In this article, the context of the word “ego” will be philosophical and spirituality based. The ego can be associated with an identity of our self – the part that we associate with our human-ness/experiencer of the human experience. The word ego often takes on a negative slant. The negative slant may appear to be true because the act of living from the ego can be a limited and restricted experience. The truth is we cannot do without our ego. Our ego is the part of us that is alive, operational, grounded and experiencing our waking reality.
We start life building our ego from the moment we are born and then somewhere along the way some of us realize that our ego has a totally distorted view of life that needs to be reoriented. When we experience life from the distorted view of the ego we don’t give much value and relevance to spiritual knowledge and our focus is on survival, acquisition, power, and struggle. The ego seems to operate from a very narrow closed mind based on fear.
Change, Growth and Soul Evolution, drives us to seek spirituality and spiritual knowledge. This pursuit does not get rid of our ego but instead refines it such that the distorted false truths are transformed into live affirming truths. One of our endeavors should be to master our ego and to transcend its limitations and shortcomings.
Given below are some of the attributes associated with the ego. As you read many of the attributes of the ego, do not feel disillusioned by the negativity of the words. It is only to raise your awareness. One of the primary goals of life is to grow, evolve and transcend the limitations of our ego.
| vested interest | poor communication | lacking awareness | misunderstanding |
| disrespect | defense | separation | challenge |
| egotistical | egocentric | narcissitic | arrogant |
| war | fear | apathy | power struggle |
| struggle | greed | avarice | lack of knowledge |
| lack of understanding | inequality | bias | prejudice |
| disconnection | social disconnect | consumerism | lack of education |
| lack of consciousness | lack of spirituality | hierarchy | social divide |
| fear of change | fear of rejectiont | fear of failure | confusion |
| chaos | helplessness | blame | naivety |
| hopelessness | injustice | hatred | laziness |
| intolerance | bad habits | mistrust | racism |
| shame | lack of community | scarcity | self-absorption |
| envy | jealousy | guarded | disempowered |
| corruption | unhealthy competition | lethargy | despair |
| ignorance | pride | selfishness | foolishness |
| lack of planning | disorganized | violence | blind spots |
| short-sighted | unconscious | judgmental | cynicism |
| anger | aggression | delusion | thoughtlessness |
| silo | survival mode | resistance | inauthentic |
| superficial | mindless | desirous | excessively wanting |
| dissatisfaction | discontent | incongruent | immature |