If you’ve been following our page, you may have noticed that we talk about the ego often. But what is the ego, exactly? 

First, let me ask you a few questions. 

Have you ever felt like you lost control of your emotions and said something you regretted after? 

Do you ever feel certain things that you know in your heart aren’t part of who you are?

Have you ever felt anger, jealousy, fear, vanity, gluttony, depression, pride, lust, or any emotion that is at conflict with your best self?

Unless you’re an enlightened being, it is likely that you have experienced these before. And that’s the ego. The ego is that part inside of you that isn’t necessarily what you consider to be the best version of you. The ego is the opposite of what we think of as our Soul. Our Soul is altruistic, full of love, it holds peace and kindness and all the higher virtues that we admire in Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna. 

We all have these two opposing forces inside of us, which is why we are facing a constant, unspoken inner battle. You probably have felt the conflict between your Ego and your Soul because we ideally want to be our Higher Self all the time, yet we act with our Ego because most of us have developed that side quite strongly.  

Do you remember when you were a child operating from a moment to moment consciousness? We were all pure when we entered the Earth, but gradually, desires began to control our being. The Ego runs on desires. Think about it, why do we get angry? Usually because we want the other person to suffer as much as we did. Why do we feel envy? Probably because we feel like we deserve what someone else has. Why do we feel lust? Because we want to satisfy a sexual craving. And if you start to analyze every single Ego that you carry inside, you’ll realize that a desire lies closely behind it.  

This is why it is said that the root of all suffering is desire.

If we weren’t so entangled in wanting more than to be at peace in the present moment, we wouldn’t be dealing with so much Ego. And our society doesn’t make it any easier. The television is full of products promising us happiness. Lust and violence are constantly being thrown at us in the media. We are being tempted everywhere we look. It’s as if we are walking in a minefield! 

It truly isn’t easy to get away from the Ego. This entity is so deeply ingrained in our being that it tricks us into believing it is actually who we are. This is why we have to be very aware of its energy and to be able to discern it from our Soul. How can we do this? Well, there is no quick fix, but we can acquire more concentration and consciousness to see. 

If we apply practices of meditation in our daily lives, we will strengthen our concentration (we will have an article with different meditational practices that can help you, but for now try concentrating on an anchor like your breath or your heartbeat for as long as you can). Concentration allows us to be firm and in the moment without allowing our minds to constantly wander away with any thoughts of desire. 

We also have to learn how to watch our thoughts constantly.

Whatever thought takes away your peace isn’t yours, it comes from the Ego. Ego thoughts tend to give us anxiety, which can be felt in our bodies through tension or in the way we breathe with more difficulty. When you feel at ease with yourself, you’ll know you’re working from a higher place. This is how you can discern these two forces working inside of you.

We are each a work of art. We cannot pretend that a masterpiece can be created in one day, and same goes with our Soul. It is through the purification of our Being that we will acquire true bliss. Desires promise us happiness, but truly, they are only a temporary fix that will never satisfy our thirst. This is why it is important to work on ourselves daily. If we don’t work on becoming better, we will stall or regress. The same way we acquire any skill, we must work persistently and passionately towards liberation, otherwise, we will remain slaves to the Ego. Only consciousness can free us. Will you awaken or remain asleep?