Sunday, March 20, 2011

Chapter 40: EGO

I believe the writing of Eckhart Tolle on the subject of egos in his book, A New Earth, is profound.  Applying these teachings to my life have helped me heal depression symptoms this past year.  My thinking has changed.  What do you think?  Do you think changing your thinking can help depression?  Do you think these concepts are truth?

 1.  p. 59  Chapter 3  The Core of Ego

"Most people are so completely identified with the voice in the head---the incessant stream of involuntary and compulsive thinking and the emotions that accompany it---that we may describe them as being possessed by their mind.  As long as you are completely unaware of this, you take the thinker to be who you are.  This is the egoic mind."

2.  p. 61-62  COMPLAINING AND RESENTMENT

Complaining is one of the ego's favorite ways to strengthen itself, and resentment is the emotion that goes along with it.  Mental labeling of people adds even more energy to the ego. 

"Name-calling is the crudest form of such labeling and of the ego's need to be right and triumph over others:  jerk, bastard, bitch ---all definitive pronouncements that you can't argue with.  On the next level down on the scale of unconsciousness, you have shouting and screaming, and not much below that, physical violence."

3.  p. 63  COMPLAINING AND RESENTMENT

"Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right."  This type of complaining desires change, the ego kind enjoys making someone wrong.

4.  p. 68  IN DEFENSE OF AN ILLUSION 

"Every ego confuses opinions and viewpoints with facts.  Furthermore, it cannot tell the difference between an event and its reaction to that event.  Every ego is a master of selective perception and distorted interpretation.  Only through awareness--not through thinking---can you differentiate between fact and opinion."  The ego is strengthened by a sense of boundary, separateness, and superiority.

5.  p. 76  WAR IS A MINDSET  

"Recognize the ego for what it is:  a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the human mind.  When you recognize it for what is is, you no longer misperceive it as somebody's identity." 

6.  p. 77-78  BEYOND EGO:  YOUR TRUE IDENTITY 

"When the ego is at war, know that it is no more than an illusion that is fighting to survive.  That illusion thinks it is you.  It is not easy at first to be there as the witnessing Presence, especially when the ego is in survival mode or some emotional pattern from the past has become activated, but once you have had a taste of it, you will grow in Presence power, and the ego will lose its grip on you.  And so a power comes into your life that is far greater than the ego, greater than the mind.  All that is required to become free of the ego is to be aware of it, since awareness an ego are in compatible."

 7.  p. 79  BEYOND EGO:  YOUR TRUE IDENTITY

"What remains is the light of consciousness in which perceptions, experiences, thoughts, and feelings come and go.  That is Being, that is the deeper, true I.  When I know myself as that, whatever happens in my life is no longer of absolute but only of relative importance.  I honor it, but it loses its absolute seriousness, its heaviness.  The only thing that ultimately matters is this:  Can I sense my essential Beingness, the I Am, in the background of my life at all times?"  . . ."Or am I losing myself in what happens, losing myself in the mind, in the world?" 

 8.  p. 79   ALL STRUCTURES ARE UNSTABLE

"Whatever form it takes, the unconscious drive behind ego is to strengthen the image of who I think I am, the phantom self that came into existence when thought---a great blessing as well as a great curse---began to take over and obscured the simple yet profound joy of connectedness with Being, the Source, God."

  9.  p. 79-80  ALL STRUCTURES ARE UNSTABLE

"Whatever behavior the ego manifests, the hidden motivating force is always the same:  the need to stand out, be special, be in control; the need for power, for attention, for more.  And, of course, the need to feel a sense of separation, that is to say, the need for opposition, enemies."

10.  p. 85  Chapter 4 Role-playing:  The Many Faces of the Ego

"An ego that wants something from another---and what ego doesn't---will usually play some kind of role to get its 'needs' met, be they material gain, a sense of power, superiority, or specialness, or some kind of gratification, be it physical or psychological.  Usually people are completely unaware of the roles they play.  They are those roles."

