In order to adapt and survive in a confusing fear-based negative world, the ego is a very effective program created by the mind, one specifically engineered to help us compensate and cope with the stress of feeling powerless, vulnerable, and exposed. The mind appears to offer us protection by creating a happier, braver, more confident and successful version of ourselves, but it just deceives us into becoming something that we are not, and worse, believing that this false representation of ourselves, is us. Under the spell of illusion, we are no longer able or care to separate our true selves from the facade we now wear. Unable to express itself, Soul, who should be the director and experiencer of life, under the ego, now becomes a sleeping prisoner.
The seamless layers and webs of ego constructions are diverse, deep, and tangled, driving some with low self-worth into a relentless life-pursuit of over-achievement towards materialistic goals. For others, feelings of powerlessness manifests into cold, aggressive, and abrasive ego personalities. Other insecure individuals bolster their egos by seeking out leadership positions in politics, law enforcement, and religious institutions. The most fragile and damaged egos band together in ‘us versus them’ mentalities. Rallying under the banner and fervor of nationalism, racism, and sexist divisiveness, they form dangerous and negative collectives of mass consciousness. Positive or negative, illusions or not, these many states of consciousness are simply experiences, stages that Soul must go through to spiritually evolve.
A day will come when we will wake up from our long sleep and realize that someone else has been living our life and making our decisions for us. When that day arrives, we will finally realize that none of these things we have identified with, placed so much attention and importance on, are us, nor will they aid us in our quest for spiritual freedom, truth and love. As scaffolding around a construction is taken down when the project is complete, so it must be with the Soul and its ego. When Soul awakens to its potential and natural state of unbounded connected brilliance, no longer will we hide behind anything, permit ourselves to be limited in any way, or pretend to be what we are not. Only when the mask of ego has been removed will one’s brilliance, beauty, and unique exceptional divine personality shine through!
