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ยป Home ยป Turning Inwards

What is the Ego? Should it Be Destroyed?

by Aletheia Luna ยท Updated: Apr 3, 2025 ยท 110 Comments

Image of a woman divided in two symbolic of what is the ego
What is the ego self image

In almost every nook and cranny of the spiritual field, you’ll hear the ego spoken about with contempt and sometimes it is plain demonized.

Many people carry the belief that the ego needs to be destroyed, muzzled, or even killed.

But do we need to destroy the ego? What is the ego, really? And furthermore, what can youย learn about your own ego?


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Table of contents

  • What is the Ego?
  • How Is the Ego Formed?
  • The Ego and Duality
  • The Folly of Demonizing the Ego
  • Why the Ego Isnโ€™tย You
  • What is That Presence?
  • How to Untangle Yourself From the Web of Illusion

What is the Ego?

Image of a mask symbolic of what is the ego

The ego is basically your identity, or who you think you are.

In other words, your ego is usually constructed of a name, a personality, and a story. Within this personal story is a collection of memories, beliefs, ideas, and sensations about “who you are,โ€ “where you came from,โ€ “what youโ€™re good and bad at,โ€ “what youโ€™ve experienced,โ€ and on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.

In the words of renowned spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle,

Ego is no more than this: identification with form, which primarily means thought forms.

When we identify with a thought or story in our head, the substance of the ego is born.

How Is the Ego Formed?

Image of a divided and split person symbolic of the ego

The ego is a veil between what you think you are and what you actually are. You live under the illusion of the mind, totally unaware that you are directed by a great big load of stories!

โ€” Isira Sananda

There are three main causes of our ego formation:

  1. Primal protection
  2. Social conditioning
  3. Psychological security

First is primal protection.

Without an ego, without being able to say “this is me” and “this isn’t me” how can we possibly stay alive?


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For example, if you had no sense of self, there would be nothing stopping you from drowning, getting hit by a car, getting eaten by an animal, having a limb severed, and so forth. There would be no capacity to differentiate yourself from a bus, a knife, a lake, a road, and so on!

To protect ourselves, we need a sense of self or ego.

“But what about enlightened folk?” you may wonder. “They don’t need a sense of self and look how blissful they are!”

Here, the distinction needs to be made in the sense that those who experience spiritual enlightenment don’t lose their ego, they simply stop identifying with it. No ego at all would mean no ability to stay alive!

Second is our social conditioning.

Since childhood, we’re taught that we’re “separate” from others and life itself.

As we grow up, we’re taught to believe in and identify with the thoughts that run through our heads by those who model this behavior around us. We’re also taught to almost automatically adopt our family’s belief system and values, as well as society’s wider definition of “who we are” or “should be.”

As a result of being taught (or conditioned) to believe that we’re separate individuals, we experience fear and suffering. Instead of simply experiencing life in its pure simplicity and Wholeness, we filter life through our minds. And as we know, the mind loves to create division โ€“ it is inherently dualistic!

Third is psychological security.

As psychotherapist and author Matt Licata writes,

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… ego is a process of dissociation and splitting of to use psychological jargon, in the attempt to prevent overwhelming anxiety from pouring into conscious awareness. Or, in more spiritual terminology, it is the attempt to keep us out of the otherwise naked reality of how open, unknown, and groundless our lives truly are, where anything could happen at any time.

Other than protecting our physical bodies, the ego also protects us psychologically. Like a shell that protects a chick, the ego keeps us contained and protected โ€“ and yet simultaneously trapped.

Imagine if a baby chick was left without a shell while its tender body was still forming. It wouldn’t fare well at all and would probably die within an hour (or less)!

In many ways, we’re the same. We need that shell of the ego while our Souls are still growing, evolving, maturing, and deepening. Like a chick that needs a shell in order to break through it, we need to first form an ego in order to then transcend it.

Not having some kind of ego structure would render the world a tremendously overwhelming place in which we would be paralyzed to do anything.

The Ego and Duality

Image of a mask

A little earlier I mentioned the word “duality” and its connection with the ego.

But what is duality?

Duality is essentially the state of separation or twoness. Duality can only and ever exist through the mind, which itself is flawed, myopic, and limited in scope.

In essence, duality is the very substance of the ego.

In duality, we essentially โ€œsplitโ€ or divide life into words, ideas, beliefs, and concepts that ultimately limit and suffocate the present moment.

Examples of duality include filtering life through the lenses of โ€œright/wrong,โ€ โ€œgood/bad,โ€ โ€œpretty/ugly,โ€ โ€œholy/sinful,โ€ โ€œlove/hateโ€ etc.

How does duality harm us?

