In the West psychologists, social workers and society say it’s important to have a good self-image or ego. The East says to kill the ego so I can see how you could be confused….
Ego dissolution to end suffering
Question: “I’ve heard that to “dissolve your ego” that you need to let it be, so it will lose power. I’ve tried this so many times, been doing it for months, but mind will just not shut up. I’ve tried everything I can, but it just keeps repeating over and over…it’s like torture! So then I just try to distract myself, do something to forget about them. But the negative thoughts just keep coming back.” Answer: What are you referring to as ego? It seems to be thought, and this is the #1 error spiritual seekers make, confusing thought with ego. Wanting to get rid of “the ego,” people try to get rid of thought. But thought itself is not …
What is ego?
The spiritual ego is not the same as the psychological ego, and not the same as the conventional idea of someone having a “big ego.” It’s not even the same as most spiritual seekers imagine! Let’s look at all three of these closely, so we know what we mean when we use the word ego…
Spiritual ego definition
The spiritual ego is not the same as the psychological ego, and not the same as the conventional idea of someone having a “big ego.” It’s not even the same as most spiritual seekers imagine! Let’s look at all three of these closely, so we know what we mean when we use the word ego…
What was the message of the Spiritual Masters?
At its essence, the message of the loved and revered Spiritual Masters who have passed was:
Alter ego unveiled
…alter ego (Latin, “the other I”) is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person’s normal or original personality. But what is a “normal” or “original” personality? We often think of personality as “who we are,” (and so we don’t like it to change.) But personality is not something static. Is your personality the same as when you were 10 years old?
The myth of spiritual inner work
Many people think being “spiritual” is working on themselves within. But spirituality has nothing to do with inner work, because: There is no separate self within. That’s not to say that you don’t exist.
What happened to Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie?
People think you have to suffer to wake up. They hear what happened with Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie. How they suffered. But it’s not just the suffering they have in common. And suffering wasn’t the key commonality.
Bad emotions are not the ego
While bad emotions may be a “stink” that comes from ego, they are not what ego is, in and of itself. Good emotions (worldly attachment happiness) also are stink from the ego…
People think we are connected, and that is the problem
People think we are connected, and that is the problem. What is required, assumed, or built-in, in order to be connected? Disconnected. We originally think we are “other” than the totality. We imagine that we exist as some actual, separate thing called a person. So we try to band-aid that strong belief in separation with a weaker idea that we are “connected.” It will never work. What is needed is to begin to see…