Overcoming the Ego
What could be worse than our own ego?
It pretends to be us, it plays games with our reasoning, and it makes us imagine that which is not real. It is false, a construction, a dictator who gains control every time we feel a loss of self. Truly, it seems real when we make mistakes, embedding itself so far into our conscience. Because the ego is distinctly not us, we feel ashamed if we let it overwhelm us. And yet, there is a great joy in conquering it, because in turn we conquer ourselves.
It would seem that every vice, sin, and negative trait imaginable belongs to the ego. Damned be that little voice which undermines us, makes us question ourselves, and leads us to lose our composure. Damned be the guilt trips, the anxiety attacks, the uncertainty of our own scattered thoughts. Damned be that which isn’t us. Ego pretends to be us, but how can it be? No, something must be done about this abuser, this charlatan of the self who callously presumes to be our best friend, who shamelessly harasses our minds while we deal with the many struggles of being human.
Overcoming the ego is the equivalent of putting ourselves on trial — that is to say, it requires unimaginable commitment, honesty, and humility.
I would argue that it is a reactive entity which arises from external factors, and is especially present when we let someone’s actions affect our own.
For instance, It’s very easy to get frustrated with willfully ignorant people, emotionally manipulative people, or people who say things without a particular sense of direction, but that doesn’t mean it’s right to be frustrated with them. Perhaps these sorts of people test our patience, and it is right to say that we don’t benefit from engaging them. The ego is especially lacking in patience because it only serves to gratify us, even at the cost of our true self. It is usually the case that our reactions depend on something.
The true self is never dependent on anything for its being.
But in order to understand this maxim, one must renounce their impulsive emotions, faulty assumptions, unreal idealizations, as well as overbearing ambitions, and for some, that is all they have. It is wrong to say that we must renounce ourselves altogether — rather, we must renounce that which keeps us in chains, that which seems real but only exists in our attachments. It is attachment which gives ego purpose, and therefore, non-attachment takes ego away from its parasitic role in our lives.
Attachment is insatiable, and it has no limit.
The clinging produced by ego is quite enticing. It seems to motivate us towards happiness, but that happiness is contingent on what we subjectively want, rather than what we need. And, if we even took a second to consider what we actually need, rather than what we want, we’d no longer live the same way. No desire can be fulfilled without there emerging a secondary and tertiary desire, as if the vicious cycle is perpetually made to hurt us. And that, my friends, is why we must try to be focused on the greater good, and the betterment of our collective condition, rather than fulfilling our selfish wishes and living immoral, hedonistic existences.
The funny thing is, I’ve never met a truly egoless person. Perhaps it’s because they don’t participate in society. However, I always look to the Buddha, the World-Honored One, who renounced everything he had for the sake of enlightenment. He also taught the Way to many, many disciples, all of whom cried when he left them. And then I think, maybe one day another Buddha will come, and a new era of ego-overcoming will begin. Maybe all it takes is a vision of something more than we’re used to, crystallized as some words on a page. Even if they are never read, my ego won’t be hurt.
Thank you.
