What is an ego death? In order to understand an ego death, we must first understand the human ego. And one of the best ways that I have heard the ego described is in Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. In this book, he talks about how the ego is essentially our perception of self, our self identity, who we think we are, our definition of self.
And he talks about how this begins forming when we are very young, when we are babies or toddlers, and we start to develop a self image that is based upon our relationship to all of the things in the external world. for example, if we are given a toy when we are a baby or a toddler, and our parents or our caretakers are enforcing the idea that, okay, this is your toy, this is my toy.
So I am now forming a definition of who I am based on my relationship to this thing that has now become my possession.
I now know who I am
based on my position to this thing that's outside of me.
we begin to develop this concept of self based on our relationship to all of the external things around us, our relationship to our caretakers, our other family members, our relationship to the things and experiences that we have and interact with throughout our lives.
And it compounds on itself. It accumulates and accrues as we continue to develop and grow up until our 📍 📍 📍 definition, the things that define our self image and who we believe that we are in the world, becomes a very long list. All of the preference that we have, all of the memories that we have all contribute and solidify this sense of self of who we think we are.
And so an ego is essentially our self image. And when somebody asks, who are you? 📍 📍 We naturally rely on that stack of experiences relegated to the external world to describe who we are. That's based on all of the experiences that I've had that have created that persona for me. Or I 📍 go to this school, I 📍 drive this car, I have this person as 📍 my partner and all of these things define my self image. So what does it mean to have an ego death? By the way, if you're enjoying this video, I will invite you to 📍 hit that like button to support this content and if you feel called subscribe to my channel
But what it means when we have an ego death means that we have a moment 📍 we start to disidentify with that 📍 identity with that self perception that self image The whole 📍 story of who we thought we were this whole time. It means that we start to question, is there something deeper?
To who I am, then this story or this narrative that I've been telling myself is who I am 📍 📍 my entire life. That's based on my relationship to the external world. Is there something internal that is the truth of who I am? And when we have an ego death, Uh, comes very spontaneously in my experience and it can be quite scary because we are faced with this epiphany, 📍 📍 if I'm not all of these things that I thought I was, then who am I?
And this is something that can only be experienced. We can talk about it, we can conceptualize it, we can try to define it, but the truth is. To have an actual ego death is 📍 only something that one can experience, and it is usually prompted by an awakening. Or the ego death and the awakening go hand in hand.
Because we start to realize that on a soul level, all of those stories about who I thought I was, are just a game that I'm playing. They're just temporary and actually they're not really who I am. And when we have an ego death, we have a visceral experience of this. And I remember when I had my own ego death, it was right after I had gotten sober 📍 📍 📍 📍 📍 and I had started reading the book, A New Earth, which is a great book for anybody who is interested in learning more about this stuff.
And I remember I was laying in bed one night and all of a sudden I started getting these flashes of all of these things that contributed to who I thought I was, who my family is, experiences that I had growing up and all these things. And they all didn't make sense anymore. They all didn't feel like me anymore.
And it felt very, unnerving, very ungrounding and scary, but also very mystical and intriguing at the same time. 📍 📍 And so this was just, , the beginning of my awakening journey. And I would have more experiences like this later on, but this was the first one and I'll never forget it because it was so pivotal and so different than anything I had ever encountered before.
And the term ego death is a little bit misleading because it's not like our actual ego dies and goes away forever. 📍 📍 I think that in every death that it's followed by a rebirth. And so this understanding that there's a deeper truth to who you are becomes a part of your, you know, Ego moving forward. 📍 It becomes part of the enlightened ego because none of us can be in this human experience without an ego.
So it's not about asking the ego to leave or wanting it to die or go away. It's about 📍 allowing that ego to transform and attain a higher level of consciousness as we continue to 📍 observe ourselves. things 📍 lightly rather than taking everything personally and being so invested in this game of life that we forget who we truly are.
So I hope that helps if you are wondering what is an ego death if you've had an ego death before Or you have questions or comments or experiences with this stuff I would love as always to read your comments So don't hesitate to share what's on your heart with this topic 📍 And again, if you liked this video, please actually like it Give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel for 📍 more spiritual content