As a product of living in duality, we create untold amounts of suffering for ourselves because we’re no longer open to the endless vastness and Oneness of life.

Instead, our lives become centered around judgment, condemnation, and fear. And as a result, we alienate and destroy others who we perceive as being โ€œbad,โ€ โ€œwrong,โ€ and โ€œsinfulโ€ to protect our ideas of what is โ€œrightโ€ and โ€œholy.โ€

The more deeply we’re entrenched in duality โ€“ the essential nature of the ego โ€“ the more we experience problems such as hatred, anger, depression, paranoia, anxiety, and many other hellish states of being like the Dark Night of the Soul.

Not only do we sever ourselves from others, but we’re cut off from ourselves as well. Anything within us that we perceive as being โ€œevil/bad/wrong/sinfulโ€ we suppress, repress, and deny the existence of.


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As a result of this repressed energy, our Shadow Selves (or our rejected inner “dark side”) grow more and more twisted, destructive, and depraved. Unless transformed through shadow work, this intense suffering is ultimately expressed in our relationships and the world at large.

When all is said and done, the fact is that our physical world is an expression of our collective internal torment. When separated from the fullness of the Oneness that is Life, our lives become an expression of our inner emptiness.

Simply taking a look at the violence, murder, poverty, greed, bigotry, mental illness, and environmental degradation around us reveals how profoundly lost we are as a race.

We’re lost because we have lost touch with the truth of who we are. We’re drowning in the ego.

The Folly of Demonizing the Ego

Image of a woman in psychological distress caused by the ego self

In light of what we’ve just discussed, it’s very easy to start believing that the ego is bad.

In fact, some spiritual teachers teach that the ego needs to be “destroyed.” But hereโ€™s the thing: this is just another trick of the mind!

Iโ€™ve heard so many people in the spiritual community condemn the ego and speak of it with such great resentment. However, the belief that our egos are โ€œevilโ€ or need to be โ€œkilled/destroyedโ€ is just a reflection of the mind stuck in duality!

Only the ego wants to “kill” the ego!

In the words of Alan Watts,

Donโ€™t try to get rid of the ego-sensation. Getting rid of oneโ€™s ego is the last resort of invincible egoism! โ€ฆ When this feeling of separateness is approached and accepted like any other sensation, it evaporates like the mirage that it is.

We need to understand on our spiritual awakening journeys that the ego isn’t “good” or “bad,” it’s a neutral force. Whether our ego causes joy or pain is all up to how it’s used.

The ego is a tool โ€“ it’s a biological, psychological, and social survival mechanism. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to function in this world. How else could we tell the difference between ourselves and the oncoming train or truck that’s headed our way? We need our egos to live in this physical body.

The ego is also crucial because it exists as a vehicle for our spiritual growth; methods such as yoga, catharsis, dancing, energy work, and meditation can serve as doorways through which we can remember and reclaim our True Nature.

We’ll explore how to approach the ego in a healthy and more illuminated way next.

Why the Ego Isnโ€™tย You

Image of a man looking at the camera

At some point on your spiritual path, you may have heard the expression: โ€œthe ego is an illusion.โ€ But what does this mean?

The ego is an illusion, and therefore isnโ€™t really โ€œyou,โ€ because it is always changing and has no real solidity or objectivity.

Spiritual Awakening Test image

In other words, how can anything within you that is subject to birth, change, and decay really be you?

Letโ€™s try an experiment. Write down on a notepad or on your phone who โ€œyouโ€ think you are. You can always stop reading and return back to reading this section after youโ€™ve finished.

Take a break. Really. Do the experiment now.

Now that youโ€™ve done the experiment, read over your words. Likely, you would have written something along the lines of, โ€œI am Jane Doe. I’m a wife, mother, and friend. Iโ€™m a fighter, a dreamer, and a spiritual seeker. I am 38 years old, have three children, and am a skilled artist.โ€

See this description of you? This is your main personal story; the backdrop of your life, of who/what you think you are.

Why is the ego an illusion? The ego is an illusion because it is simply that: a story or narrative created in the mind.

