Beyond Arbitrary Personal Choice: The Elimination of Egoistic Will in the Integral Movement
I. The Nature and Necessity of the Egoistic Will The ego is defined as the central subjective principle governing human action in the Ignorance, fundamentally rooted in division and limitation. A. Definition and Origin of the Ego The ego, or ahaṅkāra 1 , is the subjective principle inducing the puruṣa (conscious being) to identify itself with prakṛti (Nature) and its activities 1 . It is the limited ‘I’ in us 1 , representing a form of willed ignorance and exclusive absorption in one form 2 . The ego served an indispensable evolutionary purpose: 1. Individualisation : The ego was created for the work of individualisation 3 , enabling the development of individuality out of the indiscriminate force and substance of Nature 4 . The ego is an absolutely necessary factor until one is an individualised being 5 . 2. Motivation for Action : In primitive, tamasic animal man, the ego motivated action. Without ego-driven incentives like ambition or vanity, humans migh...