11.  p. 86  Role-playing:  The Many Faces of the Ego

"All you need to know and observe in yourself is this:  Whenever you feel superior or inferior to anyone, that's the ego in you."

12.  p. 87  VILLAIN, VICTIM, LOVER

"The playing of negative roles becomes particularly pronounced whenever the ego is magnified by an active pain-body, that is to say, emotional pain from the past that wants to renew itself through experiencing more pain."

13.  p. 88  VILLAIN, VICTIM, LOVER

"What is commonly called 'falling in love' is in most cases an intensification of egoic wanting and needing.  You become addicted to another person, or rather to your image of that person.  It has nothing to do with true love, which contains no wanting whatsoever."

14.  p. 89  LETTING GO OF SELF-DEFINITIONS 

"Only rare beings at the time, such as the Buddha or Jesus, saw the ultimate irrelevance of caste or social class, recognized it as identification with form and saw that such identification with the conditioned and the temporal obscured the light of the unconditioned and eternal that shines in each human being."

15.  p. 90-91  PRE-ESTABLISHED ROLES 

"What really matters is not what function you fulfill in this world, but whether you identify with your function to such an extent that it takes you over and becomes a role that you play.  When you play roles, you are unconscious.  When you catch yourself playing a role, that recognition creates a space between you and the role.  It is the beginning of freedom from the role."

16.  p. 95-96  HAPPINESS AS A ROLE VS. TRUE HAPPINESS 

"If there is unhappiness in you, first you need to acknowledge that it is there.  But don't say, 'I'm unhappy.'  Unhappiness has nothing to do with who you are.  Say: 'There is unhappiness in me.'  Then investigate it.  A situation you find yourself in may have something to do with it.  Action may be required to change the situation or remove yourself from it.  If there is nothing you can do, face what is and say, 'Well, right now, this is how it is.  I can either accept it, or make myself miserable'."

17.  p. 96  HAPPINESS AS A ROLE VS. TRUE HAPPINESS

"Unhappiness covers up your natural state of well-being and inner peace, the source of true happiness."

18.  p. 98  PARENTHOOD:  ROLE OR FUNCTION?
 
"If their desire to control or influence the actions of their adult child is thwarted---as it usually is---they will start to criticize or show their disapproval, or try to make the child feel guilty, all in an unconscious attempt to preserve their role, their identity.  On the surface it looks as if they were concerned about their child, and they themselves believe it, but they are only really concerned about preserving their role-identity."

19.  p. 100  PARENTHOOD:  ROLE OR FUNCTION?

"My parents should approve of what I do.  They should understand me and accept me for who I am."  "Really?  Why should they?  The fact is they don't because they can't.  Their evolving consciousness hasn't made the quantum leap to the level of awareness yet.  They are not yet able to disidentify from their role."  . . ."What difference does their approval or disapproval truly make to who you are?  All such unexamined assumptions cause a great deal of negative emotion , much unnecessary unhappiness."

20.  p.101  CONSCIOUS SUFFERING 

"If you have young children, give them help, guidance, and protection to the best of your ability, but even more important, give them space---space to be.  They come into this world through you, but they are not 'yours.'  The belief 'I know what's best for you' may be true when they are very young, but the older they get, the less true it becomes.  The more expectations you have of how their life should unfold, the more you are in your mind instead of being present for them.  Eventually, they will make mistakes, and they will experience some form of suffering, as all humans do.  In fact, they may be mistakes only from your perspective.  What to you is a mistake may be exactly what your children need to do or experience."

21.  p. 102  CONSCIOUS SUFFERING 

"As long as you resist suffering, it is a slow process because the resistance creates more ego to burn up.  When you accept suffering, however, there is an acceleration of that process which is brought about by the fact that you suffer consciously." 

