Is the Ego the Enemy?
Calling a Truce on the War Within
“When the ego dies, the soul awakes.” — Mahatma Gandhi
The wise caution us: the ego, they say, will see to our soul’s undoing. Insecure, fragile, and pleasure-seeking — the little “i” lies in wait, slowing our pace on the path to enlightenment.
The thinking self, the sages claim, distorts reality. Wrapped up in the particulars of survival, status, acceptance, and need, our shrunken social selves seek immediate gratification.
It is not that our primal nature is malicious in its intent — only that its childlike longing for what is easy mocks our every attempt at evolution.
We are told that the little “i” must die if our soul is to ascend. But is this necessarily so?
Setting the Captive Free
I cannot help but pity the ego. It is a ready scapegoat: it bears the burden of every part of the self we wish to reject. It is not that we err — it is that our lesser nature causes us to slip up. And we are not superficial — it is hedonism that provokes us to be materialistic.
The ego, some say, is the shadow our souls cast as we approach the Light. But what lives in the shadows looms large in the mind.
When we seek to dispose of our subjectivity and distance ourselves from the ego, we merely drive it deeper into the recesses of ignorance, far beyond the reach of our conscious awareness.
To preserve the sanctity of the soul, whatever we identify as low or unworthy becomes the essence of the ego.
But is this battle we wage within a just war? Must we fight the ego? Must the ego die that we may live?
Toward a New Way of Thinking
Small and particular as it may seem, I believe individuality is a grand and sacred thing.
The ego is the seat of our self-awareness: it empowers us to make sense of our environment and skillfully navigate the complexities of life.
Far from being a source of evil in the world, the ego plays a formative role in our ascension by helping us develop strong values, nuanced beliefs, and a conscience.
The sense of purpose we feel, the desire to awaken spiritually, the drive towards altruism and community — all these things are integral elements of our personal identity.
We reincarnate to experience the material world of the senses, to set down roots on the physical plane so that our souls can evolve.
As the control center of our earthly consciousness, the ego gives us perspective and helps us understand our relationship to the world (in particular) and the Universe (more broadly).
This is an essential function — so why shame the ego for doing precisely what it is designed to do?
The Ego is a Mirror
In reality, the ego is empty: It is simply the vessel that carries emotions to our conscious awareness for examination and transformation.
Take, for example, jealousy.
When we happen upon a grand and beautiful being, and we experience envy at the sight of them, our Spirit is trying to tell us something. By drawing attention to where we feel small, insignificant, and out of alignment, our awareness instructs us, pointing out all the areas that need healing and care.
The ego is not the jealousy we feel — it is the Divine Awareness that makes jealousy visible.
There’s a mirror-like quality to the ego whereby it takes on the form of the essence it calls our attention to. It points to envy — we falsely identify the ego as envious.
But the truth is, the ego is the container — not the thing contained: it is the mirror — not the reflection.
In fits of ignorance or frustration, we mistakenly see the ego as petty or wrathful or flawed: but the ego is not at fault — our false identification with the shadows it sheds light on — this is the issue.
Some see individuality as nothing more than the outward-facing part of the self we show to the world; they believe the ego is deficient and endlessly seeks acceptance, pleasure, and power.
I disagree with this damning sentiment.
I define the ego as a tool for spiritual growth and expansion: it is our divine spark and our unique expression of the Almighty.
The Creator and all of Creation are one and the same. This false division between high and low, big and small is the hunter’s snare — it traps us in illusory awareness.
The Supreme Consciousness is an emptiness that contains all things. And because our unique, individuated consciousness is a fraction of the Greater Whole, the ego is also a sacred thing.
We are, at our core, blessèd beings: and every part of who we are is worthy of reverence, compassion, and understanding.