Rare indeed is the person who is not ruled by the raging ego. Rare is the person who is free from this jealous, insecure, shrieking tyrant.
Any person who has fears of inadequacy, however small, is not free of the ego. It is telling her, nothing that you presently have or are, matters. As long as you don’t have a degree, your teeth are crooked, you’re the wrong shape, you don’t have enough money, you’re not married, or any one of a myriad of conditions you impose upon yourself, you are not good enough.
Any person who wakes up with vague, unspecified anxiety is not free. Ego has ridden him well, filling his mind with possible frightening outcomes so that he, like some poor prisoner, has lost the ability to determine his own mood. Ego has this person firmly in hand. When he wakes up with anxiety, he casts his mind over the frightening areas of his life and quickly finds one to be anxious about.
No one who worries even the least bit about what others think of him is free. It is only the ego that forces you to worry about how you are seen. The real you knows who you are, and that you are genuine, real and valuable. Ego does not want you to know this, and so fills your mind with questions of self-worth and importance.
No one who values any person differently than another is free. If you exhibit a more deferential attitude talking to your boss than to the janitor, what are you doing except promoting the interests of the little self?
You hope for more from the boss: he can give you money, raises, promotions, importance and attention. Ego loves to keep you thinking about these. But reflect: if you truly didn’t care about these rewards because your larger Self knew that your needs were always going to be taken care of, this would free you to give the boss and the janitor the same deference. It is thus only the ego that makes you see differences in people.
I must be genuine
It is only the ego that nurses grievances, takes offence, begrudges the good of others, gossips, and secretly rejoices in misery. If you truly believed you were perfect, and could access this perfection anytime at all, nothing could move you to slight or injure your brothers. It is not in the ego’s interest that you realize that the thing you wish to be, you are already, so it keeps your mind frantic with thoughts of littleness and fears of destruction.
Rise up and say: I have no use for this
Ego loves comparisons. Whether you win or lose by them matters not at all. If you think you are smarter, better, more powerful, beautiful and important than others, or the opposite, worthless and powerless, either way you are preoccupied with questions of self-worth, and overtaken by emotions.
When you are occupied by questions of self-worth, Ego has won
But Ego itself is monstrously insecure. It worries constantly that you will wake up and know the truth about yourself. It is afraid that you will soon see there is another way. The only way to prevent this is to keep your mind racing with doubts and fears.
Ego loves emotions, turmoil and drama.
If you want to thwart it, seek out quiet places and emptiness. There, it does not like to come.
If you want to thwart it, practice calling it out. Tell yourself, “I see that my insecurity in this situation is a manipulation of the ego, and I choose to set it down right now.” Each time you do this, a cosmic muscle is strengthened and Ego is weakened. It cannot survive after this, no more than a two-legged chair can stand. Once the process is started, it must be complete. Thus do you practice and perfect eluding its grasp.