22.  p. 103  CONSCIOUS PARENTING

"Many children harbor hidden anger and resentment toward their parents and often the cause is inauthenticity in the relationship.  The child has a deep longing for the parent to be there as a human being, not as a role, no matter how conscientiously that role is being played.  You may be doing all the right things and the best you can for your child, but even doing the best you can is not enough.  In fact, doing is never enough if you neglect Being."

23.  p.106  GIVING UP ROLE-PLAYING

"To do whatever is required of you in any situation without it becoming a role that you identify with is an essential lesson in the art of living that each one of us is here to learn."

24.  p. 112  THE PATHOLOGICAL EGO

"Negativity is not intelligent.  It is always of the ego.  The ego may be clever, but it is not intelligent.  Cleverness pursues its own little aims.  Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected."  . . ."Cleverness divides; intelligence includes."

25.  p.  114-115  THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS

"Being at peace and being who you are, that is, being yourself, are one.  The ego says:  Maybe at some point in the future, I can be at peace---if this, that, or the other happens, or I obtain this or become that.  Or it says:  I can never be at peace because of something that happened in the past."  . . ."The ego doesn't know that your only opportunity for being at peace is now.  Or maybe it does know, and it is afraid that you may find this out.  Peace, after all, is the end of the ego." 

26.  p.  115  THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS

"There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness:  One With Life.  Being one with life is being one with Now.  You then realize that you don't live your life, but life lives you.  Life is the dancer, and you are the dance."

27.  p. 120  PATHOLOGICAL FORMS OF EGO

"The collective ego of tribes, nations, and religious organizations also frequently contains a strong element of paranoia:  us against the evil others.  It is the cause of much human suffering."  (Spanish Inquisition, burning of heretics and witches, First & Second World Wars, Communism, "Cold War", McCarthyism, violent conflict in the Middle East)

28.  p. 120  PATHOLOGICAL FORMS OF EGO

"The more unconscious individuals, groups or nations are, the more likely it is that egoic pathology will assume the form of physical violence.  Violence is a primitive but still very widespread way in which the ego attempts to assert itself, to prove itself right and another wrong.  With very unconscious people, arguments can easily lead to physical violence."

29.  p.  121  WORK---WITH AND WITHOUT EGO

"Most people have moments when they are free of ego.  Those who are exceptionally good at what they do may be completely or largely free of ego while performing their work.  They may not know it, but their work has become a spiritual practice."

30.  p.  122  WORK---WITH AND WITHOUT EGO

"They are one with what they do, one with the Now, one with the people or the task they serve.  The influence such people have upon others goes far beyond the function they perform.  They bring about a lessening of the ego in everyone who comes into contact with them.  Even people with heavy egos sometimes begin to relax, let down their guard, and stop playing their roles when they interact with them.  It comes as no surprise that those people who work without ego are extraordinarily successful at what they do.  Anybody who is one with what he or she does is building the new earth."


Sunday, March 13, 2011

Chapter 39: The Constant Chatter In My Mind Is Not Me


I know my mind is not me.  I know the constant chatter in my head is not me.  If I do not become the watcher of my mind, my ego and pain-body analyze the past over and over and make up outrageous scenarios for the future.  They judge, criticize, compare, complain, lament, whine, degrade and take a position.

If I am present and watching what my mind is saying, I can question what is being said.  If it is not true and I recognize it, I will save myself from experiencing the emotions that go with the thoughts.  I do not want to waste time and energy trying to solve problems that have been made up by my ego or pain-body.  Staying in the present, living in the moment, has reduced the stress in my life.  For me, this has been an important part of the healing process from the disease depression. 

