Spirituality and self-help teachings know the ego very well and allowing it to subjugate your mind and body can have many effects.
A world within you that mystifies you, a constant battle with your inner thoughts, and the way it processes your ideas is a matter of introspection.
I will guide you through the best way to overcome your ego and get rid of the restlessness, stress, and anxiety you live with.
If you embrace the world we live in, you may soon realize that you live in a better world and you deserve the best.
Incorporating this into your life will help you overcome your inner perceived weakness, frugality of love, and poverty of thought.
With that being said let’s understand first what really it is?
What is Ego?
Your ego is your conscious mind, the part of your identity that you consider your “self.” If you say someone has “a big ego,” then you are saying he is too full of himself.’
Frankly speaking, it can mean a lot of things when someone says, “you have an ego.”
Essentially, it depends upon who is saying it and to whom it is being said. In other words, it depends upon the ego definition that both the parties have in their own personal minds.
However, in day-to-day conversation, having an ego may mean any of these things — being egotistical, self-centered, proud, overbearing, shy, having a grandiose sense of self, or any other such things.
Interestingly, in reality, you may not have these qualities within you; it all depends upon the perception of the other person. It may be that it is their ego that they are subconsciously projecting upon you and observing the ego traits within you.
So, can you see here, how ego definition is a very deep and complicated affair?
Describing Ego
In layman’s terms, ego is the identity of the individual self that one has. In Freudian and Jungian terms, it is the center of your awareness and the framework of your individual being.
Whatever comes to your mind when you think of yourself, is your ego. Your ideas about yourself, your beliefs, ideologies, social and communal affiliations, desires, fears, and much more constitute your ego.
Examples such as:
“I am a more ethical person than my colleagues.”
“I am much better at my work than others.”
“Will I become a great person someday?”
“I don’t think I will ever become this (or that).”
“Will I be able to become a successful doctor?”
Why doesn’t he/she love me? What is wrong with me?
Is she prettier than me?
All these types of perceptions, assumptions, and questions come from your own personal minds.
Spiritual ego meaning
Although similar to the definition of ego, there are some other associations with the term ego when we consider it from an esoteric point of view.
Spiritually, ego is the veil of individual personality that bars you from having a universal existence.
It is because of our self-obsession that we get the perception of separation from other beings, the universe, and God. Also, this separation by ego is the root cause of all sufferings in the world.
As The Buddha says,
Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning?
The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning.
— Adittapariyaya Sutta: The Fire Sermon
So, why is everything burning? It is because of the ego and its false perceptions.
Burning with what? Burning with desire, hate, delusion, griefs, and despairs.
All of these are facets of your pride causing a sense of separation from the universal or higher consciousness.
What Does It Mean To Let Go Of Your Ego?
As we have just learned, having an ego is no good. So, the next question comes to mind — what does it mean to have no ego?
The answer seems apparently simple, but with the most significant consequences.
Letting go of means letting go of our constructed sense of self and identity. It means letting go of our beliefs, ideas, desires, attachments, and even our thoughts as we know them.
In the process, we keep removing the veil that bars us from our universal existence and higher consciousness. And thus, eliminating the root cause of suffering.
So, having no ego means accomplishing the 3 highest goals of human existence —
- Being free from pain and suffering.
- Being united with universal existence and higher consciousness.
- Becoming Limitless
There are plenty of other fantastic side-effects of becoming egoless, but these 3 are the most significant. To learn more about how to get rid of your ego, read our post on ego dissolution.
What are the signs?
This can develop in you and you may not be aware of it, here it can have a disastrous effect on you.
You are constantly trying to improve yourself, but it seems to get stuck somewhere because you listen a lot but do not act accordingly.
Constant improvement makes you a better person, but in this case, you are not trying to correct the faults of your weaknesses.
How can I free myself from ego?
Practice meditation regularly, which will help you listen to your inner voice and explore the immense possibilities within.
It can sometimes make you a pessimist that keeps you from taking a big step that will help you move forward in your career.
What does it mean to let it go?
The best definition of letting go is participating in everyday activities and interacting with people.
So try to figure out what is holding you back, what is not allowing you to get out of a tight spot, and what is constantly keeping you trivial.
You will free yourself from the shackles of self-isolation, constant contemplation, and the feeling of self-pride.
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