What is The Ego?

We use this word so easily, but do we really know the depths and the extent of it and what it really means? Dr Wayne Dyer - one of my favorite writers, mentors and good friend describes - EGO - as “Edging God Out!” A good definition I would say! Gautam Buddha even after attaining Nirvana said “I am still not Free!” Free of what? The ego and all its layers - accumulated over lifetimes! If the Buddha is not free even after being enlightened - then what can be said about the freedom of you and I?
In eastern philosophy - the Vedic texts in India - describe the Ego as an aspect of “MAYA” - the beautiful Goddess of Illusion -(on the Macrocosmic level.) When a soul takes on a human body, Maya confers upon it the veil of an Ego -(Microcosmic level.) From then on - this veil of the Ego hides our true nature of the Spirit - of pure consciousness - untouched, all knowing, all pervasive consciousness that creates the universe and all the worlds in it - the source of all life and all species. This unfathomable all powerful Spirit that takes on the form of one little individual human being for a little while - (hiding behind the ego) - starts believing in limits and boundaries, in the concept of time, the idea of separation and of opposites. Simply put - from a state of unity to a state of duality. Now even though I’m trying - Its almost completely impossible to describe and fully understand the Ego in words! Just because the symptoms and the layers of the Ego are just so vast - this illusion runs so deep that even the wise awakened ones like the Buddha still feel the remnants of it lurking around somewhere in their beings! So what does that mean for us? What is the way out? Even though you and I are no where near “Buddha-hood” - there are still little things that we can do - take baby steps along the way! That is to say we can identify some of the symptoms of the ego and every time we recognize some of it in ourselves we can make a conscious shift from Ego to Spirit.

• The constant feeling of “I” - me & mine - accompanied by pride - I did this, I own this, I need to do this in order to prove something, my house, my job, my car, my body, my money, my reputation, etc etc. This feeling of “I & Me” also makes stronger the feeling of separation - of Me Vs Them - on some level or the other you are always at war against the people who don’t agree with you. When you recognize this - try to drop it - and see that there is no difference between you and anybody else! You only have separate bodies - other than that we all share the same spirit and the same ego and we are all just waves in the same ONE Ocean!
• Feelings and emotions of embarrassment, anger, jealousy, irritation, frustration etc - all of this really just boils down to one thing - That something didn’t happen “Your Way” - the way you expected or planned! So what? What’s the big deal really? If for just one moment you can put your ego aside and look through the eyes of your spirit - then you will know - that no matter what happens - its ALL Good! Without the limits of the ego - you truly ARE everything that exists - it is always “your” way - you(spirit) is all there is - all things and events exist in you! I know - this is a hard concept to grasp - easier said than done - but we can definitely try and relax into life! No matter what happens we can at least try and be accepting of things without getting fired up each time! Relax! Be happy and grateful about every curve and eventually you’ll be able to see the bigger picture and the rainbow behind it all.
• Fear, Doubt and Unworthiness. In a strange way they are all inter-related. When I was young - my father described FEAR to me as False - Evidence - Appearing - Real! Aka - its an Illusion. And this definition has stuck with me ever since! I love it - it totally dissipates the negative emotional state! Now I think that this same definition of fear can be applied to the feelings of doubt and unworthiness as well. All 3 of these are false beliefs that we accept as real. Its ridiculous! And all of these 3 can have a strong grip on us - only because we lack real understanding of what they are! The feeling of Fear exists usually because we don’t fully comprehend what we are fearful of? We believe that the thing that we fear is going to harm us in some way! I had a fear of heights - and the only way I thought I could move beyond it was to face it head on - and so I went Sky Diving! And I cannot find enough words to describe how much I enjoyed it - it was one of the most liberating, thrilling, out of this world experiences of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Nothing can ever harm you - the only thing that harms you is your fear of something. It limits you from fully expressing yourself and from being open to all possibilities. Doubt - on the other hand is a condition that makes us believe that something is Not possible. The ego looks at everything as “finite” - while the spirit only knows “infinite”. The next time you doubt something - Imagine that you created all of the universe! You are the source of all things. How can anything be impossible for the power that is responsible for all of existence? Think about it. And lastly - Unworthiness - is nothing other than a sub-conscious feeling of lack because you didn’t match up to somebody else’s expectations! Expectations is a whole other subject that needs its own discussion - but for now - lets just try and answer this question - Do you think God is worthy? How would you define the value of God? I know the question in itself sounds insane - thats how insane your feeling of unworthiness is. There is no difference between you and God. Sai Baba - one of the greatest spiritual teachers in India says - “The only distance between You and God - is the distance between You and Yourself.”