Letโ€™s use some self-inquiry and apply some questions to your statements about who you think you are:

  • How can you be a name if it can easily be changed? You could have very well been born into a different family that named you something else.ย 
  • How can you be a body if it is constantly aging, changing, disintegrating, and can be replaced with other parts? Your red blood cells live for four months, your white blood cells live for more than a year, your skin cells live for 2-3 weeks โ€ฆ all cells within you are constantly dying and being renewed. How can you really be your body or looks?
  • How can you be a personality when it is constantly fluctuating and transforming? Think back to your personality 5 years ago, then 15 years ago. Did you have the exact same personality that you do now?
  • How can you be your emotions when they are constantly coming and going, ebbing and flowing? Not only thatย but do you really control your emotions? Where do they come from? Do you really plan or control them?
  • How can you be your thoughts when they always changing? Not only that,ย but do you really control your thoughts? Where do they come from? Do you really plan or control them?
  • How can you be your beliefs when what you believed 10-30 years ago isnโ€™t what you believe today? Your beliefs are influenced by your conditioning, upbringing, and society โ€ฆ how can they be โ€œyouโ€ or โ€œyoursโ€?
  • How can you be your memories when they come, go, and even alter? Did you know that there is such a thing as โ€œfalse memoryโ€? When remembering the past, the mind has a tenuous and colored perception that is subject to change and alteration. How can your memories be you?

As we can see, everything that we unquestionably believe we areย isnโ€™t really us โ€“ it is frail, changeable, and in truth, lacking in solidity. So who or what really defines “me” or “you”? What has been there all along that has never changed?

What is That Presence?

Image of a woman standing in yellow sunlight

What has been there to witness everything that has happened in your life? What never changes? What is the most fundamental core of who we are?

Explore this question for a few moments and youโ€™ll realize that itโ€™s …

Consciousness.

Consciousness is the fabric of all things. In fact, even science has shown that everything at its core is energy vibrating at different levels.

In our human experience, Presence, Consciousness, or Spirit manifests as the energy that composes every form.

The easiest way to experience this Presence that is you, and always has been you, is through meditation. Meditation, or quieting the mind, helps you to become simply aware of your thoughts, and the space beneath those thoughts. That space that is both empty and full at the same time, is You.

Another common method that has been used since the dawn of time to experience this Truth of Being, or ego death is through psychedelic shamanic plants and brews, such as Ayahuasca, Psilocybin Mushrooms, and Peyote. Although it’s helpful to take such herbs to experience yourself as Life or Consciousness itself, it isnโ€™t compulsory.

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These plants are simply doorways into the Universal Experience of Spirit that we are.

How to Untangle Yourself From the Web of Illusion

Image of a spider web symbolic of illusion and duality

It can take a while to reach a deep realization that you’re not the ego, and usually much more time (or lifetimes) to experience this as an ongoing integrated reality.

The discovery that everything you “believe you are” is, in reality, false can be unsettling, disturbing, confusing, saddening, or, more positively, liberating. So don’t be surprised if you experience a lot of resistance to this article. It’s normal.

After all, the egoโ€™s job is to protect itself and ferociously guard the belief that you’re separate from other people and life itself โ€“ in its mind, this is a matter of biological survival.

To really understand the beauty and ultimate freedom that comes with seeing through the ego, you can’t stay on a purely intellectual level. You must have actual experiences of Consciousness itself.

Even just a single moment of Consciousness can help you to discover for yourself that it is the most liberating, pure, peaceful, compassionate, expansive, and loving state possible.

In fact, Consciousness itself is the very embodiment of love, peace, and freedom. You are this embodiment. You are the Truth that you have been seeking โ€“ but not the “you” sense of self or personality: the You with a capital “Y” that is beyond a separate sense of self.

Untangling yourself from the web of ego illusion is a process that requires patience, self-discipline, and dedication. This process isnโ€™t for trendy โ€œspirit junkiesโ€ โ€“ it is for sincere spiritual seekers.

If you’d like some spiritual practices to explore that can help you experience moments of pure Consciousness, here are some paths:

  1. Read through the self-inquiry questions above regularly. Ask yourself, โ€œIs this (thing that I think is me) really me?โ€ Although emotions, thoughts, personality, and body are experienced by you, they are not truly you because they are subject to birth, death, and change.
  2. Practice spiritual meditation, breathwork, or some form of catharsis like exercise or dancing to release any repressed energy within you. Do this before traditional meditation to make accessing the stillness within easier.
  3. Meditate each day. Try 15 minutes first, then move on to 20+ minutes. Remember: the purpose of meditation isnโ€™t to โ€œgetโ€ anywhere or โ€œachieveโ€ anything. It is simply the practice of sitting with whatever arises in you.
  4. Regularly affirm to yourself, โ€œI am Consciousnessโ€ throughout the day. Feel that truth seep into your bones and very core with each breath.
  5. Explore the way your ego influences your life with compassion. Inner work practices such as shadow work and journaling are powerful ways of becoming more mindful of your ego.
  6. Read into the experience of The Spiritual Awakening Process to get further guidance. We created this book to helpย support you on the spiritual path.ย 
  7. Practice mindfulness on a daily basis. Mindfulness is a vital practice that will help to ground you in the present moment. After all, the only place you can experience Consciousness is in the Now (not in thoughts about the past or future, which are just that: thoughts!)

