“Don’t get rid of ego” is the conclusion of what just took me 9 minutes to read. Surprisingly, it’s similar to my musing about ego last year.
Ego is Separation
Without Ego, we’re not a human in our current life. We’re not Jack, Jill, Joko, Juwita, Jihun, Jihye, Jan, Janneke, with a date of birth and a bucketful of cultural upbringing from our family and other social groups.
Without Ego, we’re one big blend of humanity and everything else in this universe, coming from the same land of rainbows and clouds (pardon the lame imagination). This big blend sends trillions of droplets to live as multiple organisms on earth.
In short, Ego brought us to Life.
Separation evolves into Categorization
By being an entity called human, we recognize the separate existence of other humans, too. They come in shapes, colors, and sizes. Ego helps us survive on earth by categorizing the differences.
Once Ego turns into Categorization, stop there. Do not evolve it any further, because it will lead you to a downward spiral of suffering.
Categorization reminds us of the greatness that is our shared origin. It must be so great that it contains all of us the multiple shapes, colors, and sizes that sometimes surprise us the first time we encountered them.
When Ego starts to get Wild
When it starts to be Comparison, ego no longer sees only a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. It’s no longer about the difference, but whether the difference is more than or less than, better or worse, good or evil, right or wrong.
We are on earth to learn from each other’s differences, not to undermine them. When you see someone with lower economic power living as your neighbor, doesn’t it say how strong they are living with a limited means in the standard defined by your neighborhood? When you see someone who doesn’t speak your language fluently, doesn’t it mean they must speak another language that you probably won’t be able to learn in your lifetime? When you see someone whose physical appearance is not pleasant to look at yet fully living their life, doesn’t it tell you that what matters in Life is what we think and do instead of how we look?
On the other hand, we may admire others but undermine our self. We become insecure or we wish to have the “good” things that others have. That is where Envy creeps in. Further away, we get Hatred. We hate everything that makes us feel insecure. This is the downward spiral.
If we manage to tame our Ego before it starts getting wild at Comparison, we can stay learning. Learning is the fuel to growth, and growth is what we need collectively as one big blend of humanity and everything else in the universe to return to our greatness.
If Comparison wants to take control, direct it to compare your past and present, as a measure of growth. Stay learning. Don’t let it take you to regrets.
Tame the Ego by staying in the present, the here and now.
Ego is the great vehicle we ride to navigate Life. Let’s keep it at the basic functions we need in order to survive Life. Why can’t we keep it just like we keep our breathing?
It takes endless struggle to do it! I’ve been managing by being gentle to myself and keeping my intention on learning and growing.
Thanks for reading.
PS: Read further into that 9-minute article touching psychology and spirituality.
