Ego, what is it and why does it matter? (by Bam Steele)

The vast majority of people, no matter where you are from or what your political leanings or even your religious beliefs have a clear understanding of what ego is and as hard as this may be to hear I am afraid those same vast numbers of people are wrong. Well not wrong per se just an incomplete understanding of ego and the role it plays in everyone's life. When we are children, ego is needed so that we can form a solid healthy idea of self and in turn self-esteem but by the

time we hit puberty we should be starting to shed ourselves of the ego we have built for ourselves but sadly we don’t. We are so busy going to school, going on dates, getting into college, getting married, having families, etc. that we often don’t think much about ego and in so doing rarely see the effects it has on our lives and believe me there are many and they are what causes us the most pain and we rarely if ever know of the insidious nature ego has. Do any of you have that little voice in your head that tells you you can't do something, or that your not smart enough or any of the myriad of ways we talk ourselves out of something new? That is ego, your ego in fact exercising it’s considerable control over that and if you really pay close attention you'll see all other aspects of your life. If you have ever feared say getting on stage in front of a crowd, well that's ego. See a girl or boy you like but just when you start to approach

said object of your affection you are engulfed in anxiety so debilitating you not only don't approach the person but you don't really ever do anything, that's ego. One of the many ways ego stays in power is by alienating you from anyone who it feels threatened by, basically using you to continue causing you everything but happiness. When finally you have had enough and decide you are gonna do something about whatever is causing your life to be unfulfilled and through reflection or meditation you come across ego and realize it's harmful effects I decided right then that I was going to do whatever it took to free myself from this negative energy vortex I was engulfed within. Ego in the other hand had different plans and I was blind sided by it's tenacity and novel approaches it employed to keep me in check. Later, after much research, I came upon one of the tools I would need to master to dispel this self imposed guardian of my eventual happiness. Once anyone begins this journey of discovery and self realization we all start to hear about this thing, this art called non reaction. I was no different and my introduction to this oft misunderstood ability was brief but ultimately life changing. The concept is simple, ego does something negative as ego is want to do, you simply refuse to react to it. You make note of it, file it away, and you then ignore it. Over time the more you refuse to allow ego to dictate any aspect of your life, the greater your understanding and deployment of the art of non reaction will bring out in your significant other a part of yourself you didn't know

but that seemingly knew you. Ego has many tricks in it's arsenal of ways to keep you in the fold and it won’t hesitate to employ any of them. You on the other hand will have to learn to counter them all, it is possible to do this yourself but I wouldn’t recommend it. There are many people who feel it is their dharma to assist others through this very thing, check them out if it appears they have dispelled their own ego then by all means allow them to help you, I know from experience the amount of time and emotional energy expended can all but consume your life and a teacher of sorts can diminish the effect this may have on you. Plus if they are truly on the path send you truly want to grow then these people can be of great value to you and you can probably learn far more than you realize from your interactions with them.

Dispelling ego is no quick fix, no walk in the park, and definitely no sure thing, it’s tough and at times you may want to quit, to give up but don't because without this vitally important self help you cannot evolve spiritually, nor will you be able to have any sort of bliss in your life. I promise you though once you finally begin to dispel ego the more you will understand just how important it is and by this point it will be getting easier and easier until one day you'll find ego no longer has any bearing on your happiness and you finally are the captain of your own ship.

(by Bam Steele)