I learned how to change my thinking from Eckhart Tolle and his books.  I have talked about these books in many chapters of my blog.  "The Power of Now", Chapter 6, Chapter 14, Chapter 16, Chapter 18, and Chapter 19"A New Earth", Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 19.  I don't agree with all of the concepts Eckhart Tolle teaches, but most of them I do.  Some of his beliefs do not correspond to the religious teachings I believe. I have written quite a bit about the things he taught me that have changed my life for the better.  I would also like to write about my religious beliefs that are different than his.  I will do that. =)       

There have been times in the past when a thought has come into my head that I didn't like, or wasn't consistent with what I believe.  It was awesome to learn that this type of thought came from my ego or pain-body.  The present part of me, or what I like to call my higher self, would not have a thought like that and I can dismiss it without feeling guilty about thinking it.  Being present, or in my higher self, brings more peace into my life.  I have to make a conscious effort every day to have my higher self be in charge of my life.

How Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Affect Your Health

WebMD

Reviewed by Amal Chakraburtty, MD on March 01, 2010
© 2010 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved. 

How Does Stress Affect Health?

Controlling stress is important to our health. Unrelenting stress can turn to distress. Stress is the body's reaction to any change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or response. Stress is a normal part of life. Many events that happen to you and around you -- and many things that you do to yourself -- put stress on your body. Some stress can be good. It keeps us alert, motivated, and ready to avoid danger. But too much stress can make us sick.

Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress -- a negative stress reaction. Distress can disturb the body's internal balance or equilibrium, leading to physical symptoms such as headaches, an upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, sexual dysfunction, and problems sleeping. Emotional problems can also result from distress. These problems include depression, panic attacks, or other forms of anxiety and worry. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases. Stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and even suicide.

Stress also becomes harmful when people engage in the compulsive use of substances or behaviors to try to relieve their stress. These substances or behaviors may include food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling, sex, shopping, and the Internet. Rather than relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances and compulsive behaviors tend to keep the body in a stressed state causing more problems. The distressed person becomes trapped in a vicious circle. 


By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 12, 2010  


Researchers have discovered a biological link between stress, anxiety and depression. 

Lead researcher Stephen Ferguson believes that the connecting mechanism in the brain explains how stress and anxiety could lead to depression. The study also reveals a small molecule inhibitor, developed by Ferguson, which may provide a new and better way to treat anxiety, depression and other related disorders.

The findings are published online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Ferguson, Ana Magalhaes and their colleagues used a behavioral mouse model and a series of molecular experiments to reveal the connection pathway and to test the new inhibitor. 

“We’ve gone from mechanism to mouse, and the next step is to see whether or not we can take the inhibitor we developed, and turn it into a pharmaceutical agent.”

The research was conducted in collaboration with Hymie Anisman at Carleton University, and funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

“According to the World Health Organization, depression, anxiety and other related mood disorders now share the dubious distinction of being the most prevalent causes of chronic illness,” says Anthony Phillips, the scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.

“Using the power of molecular biology, Stephen Ferguson and colleagues provide novel insights that may be the key to improving the lives of so many individuals coping with these forms of mental ill health.”

The linking mechanism in the study involves the interaction between corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) and specific types of serotonin receptors (5-HTRs).

While no one has been able to connect these two receptors on a molecular level, the study reveals that CRFR1 works to increase the number of 5-HTRs on cell surfaces in the brain, which can cause abnormal brain signaling.

Since CRFR1 activation leads to anxiety in response to stress, and 5-HTRs lead to depression, the research shows how stress, anxiety and depression pathways connect through distinct 
processes in the brain.

Most importantly, the inhibitor developed by the Ferguson lab blocks 5-HTRs in the pathway to combat anxious behavior, and potentially depression, in mice.

While major depressive disorder often occurs together with anxiety disorder in patients, the causes for both are strongly linked to stressful experiences. Stressful experiences can also make the symptoms of anxiety and depression more severe.

By discovering and then blocking a pathway responsible for the link between stress, anxiety and depression, Ferguson not only provides the first biological evidence for a connection, but he also pioneers the development of a potential drug for more effective treatment.

Genetic Link Between Stress and Depression

Study Shows People With a Genetic Mutation May Be More Likely to Develop Depression

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News

Feb. 7, 2011 -- A gene that influences how the brain responds to stress may also play a key role in depression.

