Ego-perfection

Structure

The active point for him is nonconformity [IX], the attractive point is independence [II], and the function is criticism. The result is the over-perfectionist.

Point 1 is known as “Ego-resentment”. The fixation is also known as “Over-Perfectionist”.

In the case of the over-perfectionist, nothing is ever going to be perfect. He becomes an overcritical character who criticizes the outside world rigorously, and criticizes his inside with the same rigor. He goes successively from outside to inside and from inside to outside.

This ego derives from the Historical Ego, which is a response to the Conservation Instinct. The psychic poison of the Conservation Instinct at the root of Ego-Resentment is Possessiveness, the need to possess food since one needs to have food in order to be able to eat it. The failure of securing enough resources for survival leads to a sense of resentment towards the situation at hand for after all, anger is an affront to reality.

Ego-resentment experiences a sense of being unloved in the childhood relationship with a Mother figure. Resentment is anger directed towards higher ideals such as the fact of not receiving the love and affection that each one desires to experience. From this point the ego directs reality around itself and is in a constant state of anger against, anger at the way one is believing that if we were somehow more perfect we would have been loved, or this resentment is directed outward and wishing that our parent(s) who just didn't love us enough were more perfect and did love us. 

The main ego-characteristic of this fixation is Resentment. The Passion which feeds this ego is Anger. The primary defense mechanism is Isolation, to isolate ourselves away from the world that is causing us so much pain. Worsening of this fixation can lead to the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. A secondary defense mechanism is Undoing. Further worsening leads to psychosomatic illness.

Domain

Becoming fixated in the Domain of Sentiments, there is a swing to the dichotomies of that domain. This can manifest in a positive sense as a focus on Self-Control on one side, or Sensitivity at the other side. It can manifest in a negative sense as Callousness at one extreme or Touchiness at the other extreme. These dichotomies are represented by two characters: the Heartless character at one end, the Gushy character at the other. Jealousy invades consciousness in this domain. The stress of being fixated and imbalanced in this domain can lead to Toximania as a compensatory mechanism. The poison of this domain is Anger.

Dichotomies

Sentimentality refers to sense impressions or sense-feelings from the natural world, and these impressions can be received in two different ways, with oversensitivity (gushy) or insensitivity (heartless). Because it is in the triad of the body it is very close to the Earth and its stimuli, and it reacts viscerally to it, even emotional stimuli which is felt as a jolt, or a rush of coldness or heat. When the E1 swings to insensitivity, it steels itself against the influence of these stimuli and becomes critical, protecting themselves from the wound they would otherwise suffer. When they are swung to sensitivity, they may react very emotionally at mundane things.

Inhabitants

The contaminants of this domain are the jealousies, which arrive as a personal, fiery, and all-consuming reaction to perceived injustice. It is not the same as E4's envy, or E8's justice-making, it is more like seeing that someone else who is imperfect gets something that the E1 desired, and lashes out in anger. For example, an E1 that has been cheated on by their partner may feel angry enough to harm their partner, and feel as though they are missing out. Comparing your actions, it is obvious who is in the right, and who has been missing out. In order to deal with this properly, the E1 must accept the hurt of being cheated on, and set the boundary of what they will and will not accept. 

Reconciliation

The energy which arises out of balancing the dichotomies and embodying the positive aspects of them (self-control and sensitivity) is the spirit of discernment, allowing sense impressions to cause affect, but not to overwhelm. When a reaction strikes the body forsaking reaction-formation is the best way because reaction formation creates a lie in the E1's reaction, a lie which the E1 becomes angry towards. Instead of transforming the reaction, the E1 must accept it for what it is, letting go their rigid hold on life and seeing reality for how just it truly is.

Liberation

The Trap which simultaneously restricts but potentially liberates this ego is its focus on Perfection, “What could be and what isn't”. The Way of self-realization of this ego is the Way of Attention, which works by recalling oneself in self-observation permanently to see if one is really focused on perfection or just focusing on their own preferences.

The Holy Idea which acts as a catalyst for the transformation of this ego is Holy Perfection, or Divine Perfection, a ceasing of the controlling of a reality which already moves in accordance with a perfect purpose. This can lead to the Virtue of Serenity, a release from the burdens of anger at imperfections.

According to Ichazo, Divine Perfection is:

The awareness that Reality is a process, moving with direction and purpose. Within this movement each moment is connected by the process with the one goal, and thus is perfect.