What is ego? And why do we need to be free from it?

Ego is your false self, with the emphasis placed on SELF. It is born out of fear and defensiveness. Your true self is who you really are, the eternal you that is connected to everything and is at one with divine love. Ego’s purpose is to shield you from seeing the true you and your spiritual identity, and thereby keep you in darkness.

But as insidious as ego is, without it you can never know the real you. You have to pass through the false illusion before you can see the true reality.  It’s like the stars at night. You would never be able to appreciate the beauty of the bursts of light if it wasn’t for the backdrop of darkness. Ego, therefore, plays a critical role in discovering who you are.

When you came into this world your ego had not yet been shaped. You were in a state of innocence. The first person you became aware of was your mother. She may have hugged and kissed you, told you how beautiful you were – or conversely, pushed you away and rejected you. You would either have felt good about yourself – or experienced the pain and fear of being unwanted. Either way, at that point, an ego was born.

Then, shortly afterwards, other people joined in, either encouraging you and making you feel significant – or discouraging you to diminish your sense of self-worth. At that very early age your reaction was not what YOU really thought about yourself – instead, what OTHERS in your life thought about you. It was an indirect experience – but it became your OWN – which you continued to build upon, as you grew older.

This is ego … a reflection shaped by others instead of you … a by-product of living in this world with external influences … a wall that you allow to be constructed, imprisoning your true being, your amazing self.

Ego is a deceiver, camouflaging its true motives. It will pretend to guide you down the path to happiness and love – but its ways are the source of all misery. Working in partnership with your mind and thoughts, ego will even take your sincerest motives and send you false messages, to promote your own sense of self-importance. It will attempt to convince you that you are better than others, or that you are right and they are wrong, and so encourage you to believe the illusion of separateness, driving you away from being connected to your heart and the divine – and opening the door to pride, fear, and everything that is the antithesis of love.

Ego would have you look outside of yourself to discover yourself. But the real you can only be found by going within, connecting to your heart and to love.

So, how do you detach from ego and travel down the path of love?

We know that we use no more than 10% of our conscious mind. The other 90% is there, asleep in the unconscious realm of the soul, needing to be awakened. That’s where your true self is. But to make that journey requires courage and determination.

In the beginning, it will be hard to separate from ego – because it has been attached to your identity and feelings for so long. You may feel confused and miserable, like you’ve just lost a lover, or a best friend. And in many ways, you will have. But by consciously walking out of the shadows you’ll discover the light.

And that’s the key … you don’t make the transition to the real you by TRYING hard to let go of ego. It’s a simple act of surrendering to a higher power and recognizing ego’s ways as false that sets you free. That’s when ego has lost its power over you. Once the shackles have come off, it’s just a matter of choosing to consciously live centered within your true self and remain connected to divine love and God within.

~ Daniel Nielsen