Transcend the Ego

When you are able to recognize the ego as simply an attachment to your values and feelings, you can transcend it. To transcend the ego doesn't mean to get rid of it - it means to see it for what it is, an illusion, a manifestation of the mind. This is why knowing the self is so important. The technique of being able to observe yourself while talking and listening is one of the best ways to self-observe. The knowledge of one's own identify releases the ego from the self. Your ability to recognize the ego for what it actually is depends upon how far you are willing to go in developing awareness.

A friend of mine recently had an experience of transcending the ego. He said, "I was at the airport last week waiting for my wife and some of her garden club friends to arrive from Georgia. While I was walking around inside the terminal, I was intentionally observing how the self would vacillate from being awake and aware to being egocentric. I was walking down the hallway and saw a drinking fountain and decided to go get a drink of water when a young woman walked in front of me heading for the fountain. My ego took hold, and I began walking faster. Observing this little reaction in the self led me to slow down, smile and graciously motion for her to go ahead. She smiled back and accepted my offer to go first. A feeling of well-being enveloped me with the knowing that it is possible to observe the self."

This was one simple gesture of tolerance between two beings that occurred by simply being awake in the moment. One wonders if that tolerance could occur between nations; it's nice to think that it could.

The ego as well as the self, is an illusion, pure and simple. They are both obstacles that stand in the way of becoming purely aware. Ideas about yourself and concepts of the outside physical world keep you from realizing that you are the same energy that is everywhere and in everything. By understanding how your ego works, you can slowly and steadily move further into the reality of what you truly are.

Next, we will take a look at how you can recognize awareness.