usual approach. And it is just exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thank you.
Alison xo
You’re welcome — always like to be timely 🙂
Are there any particular books on Huna you would recommend? Ive never heard of it and would like to find out more; the description of Ku makes great sense and developing new belief systems resonates for me as well. Thank you.
Huna is the ancient tradition of Hawaii. I mainly studied with Serge King and read his books although I’ve dabbled in others. If I were going to recommend one I would say, read Serge’s Urban Shaman.
Thank you. I hope to find / buy a copy this weekend.
Very timely for me Leigh — I too do not like the idea of stomping out my ego. I like to embrace it with love to encourage it to give me courage to act always in Love — sometimes, I act out from my 6 year old’s perspective — and that is when I call upon ‘lono’ and ‘kane’ to raise me out of the mud.
Thanks for these inspiring thoughts this morning.
Thanks so much for the mention in your post. I like the suggestions you made for working with ego.
And you’re welcome!
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I think that the ego is certainly important in developing into a unique human being, but see it as developing to a point where it no longer sees itself as needing to remain separate from the rest of creation.