The spiritual awakening journey is one that requires courage, radical honesty, and the willingness to let go of all that you are not.

So what is the ego? The ego is a teacher, one that you carry with you each day.

When seen in this light, the ego is the most powerful and persistent teacher we have to wake us up to the Truth that has always been here, and will always be here.

What thoughts or unique realizations have you had about the ego? I’d love to hear them below in the comments.

What is the ego? image
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About Aletheia Luna

Aletheia Luna is a prolific psychospiritual writer, author, educator, and intuitive guide whose work has touched the lives of millions worldwide. As a survivor of fundamentalist religious abuse, her mission is to help others find love, strength, and inner light in even the darkest places. She is the author of hundreds of popular articles, as well as numerous books and journals on the topics of Self-Love, Spiritual Awakening, and more. [Read More]

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  1. Zyler Saloga says

    October 22, 2021 at 1:25 am

    I’ve heard there’s a diet between ego and soul, a game of ping pong between them shooting back and forth a turn to be us in our body. The ego cannot be completely killed off, it must be fed, but not stuffed. One way of silencing ego, is to let it all go. To try something brand new, with nothing from the past behind you. To embrace change, do we really have to leave behind what the ego wants forever? Are we allowed to go back to that old practice, idea, world view, or anything else after we’ve left it behind? The ego can help you make some cool stuff, so is it necessary to really throw it all away forever? To change those old ideas completely, into new ones?

    Reply
    • Aletheia Luna says

      October 29, 2021 at 11:01 am

      Thanks for sharing this perspective Zyler. :) It does help to realize what the ego *can* and *does* offer us.

      Reply
    • Stephanie says

      February 23, 2022 at 5:35 pm

      Hey, I think I was the soul and recently became the ego again (felt separation coming back). I hence can relate to your view… Thanks.

      Reply
  2. OnaExpansiva says

    May 14, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    Excuse me, it is difficult indeed. I understand that the ego is like a fable that we begin to build on ourselves and through our own judgments and the environment, also by way of introspection when facing something that scares us, the ego analyzes oneself and the environment, not is it bad or good, it is like an imaginary shield that in its proper measure makes us survive but if it overcharges it destroys us by believing we are powerful of the absolute truth? Is it like a book that we are writing while we have a human body and we let go when we let go of the body? but the soul is still somewhere else or not, because we don’t know. while we are conscious is there ego? What most doubts me would be the concept of killing, assassinating, either to feed oneself or as a punishable offense. Should I not condemn, judge, see that wrong? or in those cases is when the ego plays a good role. Ufff

    Reply
  3. Zulu says

    August 20, 2020 at 9:24 am

    I’m a little confused by this concept. If consciousness is at the core of everything which can be neither created nor destroyed since this is what the universe is made of then does this suggest that we maintain our awareness after physical death or do we continue to remain unconscious like before we were born?

    Reply
    • Mateo Sol says

      August 20, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      Who is the “We” in we maintain our awareness? The “We” is the ego, and the ego is the only thing that dies as it’s a construct of our minds. So if the ego is a fiction that disappears upon our demise, how can it maintain awareness or even unconsciousness for that matter? Death is a drop of water returning to the ocean of consciousness.

      Reply
      • Zulu says

        August 30, 2020 at 4:42 pm

        How can I neither maintain awareness nor unconsciousness? I’m trying to imagine being dead but all I can think of is a dreamless sleep (which indicates permanent unconsciousness) that I will never wake up from since my energy is spread out into the universe, making me unable to feel/see/etc… anything or reincarnate into a living being ever again. Am I understanding this correctly?

        Reply
        • Mateo Sol says

          August 31, 2020 at 6:56 am

          I feel like you have a sense of what I’m saying, a ‘dreamless sleep’ still suffers the limitations of implying ‘someone’ (the ego again, or experiencer of this dream) is sleeping even if there is no dreams. The drop back in the ocean doesn’t continue to remember it’s feeling of being a single drop after it has merged with the ocean.

          Reply
          • Zulu says

            August 31, 2020 at 9:14 am

            When you say “merging with the ocean” does this imply being able to experience what everyone/everything is feeling simultaneously despite being dead (ie. unlike when I was a human where I could only feel my own sadness/happiness, now I feel/become everyone’s emotions)?

