The ego is a powerful thing. It’s what makes us people. It’s the little voice in our heads that control our biases, ignorance, greed, hate, and delusion, but it’s also our compassion, love, and kindness. Our ego is what tells us to get angry and frustrated at the things that are dissatisfying and don’t go our way. It controls what we like and don’t like, who and what we like, love, and hate. It’s the cockiness that might sometimes make us feel like we’re the best, the number one at something(s).
But if we’re the best, the number one, that means there’s no room for improvement! So then what? As Buddhists, we’re always learning, growing, and developing our minds and wisdom. We never stop, we’re never the best, or the number one, and we’ll never know everything. Part of being Enlightened is the absence of ego. Once we let go and rid the ego, we won’t have anything holding us back – we don’t have attachments, greed, ignorance, and delusion.
Our ego isn’t something we can just let go and forget about. As we’ve grown into adults and into the people we are today, we have our ego to partially thank for that. Part of recognizing and seeing the “bad” side of our ego, is realizing the Self. I won’t claim I know in detail about the ego or Self, but this is briefly how I understand it. The Self. Our consciousness. The “thing” that is living through Samsara. To some, once we “see” and realize our true Self, it’ll scare our ego away and we come to the Aha! moment and understand emptiness; we become Enlightened.
The Self is the consciousness we have that’s going through the cycle of birth, sickness, and death – being dragged through the sufferings of all our rebirths. One does not just come upon knowing and seeing the true Self. We can understand it and know the way, or method(s), of the path to realizing the Self, but it takes many years, maybe even many lives, to Wake Up.
If you ever wake up in the morning and look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, “Who am I?” then that’s good! You’re closer to figuring out that question and finding your answer. It’s through deep and maybe some advanced methods of meditation that you can be on the path of finding Yourself. You are not you. You are a consciousness hosting this human body trying to find a way out. The way out of Samsara and into Nirvana.
In meditation, we try to shut up the talking voices – the thoughts and mind chatter. Our thoughts are like monkeys, swinging from tree to tree, going back and forth. We must learn to calm our mind. One of the first steps in calming it, is to recognize our thoughts. Practicing Vipassana meditation is helpful. Eventually, you want to advance to recognizing thoughts, feelings, sensations without using words. What I mean is just know that it’s a thought, feeling, or sensation, instead of saying, “thinking, thinking,” or “feeling, feeling.”
Hopefully and eventually you’ll enter Samatha, the quiet, tranquil, and calmness of the mind. A place of emptiness. Free from thoughts and distractions. It is in Samatha where your true Self can be revealed and found, a place where you can find true Liberation. Everyone has the potential to find their true Selves. Some might argue, “But I am real. I’m right here, reading this!” Well, yes. Yes you are. But who were you before you were you? Why are you where you are now? Why do you have the life you have, the parents that raised you, the struggle or fortune of a good or bad life? This is your Karma from past lives. Why were you born in the country that you were born in and not in a country on the other side of the world?
Your body is just a host. A hotel. A place where you check in (when you are born (conceived)) and check out (die). It’s just the utility to give you the means of finding your way out. The harder and longer we try, whether it takes one lifetime or many, the closer we are to checking out for the very last time and check into Nirvana!
Smile and be well!