What is ego?
Normally, when one is not familiar with self-knowledge, philosophy or psychology, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear this word is something that has to do with the “inflated” concept of oneself, with the excess of self-esteem, for us, someone with a lot of ego, is usually someone who has a great concept of himself and we usually associate it with arrogance or even arrogance. This perception of the ego is correct, but it is not the only one.
On the other hand, when one has begun the path of self-knowledge and awakening of consciousness, surely one is already familiar with this other concept, which in some way has to do with “that part of me” that conditions my behavior.
If we consult the R.A.E., we find two different meanings:
Ego, from Latin: I
- Colloquially, excessive self-esteem.
- In Freud’s psychoanalysis, a psychic instance that is recognized as the self, partially conscious, that controls motility and mediates between the instincts of the id, the ideals of the superego and the reality of the external world.
As we can see, this second definition has more to do with “that part of me” we were talking about, but it is certainly not the most precise and clear, which leads to the fact that, since it is not a clear or exact definition, we can hear about the ego with different definitions or interpretations, depending on the context, situation or objective with which it is used.
Next, we will talk about the ego, its definition, its nature and how it affects us in our conscious awakening process, we will try to define a picture in broad strokes, so that if we understand what it is, what it is for and how it works, we will also understand and give an answer to what we are and how we function, since the journey of awakening of consciousness goes precisely through there, to be aware of the ego.
We understand the Ego as a survival mechanism, something we develop innately from the moment we are born and begin to make use of the mind. We call it a survival mechanism because in a way, it is designed for the purpose of survival, it helps us and protects us to subsist in the world.
The ego is that inner voice generated by the mind, which accompanies us on a daily basis and speaks to us non-stop in the form of thoughts. This inner voice is necessary and very useful to alert us of possible dangers or threats, since, without it, we would surely do things that would put us in danger.
The voice of the ego is generated by the mind and conditioned by our beliefs. For example, if we are walking down the street and we see a young boy with dirty and torn clothes, the ego voice might tell us in thought form “watch out, there is a danger of robbery”. This thought is based on a belief about people who look like that, probably originating from a bad experience with young boys with dirty and torn clothes, or directly implanted in our minds by things we have been told at home, by friends or on TV. Like this, we have thousands of beliefs of which we are not even aware and our mind generates several thousand thoughts every day through the voice of the ego.
Hence the importance of questioning our beliefs, because it is something we believe, but we don’t even know where they come from, and they don’t have to be real.
It is not about not believing the ego, but being aware of it, and that it is constantly lying to us. For example:
Has it ever happened to you that in the morning you look at yourself in the mirror and you look handsome and attractive and handsome, but that same day in the afternoon you look at yourself again and you look ugly and nothing has changed?
If this is so, but there really hasn’t been any obvious change to justify it, why do I still believe it? Which of the two thoughts is real? This happens because thoughts are also conditioned by emotions, so not being aware of our inner voice and that it can deceive us, makes us suffer.
Being aware of your ego, that your mind generates thoughts to observe them, and question them, does not make us live calmer, without so much suffering and stress.We tend to live tormented by thoughts about things that are not real and about threats that do not exist and never happen.
Here you can see an example of how the ego sabotages us.
Be aware of your ego, know yourself and wake up.
Don’t believe anything you just read, experience it and start thinking for yourself.