          • Mateo Sol says

            September 01, 2020 at 5:16 am

            In a way yes, but not quite as you describe it. If the ego is the “I”, and the ego is that which is melting away into the ocean. When you say “now I feel/become everyoneโ€™s emotions”, who will be this “I” that will experience all these emotions? The concept of Nirvana or ‘oneness’ can’t be quite as easily explained with the mind, for the mind brakes up the world into parts, words, and tries to explain ‘totality’ by putting words together like ‘me’ and ‘experience’ and ’emotions’. Don’t bother trying to guess what it’ll feel like, seek to experience it yourself, it’s as simple as a prolonged meditation practice for a few months to start experiencing some of what is being described.

    • Sarah Scott says

      May 14, 2021 at 11:55 am

      I have met my twin and I just have to say that it is like we are a living fairy tail Disney movie. I am so unbelievably elated and we are both sturggling with addiction to drugs. He has not awakened and I have had each awakening and it very hard to teach him. He is very insecure and it willing to open up we are engagedandmetin valentine’s day2020. We have been in drugs the whole time. I called 911 two months ago to save us from overdosing and he got arrested for a secret indictment for drug trafficking. I went to drug treatment and while I was there gegot out and definitely was running. He wont admit ges been hiding a secret. He also wo they clean and keeps getting me high. We both want to get clean but need to do it away from here. We need tofinda place that will take couples. We are getting our marriage license this week

      Reply
    • pauline says

      May 22, 2021 at 10:04 pm

      I believe we do… but then I have a long way to go, to progress, I feel as though I have been in the
      edge of this “consciousness” for some time.. I know want to progress

      Reply
  4. Ste says

    June 11, 2020 at 5:14 am

    Well im seriously in trouble because i did the experiment and will gladly show you and nothing matched

    Reply
  5. AB says

    May 16, 2020 at 8:47 am

    This article is a breath of fresh air, I wont be able to express with words how amazingly helpful this is. Just brilliant.
    Sincerely, from the heart … THANK YOU!

    Reply
  6. To says

    April 10, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    I feel like our true being, our conciousness is not the what. But the how. Our internal structure in the body and mind.
    We are not our emotions, but how we process our emotions. We are not our thoughts but how we process our thoughts, how we connect information, how we make sense of information, how we express our thoughts in the external world.

    Here an example of myself. I always processed thoughts in the same way. I abstractly connected my thoughts often in logical visual patterns. What the information was changed over time. But the process was always the same. I first remembered it conciously when I was six.

    And yes also how we act is a part of our inner self. What is your energy level, what is your temprement? How much alone time do you need, how quick do you speak or grasp information? How do you proecess language and in what way so you talk? My vocabulary changed over time of course, but how I categroised and learned language never did.

    Our inner structure is what makes us unique. Our genetics make us unique. Our brain structure make us unique.

    However acknowledging this uniqueness of everyone because of their own inner structure brings piece. You do not compete in a way, because your inner structure remains and always seperates yourself from others. While at the same time makes you part of the world the universe, however just a small part. Equal to everyone else. Your inner structure may set you more a part from the others when it is very different from the average. However it does mit mean you are better or worse and it does not give you the right to judge others. We aren’t going to be understand in our authentic self by everyone. Infact we all a probably only going to be truly understood by very few people in our lifes. And that is okay. We don’t have to get along with everyone or be understood by everyone, but we should respekt everyone and their unique abilities. Don’t make a fish climb a tree. And don’t judge them by not being able to climb a tree. Everyone hast their own abilities, own life, own inner structure and that is ok. However we are all part of the world and should respect that.

    Reply
  7. mobile website design says

    February 26, 2020 at 11:30 pm

    I have to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning this website. I really hope to check out the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own blog now ;)

    Reply
  8. JD says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    Hello,
    Iโ€™ve been thru trauma all my life from car accidents to smoking pot that went horribly wrong, it went so wrong I ended up in the hospital for two weeks and shortly afterwards had to drop out of high school shortly after leaving the hospital. Fast forward to the present for the past the three years Iโ€™ve been taking pain medication for severe headaches I took the pain meds until I could no longer stand the side effects, my doctor talked me into a spinal chord stimulator implanted at cervical vertebrae c1 and c2. I used the stimulator until it caused neuropathy from my neck down, it had to be removed and no doctors can help me with the neuropathy now. So I heard that meditation might help , so I tried it a few times and the very last time I tried it I feel like I went extremely deep while deep in meditation I feel like I lost myself, almost as if I wasnโ€™t in my body any more the next day I started having severe panic and anxiety attacksand feeling very strange, suicidal, please explain to me whats going on if you can and how to stop these feelings Iโ€™m desperate and donโ€™t know what to do.

    Reply
  9. DIGEN BALIYAN says

    January 01, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    You did great work. You have a deep knowledge of the subject. I am from India and I have a passion for spirituality. I have been engaged with various spiritual institutions.

