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Definition: Ego

by | Oct 3, 2022 | Root Meanings (Book) | 0 comments

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Revision: 4 Jul 2026

Ego

  • A process of deluded consciousness that chooses unreality and consistently orients in relation to unreality.
  • The defended sense of self.
  • The defended sense of self, which forestalls the experience of oneness.
  • The illusory entity that believes in separation, defends the belief, and gathers evidence for the belief.
  • The habitual pattern of rejecting what is, labeling what seems to be other as “wrong,” and building a life upon the misperceptions, judgments, and mistaken beliefs regarding reality that accumulate as a result of rejecting and defending.
  • Egoicity is the action of defending a sense of self.
  • Ego does not exist in reality.
  • Ego is the “prodigal child” that never really leaves home.
  • Collective ego is the Divine experiencing the Divine through fragmentation.
  • Divinity/God/Source in a state of delusion. Since there is only Divinity/God/Source, it is Divinity/God/Source that has the idea of separation, believes it, defends it, and then experiences the egoic condition.
  • In Truth, there can be no ego.
  • There is no need to resolve or heal ego. The only necessity is to recognize that there is no separateness to defend.
  • A delusion of separateness.
  • A state of fearfulness that is experienced when Divinity/God/Source is denied.
  • A state of fearfulness that is experienced when THE SUPREME is denied.
  • A state of forgetfulness of true nature.
  • Adherence to the “crazy idea” of separation.
  • The defended idea of self.
  • That within the Mind which is capable of unloving thoughts.
  • The illusory entity that hides from Divinity/God/Source.
  • The illusory entity that hides from THE SUPREME.
  • The illusory entity that hides from reality.
  • The illusory entity that hides from the Truth.
  • Identification with a sense of separate self.
  • Strong attachment to an idea of self.
  • Persistent negation of oneness.
  • Persistent negation of reality.
  • Persistent negation of the Truth.
  • Persistent rejection of oneness.
  • Persistent rejection of reality.
  • Persistent rejection of the Truth.
  • Persistent negation of Divinity/God/Source.
  • Persistent negation of THE SUPREME.
  • Persistent rejection of Divinity/God/Source.
  • Persistent rejection of THE SUPREME.
  • Persistent rejection of being Divinity/God/Source.
  • Persistent rejection of being THE SUPREME.
  • The illusory entity that attempts to run away from Divinity/God/Source.
  • The illusory entity that attempts to run away from THE SUPREME.
  • Ego does not exist as an entity.
  • Ego is characterized by fearfulness, first and foremost.
  • Ego is insanity.
  • Fascination with unreality.
  • Fascination with ego is ego.
  • Fixation on ego is ego.
  • In profound clarity there is no ego.
  • Thinking as if ego exists is ego.
  • Willfulness is ego.
  • The we that results from egos coming together is a collective expression of egoicity.
  • Ego is transcended when the existential contraction of shrinking away from Divinity/God/Source is transcended.
  • When ego is transcended, conditioning is transcended, density is transcended, and one remembers being Divinity/God/Source.

What is the nature of ego?

  • Angry
  • Confused
  • Defended
  • Depressed
  • Disempowered
  • Fearful
  • Identified
  • Mistaken
  • Overwhelmed
  • Self-centered
  • Traumatized

One pattern of ego is springing into action to do something about a situation or the state of the world. When ego springs into action, it is disempowered rather than empowered and reactive rather than creative. When egoic patterning is activated, it is wise to wait until action arises from clarity and wisdom rather than reactivity. When one is clear, one can source and calibrate optimal actions from awakeness.

Sayings:

  • “Any trying to produce an outcome (e.g., a business outcome) using willpower is coming from ego.”
  • “Ego cannot thrive. Whereas ego attempts to maintain apparent separateness, thriving is an expression of wholeness.”
  • “The truth of ego – for there is truth even in profound confusion – is that YOU are, in fact, central to all that is.”
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