Ego and Civilization: Provisional Efforts, Not Our Best
Lee Van Ham Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 2:34PM 
Thomas MertonThomas Merton (1915-1968), a Benedictine monk, once said, “What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?” It was a simple appeal for a new human from a person whose own engagement with the ego-Self struggle brought him to a consciousness large enough that he could cross into thoughts and actions too big for civilization. He learned from Nature, pursued interfaith spirituality, and earnestly believed that nonviolent societies were possible.
On the heroic journey, both our ego personality and civilization are understood to be provisional, not the end point—much in the way a caterpillar is provisional en route to a butterfly. Self knows how to meet Merton’s appeal for a new human.