    Reply
  10. Paul Tomkinson says

    December 10, 2019 at 5:56 am

    The Five Aspects of the I in the Me

    I have no desire to be right or wrong, I just want to understand.

    I guess this is a ripple from the โ€˜Sunday Morning Momentโ€™ back in 2016. I was there physically, but that was it. All around me, life was happening without my involvement and seemingly all by itself. The course had been set yet I had no idea that I was about to undertake the most amazing, frustrating, wonderful and downright confusing, times in my life. In putting this pen to paper so to speak, the journey continues โ€“ only this time, it is in the form of reflection. This point-in-time destination was never my goal, and that in itself, is part of the wonder of life. It has grown and been nurtured, unbeknown to me, by my thoughts and actions โ€“ and in some cases, inactions.

    The question of โ€˜Who am Iโ€™ was never a conscious consideration for me โ€“ until I began to see seemingly random pieces fall into place and show me an interconnected reality that for me, was both hard to ignore, and a true blessing. To me this offers some level of understanding of what we are, why we are like we are, and what we can do to change that โ€“ if we so wish. I guess that this is the point of all of this โ€“ it is completely optional, the only person to make a decision is you. The only person to change because of this, is you. And primarily, the only person to benefit from this, is you. The ironic paradox of this seemingly egocentric view point is not lost on me. I sought only to be a better person, to play my part in humanity, and in my mind that meant the world around me. I have come to realise that whatever I could offer the world would not be complete, or true, or genuine until I myself, first felt those things.

    I have reached the point that I realise my opinions have not been my own, that my subsequent thoughts and actions have not been my own, and that I have been living a life that was not my own. It is time for my own, spiritual, Tabularasa. At this point in time, I have no idea where this will take me, but wherever it is, it is mine. Of my creation. Of my understanding. Of my choice โ€“ that in itself is an amazing thing.

    To appreciate the sum, we must first understand the parts and be aware of what each plays in putting the โ€˜I in Meโ€™ There is an interconnectedness and solitude within each โ€“ alone and yet dependant on one another. Yet another paradox. Having been a product of my environment, programming and dictated reality, I now see just how important the mind is, and why we should take the time to do whatever we can to re-program, re-charge and re-align to our true selves and take back the ownership of our everyday reality.

    I guess the ultimate question is that of โ€˜who am I?โ€™ The following offers my philosophical understanding to date, of the question we all ponder so much.

    The conscious mind.
    The sub-conscious mind.
    The Ego.
    The Spirit.
    The Soul.

    That constant voice in your and my heads is a combination and reflection of, all of the above. All play a part, to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon our perception of life and what it is showing us. In the main, the order above, is what drives us, shapes us, makes us aware โ€“ but in a somewhat limited way, but in a way that the majority of people come to accept as an everyday reality.

    The sub-conscious mind is the tape recorder that plays for 95% of our waking day and provides the framework on which we build our reality. The conscious mind only gets to play, for 5% of our day โ€“ whenever we are in the here and now, or in the moment. The Ego, the mightily destructive ego has nurtured itself, very quietly, unobtrusively, alongside and in conjunction with, the tape recordings.

    The Spirit, with all of it’s hopes dreams and desires, inspirational ideas and a limitless number of possibilities in life. It sees with eyes that have no boundaries and offers you a glimpse of the potential you can attain. Then we have the soul, in its warm, comfortable, cup of cocoa and slippers kind of way. It resonates with security, familiarity, good times, happy times and laughter.

    In this order of understanding, the five aspects of the I in Me, offer at best, stagnation, and at worst, a backwards movement within our lives. This is due to one reason, and one reason alone – the Ego. It does everything it can to maintain the I in itself and doesn’t care how it does this, so long as it does. Ultimately this severs the connection to the Spirit and Soul – self.

    If, in understanding of the detremental role the Ego plays, we can reverse the list, for as soon as we shine the spotlight of awareness on it, it’s power and influence decreases and our lives take on new meaning, with the inclusion of all the five aspects. This in turn allows us to start making new recordings that are not ego centered, and are for the benefit for both ourselves, and all of those around us : –

    Soul, Spirit, Ego, Sub-conscious, Conscious.

    A Conscious – “A Being – For – Itself”

    A Sub-conscious – “A Being – In – itself”

    “The Being – For – Itself can take control of it’s own life and use it’s conscious thought to direct it’s own purpose. Whereas, the Being – In – Itself, can only be what it is, and what others use it for. ”

    Sartre.

