很多人對于他們腦袋里的聲音是如此的認(rèn)同——那個不間斷的,、不自主的,、強(qiáng)迫性的思想續(xù)流,，還有隨之而來的情緒——我們可以形容這些人是被他們的心智占據(jù)的。如果你對此毫無覺知,，就會認(rèn)為你自己就是那個思考者,。這就是小我的心智。我們稱它為“小我的”(egoic),，因?yàn)樵诿總€思想——每個記憶,、每個闡釋、意見,、觀點(diǎn),、反應(yīng)和情緒里，都有一個自我感(小我感)在其中,。從靈性的角度來說,，這就是所謂的無意識。你的思想,，你心智的內(nèi)容,，當(dāng)然是被過去所制約的，過去是指：你的教養(yǎng),、文化,、家庭背景等。你心智所有活動的最核心包含了一些重復(fù)和持續(xù)的思想,、情緒和反應(yīng)模式,，這些都是你最強(qiáng)烈認(rèn)同的。這個實(shí)體就是小我的本身,。

在大多數(shù)的情形中,，當(dāng)你說“我”的時候，其實(shí)就是小我在說話,，而不是你,，我們在前面已經(jīng)看到了。它包含了思想和情緒,，還有一堆你認(rèn)同為“我和我的故事”的回憶,，還有你不自知而習(xí)慣性扮演的角色以及一些集體的認(rèn)同，像國籍,、宗教,、種族、社會階級,、政治立場等,。它還包括了個人的認(rèn)同，不僅是認(rèn)同于個人擁有的東西,，還包括個人意見,、外表、長久以來的怨恨,，或是關(guān)于你自己比別人好或是不如別人,，還有自己是成功或失敗的概念。

小我的內(nèi)容因人而異,，但是在每個小我中運(yùn)作的結(jié)構(gòu)都是一樣的,。換句話說：小我的差異只是在表象，深究之下都是一樣的,。它們是怎么樣相同的呢,？它們都是靠認(rèn)同和分離為生。當(dāng)你透過小我而活的時候(小我是心智制造的自我,，由思想和情緒組成的),，你身份的基礎(chǔ)就是不可靠的，因?yàn)樗枷牒颓榫w的本質(zhì)就是短促而稍縱即逝的,。所以每一個小我都不斷地在為生存而掙扎,，試圖保護(hù)和擴(kuò)大自己。為了要維護(hù)“我——思想”,，它需要一個相對的思想——他人,。概念上的“我”,，如果沒有一個概念上的“他人”的話，就無法存活,。

當(dāng)我視這些“他人”為敵人的時候,，他們是最與我分離的。在這個無意識小我模式天平的一端,，是小我強(qiáng)迫性地責(zé)怪,、埋怨別人的習(xí)慣。耶穌對此也曾說過：“為何你只看見你弟兄眼中之刺,，而看不到自己眼中的梁呢,？”在天平的另一端，是個人之間的暴力行為和國家之間的戰(zhàn)爭,。在《圣經(jīng)》中,，耶穌問的這個問題從未得到回答，但是答案當(dāng)然應(yīng)該是：因?yàn)楫?dāng)我批評或責(zé)怪他人的時候,，我覺得有優(yōu)越感,，也比較強(qiáng)大。

Most people are so completely identified with the voice in the head – theincessant stream of involuntary and compulsive thinking and the emotionsthat accompany it – that we may describe them as being possessed by theirmind. As long as you are completely unaware of this you take the thinker tobe who you are. This is the egoic mind. We call it egoic because there is asense of self, of I (ego), in every thought – every memory, everyinterpretation, opinion, viewpoint, reaction, emotion. This isunconsciousness, spiritually speaking. Your thinking, the content of yourmind, is of course conditioned by the past: your upbringing, culture, familybackground, and so on. The central core of all your mind activity consists ofcertain repetitive and persistent thoughts, emotions, and reactive patternsthat you identify with most strongly. This entity is the ego itself.

In most cases, when you say “I,” it is the ego speaking, not you, as wehave seen. It consists of thought and emotion, of a bundle of memories youidentify with as “me and my story,” of habitual roles you play withoutknowing it, of collective identifications such as nationality, religion, race,social class, or political allegiance. It also contains personal identifications,not only with possessions, but also with opinions, external appearance, long-standing resentments, or concepts of yourself as better than or not as good asothers, as a success or failure.

The content of the ego varies from person to person, bu in every egothe same structure operates. In other words: Egos only differ on the surface.Deep down they are all the same. In what way are they the same? They liveon identification and separation. When you live through the mind-made selfcomprised of thought and emotion that is the ego, the basis for your identityis precarious because thought and emotion are by their very natureephemeral, fleeting. So every ego is continuously struggling for survival,trying to protect and enlarge itself. To uphold the I-thought, it needs theopposite thought of “the other.” The conceptual “I” cannot survive withoutthe conceptual “other.” The others are most other when I see them as myenemies. At one end of this scale of this unconscious egoic pattern lies theegoic compulsive habit of faultfinding and complaining about others. Jesusreferred to it when he said, “Why to do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”1 At the otherend of the scale, there is physical violence between individuals and warfarebetween nations. In the Bible, Jesus' question remains unanswered, but theanswer is, of course: Because when I criticize or condemn another, it makesme feel bigger, superior.