A new study shows people with a certain genetic mutation that causes them to produce less of the brain chemical neuropeptide Y (NPY) have a more intense negative emotional response to stress and may be more likely to develop depression than others.

Researchers found low levels of neuropeptide Y caused a stronger emotional response to negative stimuli and physiological response to pain in the brain, which may make people less resilient in the face of stress and more prone to depression.

"We've identified a biomarker -- in this case genetic variation -- that is linked with increased risk of major depression," says researcher Jon-Kar Zubieta, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and radiology at the University of Michigan, in a news release. "This appears to be another mechanism, independent of previous targets in depression research, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine." 

Genetic Link to Depression

In three separate tests, researchers looked at the link between this genetic mutation and depression in 39 adults with depression and 113 healthy adults. The results are published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

First, researchers measured the amount of NPY expression in each of the participants and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain's response to positive, neutral, or negative words like "hopeful," "material," or "murderer."

The results showed people with low levels of this brain molecule had much more activity in an area of the brain associated with regulating emotions, the prefrontal cortex, than those with high levels. 

Response to Stress

In a second experiment, researchers measured the response to a stressful event involving injecting saline solution into a jaw muscle, which produces moderate pain for about 20 minutes, but no lasting harm.

The study showed those with low neuropeptide Y rated their emotional response as more negative while anticipating the event before and immediately after the event while reflecting on their experience.

"This tells us that individuals with the risk-associated NPY gene variant tend to activate this key brain region more than other people, even in the absence of stress and before psychiatric symptoms are present," says researcher Brian Mickey, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School, in the news release.
Finally, researchers found participants with this genetic variation were much more likely to have been diagnosed with depression than those without it.

"These are genetic features that can be measured in any person. We hope they can guide us toward assessing an individual's risk for developing depression and anxiety," Mickey says.

SOURCES: Mickey, B. Archives of General Psychiatry, February 2011; vol 68: pp 158-166.News release, University of Michigan Health System.

©2011 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.



I am excited about the research that may lead to new treatment options for depression.  Below is a summary of the two research articles above. 

1.  CRFR1 (corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1) works to increase the number of 5-HTRs (specific types of serotonin receptors) on cell surfaces in the brain, which can cause abnormal brain signaling.  CRFR1 activation leads to anxiety in response to stress, and 5-HTRs lead to depression.  The research shows how stress, anxiety, and depression pathways connect through distinct processes in the brain.  This is the first biological evidence for a connection between stress, anxiety, and depression.  

The small molecule inhibitor developed by the Ferguson lab blocks 5-HTRs in the pathway to combat anxious behavior, and potentially depression, in mice.  The researchers are hoping to take the inhibitor they developed, and turn it into a pharmaceutical agent.

2.  People with a genetic mutation that causes them to produce less of the brain chemical neuropeptide Y (NPY), have a more intense negative emotional response to stress and may be more likely to develop depression than others.  People with low levels of this brain molecule had much more activity in an area of the brain associated with regulating emotions, the prefrontal cortex, than those with high levels. 

Individuals with the risk-associated NPY gene variant tend to activate this key brain region more than other people, and participants with this genetic variation were much more likely to have been diagnosed with depression than those without it.  This information will help in assessing an individual's risk for developing depression and anxiety, and may lead to a way to manipulate NPY to improve depression and anxiety symptoms.

Lowering my stress levels help me manage the depression symptoms.  Regular aerobic exercise and weight training help me reduce stress.  I feel the best when I use our Cross Trainer (eliptical) every day, but that doesn't always happen.  

Changing my thinking patterns have also been a great help in lowering stress.  Eckhart Tolle teaches, "Wherever you are, be there totally.  If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options:  remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.  If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now."  "The Power of Now", page 82.

What do you do to reduce your stress levels?  Does it help manage your depression symptoms?  Please share.