    So, again, in a reality according to Freud, there are three parts to the Sub-conscious mind. The ID, the Superego, and the Ego. He equated the ID to a primal function that evokes life and death instincts. The Superego, which developed as a result of the ID’s growing awareness – albeit at a primal level, to create a concurrent awareness that would be defined, in it’s entirety, by the first seven years of it’s life. The last, and by no means least, is the Ego. Every other thing, that life has thrown , or indeed shown, this person, has gone into the mixture that makes up the Ego. So there should only be two areas of focus for all of us – the Superego and the Ego.

    The Superego is created in the first seven years of your life – your brains are operating on a different frequency to the one you are using now – Theta Waves. Have you ever heard the saying,
    “ahhh……just look at ’em, taking it all in”
    That is exactly what is happening, taking it all in, recording, recording the rules of life’s game – possibly so that the ID can get a little satisfaction. The most bizzare thing there is, is that we programme our children to conform, right from the get-go. The first 7 years of any sphere of influence you may have of the child, will help/or hinder, to create their own reality. The Jesuit priests are well accredited with the saying,
    “Give me the child until it is seven years of age, and I will show you the man. ”

    The Ego is next. So when you think about it, this little puppy is built entirely of sand. Sand that was put there by someone else, and not nesessarly with the best of intentions. People dissapointments, perpetuating self doubts and an increasing sence of ‘what’s it all about?’ Moments of joy, wonder and gladness, tinged with tears of remorse, regret and self-recrimination. But, as I say, this reality has it’s foundations in sand and therefore should be viewed somewhat objectively. There should be no power struggle with the Ego – just understanding, acceptance, and a wry smile.

    If anything is to change in your life, then look at the first seven years of life with reality and objectivity – knowing at all times that the best intentions were on display that day, for where that person was at, on that day. This offers the beginnings of a new, individual understanding – it doesn’t have to be a massive thing, it may seem quite insignificant – but it may be significant enough to keep the balance out of your life. It’s at this point that you either allow your past to control and define you, or you allow your past to console and re-define you – the choice is yours.

    I guess the only way you could judge something to be good or bad, would be in remembering how it made you feel. But that in itself may be tainted with the external protocal responses that the Ego has picked up along the merry way. Any which way, this is the starting point of, well, anything you want really – with an acceptance of any toxic human conditioning, for what it was. This will then open up the doors to the hall of the mighty Ego. Knowing that there is a reason why you feel the way you do, or live the life you lead, or worse still, dont lead.

    “You cannot achieve a positive change unless your Ego is also directing this, as it is the organising principle of the ordinary mind. If the Ego has become fully involved in gradual misaligned confusion, it will not permit positive change but only persue affirmation of ingrained belief.”

    Domo Gesha Rinpoche.

    The only way to change your reality is to start with the conscious mind. This little bad boy needs to be converted from a connector, to a creator. As a connector, the conscious mind facilitates the perpetual, everyday and seemingly everlasting, mental roundabout that you find yourself on. It knows no better, because thats always how it’s been done. Simply re-inforcing the tape recordings that are keeping you where you are, spinning and spinning and not knowing the reasons why. As a creator, however, it is in a league of it’s own. The conscious mind now has to undertake the most bizzare period of, what can only be described as, unusual, unusual and maybe a little bit delusional. Repetition from the conscious mind will gradually start to erase the old recordings, and lay down bright, shiny, new digitally remastered ones. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change – so true, all day long, so true.

    The information about yourself, being fed by the conscious, to the sub conscious needs to reflect the real you, the who you are, what you see your contribution to be, and as much positive self talk as you can muster. I found I was encouraging myself and my subconscious was like, “you what, you really just said that you are going to write a book” and then hear the internal laughter – it will happen. Persistance, belief in yourself, and an acceptance that you may feel a bit weird from time to time. This, after an amount of time, the universal shifting begins – your sub-consciousness buys into all that the conscious has been telling it. It buys into it and sets about, doing everything in it’s collective conscious, to facilitate it.

    For me, the next step has been very illuminating – that of the synchronicities, synchronicities and their perfectly orchestrated little nuggets of joy, that guide us along the way. The first job of the day for me was to move some medical equipment from the maternity block to Interventional. My next job was to collect eight units of blood from the blood bank,and to take them to Interventional – there was a ladies name on the blood. The third job was to collect a patient from the maternity block, and take them to interventional – it was the same lady as I had previously collected the blood and moved the equipment for. These things are all around us and are there to be seen, appreciated, and maybe even acted upon. It is in taking time to stop, breathe and observe, that we allow ourselves to see them.

    In having an Ego, that is an imposter from the ground up, we somehow block the flow with the Spirit and Soul parts to ourselves. I guess this could be why there may be a sence of emptyness, devoid of any tangeable meaning or purpose. But stop the flow it does, and in shining a light of understanding, acceptance, and with a wry smile, we can help it to work in our favour. It is then, and only then, does the Spirt and the Soul, have the room to manouvre, space to influence, and, at last, a chance to participate. You have been firing on three cylinders, when in actual fact, you have five – it’s just the blockage in the Sub-conscious Ego, was stopping them from working. Clear the blockage, and you’ll be firing on five, all day, every day – and that will make such a difference in your life.

