Putting "we" at the center of society to me doesn't mean losing our individuality. We are each unique, and our egos allow us to experience that uniqueness. But how can we learn to live unselfishly?—-for me, that will determine the role of our egos in a "we-centered" society. Today, we are rewarded for self-aggrandizement. Tomorrow, perhaps we can encourage each other to serve something greater than ourselves... in our own unique way.

Yes, it would have to involve our own unique contribution to the whole. As it is there is a we, but it is largely hierarchical and mechanistic. By honoring individual differences there can be more diversity in a united whole. With regard to ego, it seems it may become a limited period in individual human development rather than the norm. And whether ego lives in harmony with the collective or lives to serve the collective, it would be inclusive than in conflict with a we centered society.

Ego is the identification of I with the physical body [that which the five senses perceive]. I look in the mirror, I see a man, and I think, that is me --- that collection of flesh and bones is me.

But, this conflicts with the view posited by certain sages of earlier ages [Tehuti/Hermes, Lord Krishna, Jesus]. Their view is that I am spirit/consciousness, not flesh, and that it is the identification with the flesh which leads to all of mankind's evident sorrows.

If you are able to distance yourself from identification with the body as I, you realize that all of what you thought of as diversity was, in fact, related to your misperception of men as individual bodies of flesh. For instance, perhaps, you valued the idea of humankind being composed of diverse races and diverse genders. But, if we are, in truth, not flesh, but spirit/consciousness, then such notions of diversity are based on misperception.

If we are spirit/consciousness, and not bodies, then you and I are not separate/diverse bodies. We Are One.

But, it even gets more real than that. For, perhaps you are thinking, well, yeah, but I also value the diverse minds of different people. Well, okay, let me address that with a parable.

Let's say that you lay down tonight in your bed and you have a dream. And, in that dream, your mind conjures up two characters -- let's call them Bob and James. Now, in the _dream_, Bob and James think of themselves as diverse individuals. Bob's personality [in the dream] is fiery and assertive while James' personality [in the dream] is accomodating and passive. But, in truth, the minds of both characters are thoughts from the _same_ mind of only One being.

Now, let's say that God has a dream. And, in that dream, God conjures up two characters -- let's call them Istlota and Mark. Okay. Now, in the _dream_, Istlota and Mark think they are diverse individuals with diverse minds. But, in truth, the minds of both Istlota and Mark are thoughts from the _same_ mind of only One being --- One Divine Being of Pure and Perfect Consciousness.

Well, if we were to look at it that way then evidently it doesn't matter from Gods perspective because it is all a dream - or does it? Is the dream characters concern with the nature of ultimate reality an expression of lucidity? If it is, does that mean it is the only type of lucid expression, or is Consciousness really limited in this way? If there is a lucid expression in the form of individual sages, what would a collective expression look like? Regardless of individual or collective, it seems to require both an awareness of our true nature as well as participation in the apparent diversity of life - "being in the world but not of it." Evidently God doesn't necessarily have a problem with egos, since they have been around for quite some time.

What happens in the dream is lucid to the dream characters. What happens in this mortal life matters to you and I. When the dream ends, and the dream characters are withdrawn back into the mind of the Dreamer, the struggles which occurred in the dream will lose their prior significance. But, right now, in this mortal life, in this dream you and I are in, what happens matters.

It matters, right now, that over two million people are incarcerated in American prisons. It matters, right now, that either tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands [depending on whose numbers you believe] of Iraqis have died to expand the profits of corporations like Halliburton, Blackwater, and Exxon-Mobil.

For, while we are in this dream, as far as our dream selves knows, the dream is real, is lucid.

Borrowing from Hindu beliefs, we might say that Ego is an aspect of Maya -- which is God's creative power --- a power which serves to hide reality behind illusion. The Christian bible hints at this illusory power of Maya in the verse which states "now, we see through a glass, darkly."

God has a dream. And, in the dream, he creates, by the power of Maya, the perception of individual Egos going by the names of Mark and Istlota and Obama and McCain, et al.

Ego has a purpose, as does everything else. For, it is by struggle, by striving to rise above error/illusion/Ego/Maya, that Man grows --- that Man evolves from who he thinks he is now to who he _really_ is --- inextricably One with All.

This yearning that we all are experiencing to realize Oneness is our innate godliness leading each of us to the One Truth at whatever pace is best for each of us. It leads each of us away from Ego and towards the One at whatever pace is best for each of us.

And, if the Hindus are right about the Yuga cycles, we, mankind, collectively, are currently moving towards a heightened awareness of what is the _real_ world --- as opposed to this Matrix world which functions as what Morpheus called a prison for your mind that you can not see or touch or taste.

Yes, so perhaps before we reach the lofty goal of complete union with God we can consider the simple question posed here in the context of ego in a we centered society. On that note a different way to look at it occurred to me: One can have empathy for others as a separate self even if there is a very strong identification. We can think of this as "horizontal" - not deep perhaps but inclusive. However, when there is depth in the individual consciousness without such empathy perhaps the point will be missed. After all, not everyone is interested in spiritual things but a we centered society isn't that far fetched even for ordinary everyday human consciousness.

This is another great thread...good discussion!

a healthy individuality is conscious of the collective
a healthy collective is conscious of the individual
there is still an "i" in unity
these things are complementary

Actually, I think this question of what role ego plays in a we centered society can be answered in a very simple way: a very small one. The very definition of a we centered society indicates it is not focused on the ego, so even if you have key individuals playing important roles they wouldn't be concerned about themselves as separate individuals, they'd be concerned about the collective. Even when the collective consciousness has not completely transcended ego it wouldn't be so concerned with things from an egoic perspective.