The Role of Ego in shaping Human Experience

An exploratory journey within our own self.

Read the previous article for a better understanding of this article.

Although, this sense of separate self is an illusion but one can’t claim it to be non-essential. This sense of separate “Self” helps us in many aspects of survival. Basically, this ego or sense of separate identity is what adheres our consciousness to our physical body. It works as an adhesive for which we can move our body through space and time.

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” – Carl Jung

At its most primal, this ego or the sense of “this body is me” fiercely protects our body from danger. It triggers the instinctive reflexes at the time of physical danger. Pulling away from fire, dodging a speeding object or even navigating in our home without hitting the furniture is also positive outcomes of this ego. It awakens our necessities for basic physiological needs like food, clothing, shelter, warmth and reproduction while on the other hand it helps us socialize and also differentiate our peers in order of importance. It makes us competitive only to differentiate our sense of “Self” from the rest.

“The ego says, ‘I shouldn’t have to suffer,’ and that’s exactly what causes suffering.“ – Eckhart Tolle

It stimulates our sense of nationalism, neighborhood, brotherhood or even gender identities. But if we let ego unleashed- it not only devastates our lives but also it can bring Armageddon to this world. Now remember the ego of Third Reich Germany or the collective ego of Ku Klux Klan. Or even the primitive and sadist ritual of “Sati” in India where young widowed Hindu wives were thrown on alive on their husband’s pyres by their own families. These are just a fragment of what ego can do if left unleashed.  Even the hate laden threads on social media are also examples of ego going wild.

Jungian concept of Collective consciousness is real, this collective ego of nations or communities have often been manipulated by fascist, dictators, obnoxious religious preachers in the name of racism, patriotism or religious restoration.  A mob is nothing but a group of people whose ego has polarized them towards violence. All it takes is a message to trigger the collective ego of a group of people and boom, they’re armed against another group of people in the name of colour, creed, race, religion, gender or even nation. While on the contrary true leaders are the one who neutralizes this fear of polarity. Thus, all is the game of Ego- literally it saves us and it graves us.

“When you understand that your true nature is awareness itself, then you see that the ego is just a cloud passing through the sky of consciousness.“ – Thich Nhat Hanh

Thus, we can say that ‘ego’ in itself is bipolar in nature. It can either make us or it can also break us- all at once. It is a map but not the location itself. It is the tool but not the sculpture itself. Most spiritual learning teach us to distinguish between the sculpture and the tool, the location from the map. The more conscious you become (about these subtle differences)- the less travail you would face in navigating the complexities of life.

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You have read the second article, to read the prequel- click here.

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Disclaimer: Happiness or suffering has a lot to do with our consciousness and cognitive abilities. This article is an attempt to deep dive into the human consciousness by the author. From academic research papers, spiritual scriptures, science journals and interviews of different researchers of neuroscience and quantum physics, the author has tried to present his idea of human consciousness. It does not intend to hurt or discourage any belief, community, community, organization or individual. The study of consciousness has not yet been wholly included in mainstream science because science solely relies on evidences derived from sensory inputs, however consciousness is something beyond human sensory perception. Thus if you like the article or disliked it- we would love to hear your comments on it.