    I see, hear, touch taste and smell things differently. The reality that is looking at me, and I, still in my amazement, I am gleefully staring back at – safe in the knowledge that it is of me, by me, and for me – is truely incredible. You never seem to be answering life’s questions on your own anymore. A great big ginormous, ever so tiny, life-sync will blip. The blip will pulsate the waves, the waves will pulsate your life. I never really truely understood what it meant to ‘let go’ and to ’embrace the new you’ , but I do now. Humility – not by thinking less of yourself, but by thinking of yourself less. Servitutde. Unchained and Unconditional – from Soul to Soul, with a contract written in eternity. In remembering that everything starts with you. Take the time to look after your Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual well-being. In that moment that you undertake to look after your Physical, Emotional and Spiritual well-being, you do it not only for yourself, but for Source, and for Humanity.

    The connection between the Soul and Subconscious mind is a tangeable pathway that is prone to blockage. If the connection pathway between the two has been blocked (by the Ego), then the pre-determined lifestyle recordings, are free to keep playing as they wish. Once the Ego is accepted, evaluated and integrated, then the blockage is removed and an environment for change has happened. You need your Souls help reprogramming your Subconscious mind. The Consciousness is the voicebox of the Ego – assimilate the Ego on your terms, and the conversation via the Consciousness changes. Whilst you continue to be directed by the Ego-realised Consciousness, you will remain unchanged and unaware – save that little voice from time to time as your Soul tries to re-establish contact. Your personality is an accumulation of an eternity of Consciousness and is the purest, truest reflection, of yourself that there is. This is why the connection with it – ie, the Soul, is so important.

    So important – it is your Eternal Consciousness, an acumulation of the very essence of you. The personality, the long established likes and dislikes, the comfortable, snugly fitting you – the always looking out for the best for you. The importance of it’s symbiotic, solitary, connectedness is massive, and serves no other purpose, when not connected, to detract from you – the real you. There is ia very definate link between all 5 aspects of the I in Me, yet it is in isolating, identifying and assimilating each one individually, do we begin to see all gears moving in unison. We start the car off in first gear, and as momentum builds we move to second.

    And as momentum builds, we move to third – and so on. How we live our lives, what we project into the world, and, indeed, our own mental imput, provides the momentum, it is by moving through, and in understanding of, our five gears – Conscious, Subconscious, Ego, Spirit, and Soul, do we elevate our existance, experience, and reality in this world.

    If there is any reason for all that you have just read then it is this, I genuinely believed that Freud underestimated the role that the ID plays in the percepted reality we experience. He postulates that the ID and the SuperEgo must form an alliance, and ideally, an equilibrium, in order to facilitate the Ego. I would suggest that the ID should be considered an entity in it’s own right – despite being viewed as a non-programmable part of the brain. Something, an essance, that is just there, that is. This is where your Soul resides, your Soul and intuition. Your personality, and therefore Soul, is an accumulation of an eternity of Consciousness and is the purest, truest reflection of yourself that there is. It holds your past life memories and the blueprint for this one. How can this be a sub plot in the creation of ones life?

    ‘It starts in the Mind, and starts in the Spirit, and starts in the Soul.

    Life must change, and in doing so, opens up new, unexplored, undreamed avenues to a new reality of what lies beyond.

    There is no comprehension, dreams are limited, and yet exceeded.’

    Paul Tomkinson

    The Sub-conscious mind however, really is, the Person within the person – or at least one part of it is. According to Freud, there are two distinct, individual parts to every human beings sub-conscious mind. The Descriptive and the Dynamic. This is where you map out your life, your very thoughts shape the world you live in, your good days and bad, are all created here. The descriptive is the totally submissive – being culpable only by default – Programme Storage and Manifestation. A personal library that simply provides the shelves, nothing more, no input, no opinion – it has been your life so far, that is responsible for filling the said shelves. The Dynamic however, tells you who you are, what to belive, what is right, what is wrong. This is where we come unstuck – none of it’s actually ours. Did I mention the fact that this is where the Ego also lives – all three parts to her.

    Reply
    • To says

      April 10, 2020 at 11:13 pm

      This is a really great describtion. I also like the part where you said the only through changing the conciouss you can Change reality. And I agree, only through changing the connection between your thoughts you can Change the result. I think this is the only thing how we can kind of practice free will. There is no other way…

      Reply
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