The myth of the healthy ego was created by an unhealthy ego and has been sustained by unhealthy egos –unavoidably - because Ego is an unhealthy mental disposition derived from a competitive survival instinct.
In our human existence we feel a compulsion to survive –to breathe, eat, sleep in order to pursue the life that we have emerged into but something else happens when we become alive in human form in a physical construction in a material world - we are faced with having to function in an environment that is unreal, merely a surface layer and in a form that is not who we truly are – and this has mental and emotional consequences in varying degrees from minimal to extreme in each of us.
Our truth is that we are not separate beings, we simply manifest as such in this world in order to discover that truth and we have been trying to learn this for thousands of years. Our origin is simply consciousness without form and that awareness is a collective energy field that operates in a different domain, a different dimension with a higher frequency. Our truth is where there is no labelling because there is no differentiation, it is oneness.
Being manifested out of that origin and into the world we know creates a different level of consciousness that is termed ignorance and unconsciousness and the challenge for each of us is to return to greater consciousness while still living in the everyday world.
This is where Ego needs to be recognised and understood because when Ego is in control of your thoughts and emotions you cannot achieve a higher consciousness. Fortunately it is easy to start this process: just begin to watch your own mind and your own behaviour and quickly you will also see Ego displayed in others.
The Ego is a survivalist strategy born out of the immense shock that arises to be manifested out of oneness and into a physically separate body during worldly existence. The transition period – gestation in the womb – involves being attached just to your mother. Once the cord is cut you face life as a physically separated being whose mission is to transcend through your consciousness that appearance of aloneness and separation – since in the bigger picture you are not separate or alone at all.
But who teaches us that? All the great spiritual masters over thousands of years have delivered this message but ignorance still clouds the interpretation and comprehension of their truth. The Ego particularly is not interested in the scenario of a connected oneness because it that is in complete contradiction of everything that feeds the Ego.
In our human discomfort due to thinking we are separate and thinking in categories and labels, races, classes, cultures, genders the mental constructs surrounding all these differences and distinctions are the breeding ground for competitive, diversive, conflicting and ultimately destructive and annihilating urges.
This process reveals the activity of the Ego at its most fundamental level –seeing others as competition, different, dangerous. In other words a threat, a source of anxiety.
To varying degrees living as a human is inherently a period of mental illness due to the fear and ultimately paranoia that builds in the mind when a person subconsciously believes they are disconnected. Most definitely there is unease, discontent, unhappiness, frustration at the conscious level in many humans but that can intensify if the disconnection is more severe, into murderous acts, mass killing and a range of antisocial criminal behaviours where there is no insight or awareness of what led to those acts.
Those humans who do feel more connected are easily more attuned to the natural world, more respectful of life and other beings. Others show strongly a greater propensity towards the sort of behaviour that snuffs out life. Through thousands of years it has been primarily those in male form who show greater disconnection but unless the present trajectory is altered, more humans in female form will follow this life-opposing disposition.
In the era of the Selfie we are not witnessing an upsurge in confident happy people. We are witnessing more Ego, more display of “look how beautiful/sexy/successful/rich/happy/influential I am – in general more “look at me” and the rise in body alterations from botox to butt lifts to extreme workouts says the same thing. More desire to be better than, to inflate an underlying deflated sense of self.
The pathways followed by Ego are mentally unhealthy because there is an inclination to become progressively more extreme when one fix after another –just like a drug –fails to satisfy that deep yearning for connection. You can never find what you are looking for if you are looking in the wrong place: most definitely the world of form with its experiences of loss and change is not where that search for connection is fulfilled. Only by accessing the sensation and the knowing that we are not inherently physical, that our body is just an outer layer, a vehicle that is inhabited by energy –not a personal energy but a shared collective energy we are all tapped into but mostly unknown, undetected – only by knowing this can we wake up from our sleep-life and remember we are connected to everyone, everything.
Until then your Ego has full control of your mind but it will die gradually once you start watching it perform all the tactics and tricks used to get attention [which means pull energy from or control others ] –fame and notoriety are the same in Ego terms because both make you Somebody in your own mind. Even ill health, disease and disability can be hijacked by the Ego to command a lot of attention and control. Your sad life story can also be continually recited to try to inflate your significance.
It’s all pointless and best abandoned in view of the larger context of who you truly are. Each life is incredibly short and nothing more than consciousness is left when you disintegrate. You have the opportunity to tap into this consciousness before that occurs. This is not only of personal benefit but will spill over to benefit every person, animal, living plant you interact with while you are still in human form – overall your higher consciousness has literally universal benefit – the whole of creation.
So choosing to disable your Ego is the kindest most compassionate act you can offer this world - and it simply begins with seeing it perform because that observer is your higher consciousness being brought to the surface.
It may shock you to record how many instances of Ego you enact every day when interacting with others.
Social media is a popular device for self-inflation. Fishing for compliments re your clothing and appearance is a vintage tactic. Talking about your problems, moaning and complaining all fit the Ego’s needs. Even arguing in order to win people over is a weakness of the Ego in its attempts to feel empowered. None of these deliver any lasting benefits: they are as useful as a hit of sugar.
To extract yourself from this addictive mental pattern means to witness and observe yourself and others closely and requires alert focus or simply being fully present. The more we multitask or converse without listening or drive without focussing or walk into a room and ask “What did I come in here for?” we show that we have shifted away from the reality of the present and allowed our Ego dominated mind to operate us like some remote controlled device. Learning how to focus just on each task, each person with full attention pulls the mind back to the only real existing input – anything else is a mental distraction regarding what has already happened/been said or what might happen/be said in the future – neither exist and by distracting your mental attention with past and future you miss whatever life opportunity is being presented to you immediately in the moment. You may discover that each of those moments is a precious opportunity – or you can choose to keep missing them because you cannot see the reason, the actual significance.
Living life with your Ego disabled opens up much greater depth of calm and contentment. The discovery of paradoxes like this is a joyful experience: knowing that we have misled ourselves terribly in our fearful attempts to adapt to the physical world – and yet it can be undone, our illusions and delusions and ignorant ways can be abandoned. We can live in the world but be not of it – as recommended by one of the masters of wisdom. The question is when will you reach enough suffering to decide that there is that other way.
It has been said that the Meek will inherit the Earth. Who are the Meek? The Meek are those who function in the world without Ego, whose contributions are for the collective good not for personal acclaim.
It has been said that the Meek will inherit the Earth. Who are the Meek? The Meek are those who function in the world without Ego, whose contributions are for the collective good not for personal acclaim.
From an astrological perspective the two main axes of the chart reflect this distinction between outer Ego-based personality -which is the Ascendant or rising sign being on the horizontal plane and the other dimensional aspect of being which is reflected in the Midheaven sign which is on the vertical plane. By examining your birth chart you may see how this expresses or is yet to express if you have not yet accessed fully the potential of your midheaven sign - which often is connected not simply to the worldly possibilities of career or public life, but also to vocation, which means "calling" - the deepest urge from within to express your true essence in this lifetime. This is where your Ego-less contribution can be described and pursued through paths which match that astrological energy.
These thoughts are distilled from the writings of Eckhart Tolle in addition to Buddhist philosophy and personal cross-disciplinary enquiry over recent decades
