Why would God do that? (from: The truth behind the psiwheel)

[ButterflyWoman]

but it seems bizarre to have this big part of yourself that is basically in constant opposition to the Godself and knowledge/understanding of the Godself.

I've never agreed that that's what the ego does. That's what it can do when trained wrong, but not what it's for, IMO. One of those 'free will zone' things, I suppose.

Well, I'm not convinced that the ego is "evil" or "negative", either. A book I'm reading at the moment describes the ego as being the "negative" parts of you, and that it "attacks" you (yikes!). Certainly, I agree that the ego must be understood for what it is (whatever it is) and that you need to be aware of allowing your ego to take over, but the idea that the ego is all negative seems too much to me like the Medieval Christian concept that the body was inherently "sinful" and therefore things like bathing and other pursuits of the flesh (eating, sex, etc.) were to be avoided or at least rigidly controlled and in no way enjoyed.

So, yeah, this is why I struggle with this concept.

[CFTraveler]

Yep. Some modern metaphysical systems see the ego as the devil. And you know what I think of that.

[Jaco]

Ego in not negative or evil. It's just laud, chaotic, distracting... like a spoiled kid, like a drama queen, and very very afraid. Our "very very afraid" part.
I think the only thing that can judge ego as evil is the ego itself.
IMO, ego is not about keeping you from seeing Higher self or Godself, it is about it keeping our attention to ego part of ourselves. When we do not watch constantly that part of ourselves, we can see other things.