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    God, Self and Ego: Discerning "Who's Who" on the Spiritual Journey
    God, Self and Ego: Discerning "Who's Who" on the Spiritual Journey
    God, Self and Ego: Discerning "Who's Who" on the Spiritual Journey
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    God, Self and Ego: Discerning "Who's Who" on the Spiritual Journey

    By Philip St. Romain

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    About this ebook

    What do we mean by the terms God, Self and Ego? The answer depends on one's view of human nature and its relationship to the divine. Using the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas to qualify his terms, author Philip St. Romain describes different possible relationships between God, Self and Ego, and the disciplines to support these.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPhilip St. Romain
    Release dateMar 23, 2011
    ISBN9781458058065
    God, Self and Ego: Discerning "Who's Who" on the Spiritual Journey
    Author

    Philip St. Romain

    Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min., has published over 20 books on spirituality and theology. He has served as a spiritual director for many people during the past 25 years, and currently ministers at Heartland Center for Spirituality in Great Bend, KS.

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      Book preview

      God, Self and Ego - Philip St. Romain

      God, Self and Ego

      Discerning Who’s Who on the Spiritual Journey

      by Philip St. Romain

      Copyright, Philip St. Romain 2011

      Published by Contemplative Ministries, Inc., at Smashwords

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      PART ONE: WHAT IS GOD, SELF AND EGO?

      Essence and Existence

      Emanantism and Creationism

      God and Self

      Self and Ego

      The Ego and the False Self

      Summary

      PART TWO: FACILITATING UNITIVE EXPERIENCES

      Ego Authenticity

      Ego-God Relationship

      Ego-Self Relationship

      Self-God Relationship

      Ego-Self-God Union

      References Cited in Footnotes

      Figure One: God and Creation

      Abstract

      About the Author

      Footnotes

      Introduction

      I am happy to make this work available to the general public, as it has been downloaded many times from my website, shalomplace.com, through the years.. What follows is, essentially, the full text of my doctoral project, which was entitled God, Self and Ego: An Exercise in Discernment. It was written during the Fall of 1995, and accepted by my advisor and the staff of the Graduate Theological Foundation in Spring of 1996. When I let my publishers know of it, they expressed interest, but wanted a total rewrite to make it more palatable for a general audience. As I did not have the time nor inclination to do so, I put it up as-is in the Internet, for those who might be interested. Turns out, there seems to be a considerable interest in this topic, so here it is, the doctoral project, heavily footnoted, and somewhat dense or sketchy in places.

      Ever since Vatican Council II, the metaphysical teachings of classical theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas have received short shrift. There are many reasons for this, none the least of which is the pedagogical sins of the pre-Vatican II Church, as my friend Jim Arraj put it. Metaphysics was taught in seminaries and universities, but it was a dry and seemingly irrelevant topic. Following the Council, psychological approaches came more into vogue, and remain so today. But just how, precisely, do these approaches fit into a larger understanding of human nature?

      It seems to me that without a metaphysical anthropology of some kind, it becomes very difficult to qualify the meaning of terms like God, Self and Ego. One need only read a few books on spirituality and mysticism to see just how differently these terms are used in the literature. For some writers, Ego is a false or illusory sense of individuality -- the primary obstacle to divine union. For others, Ego is natural and normal, though wounded and in need of healing. The classical writers of antiquity seem to use the term Self in the same way that modern writers use Ego. Also, some writers, notably those with Eastern or New Age perspectives, use God and Self interchangeably. I think the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas can help to bring clarity and focus to these terms.

      This book was written with spiritual directors in mind, as the doctoral program I participated in was for a D. Min. in spiritual direction. I believe it’s especially important for spiritual directors to have clarity concerning human nature and its relation to the divine, for it is precisely growth in such a relationship that we’re hoping to support and encourage. But what would this entail? Should we be addressing the Ego-God, Self-God or Ego-Self-God approach? These different relationships aren’t necessarily contradictory or mutually exclusive. Still, it helps to know what one is doing, and my hope is that the present work can help to sharpen one’s focus in this regard.

      Philip St. Romain

      March 19, 2010

      PART ONE: WHAT IS GOD, SELF AND EGO?

      Since 1973, when my adult faith journey began, no issue has interested me more than the manner in which God and I are united. The reason for this interest has been personal as well as academic. Many times along the way, I have hurt myself because of distorted ideas about how God and I are united. There was a period, for example, in which I suffered greatly because of false humility. I actually believed that God loved me more if I put myself down, or considered other peoples’ needs more important than my own. A number of traditional meditation manuals seemed to endorse this position in their contention that self-love is at the root of our sinfulness.¹ Then there was the Gospel mandate to deny self, pick up the cross, and follow Jesus.² All of this conspired to intensify an already bad case of low self-esteem and non-assertiveness. Thankfully, I came upon the writings of Fr. John Powell, S.J., who affirmed the value of a healthy self-love, thus enabling me to experience God’s presence more fully as well.³

      Among the many words today that are used in a variety of contexts—some of which are contradictory—none is so badly maligned as the word Self. Everyone uses the word at some time, and we all assume that we know what we mean by it. When pressed to define the term, however, we generally stammer, or else feel insulted for being asked to explain the obvious. Those of us who have, in addition, been exposed to the terminology of modern psychology will also encounter the term Ego, which is sometimes used to describe the Self of common parlance, but is

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