How do you overcome the Ego?

Question

How do you overcome the Ego?

Answer 1

just tell urself u have  a huge ego  

Answer 2

talk down to yourself and condemn all your own actions as egocentric, unnecessary, self-absorbed and probably incorrect. Caution: this may lead to depression so pick your poison wisely.

Answer 3

That's like me. In my mind, I have a pretty big ego I think. But the thing is, I can channel it so that it doesn't come across to other people.

Answer 4

Dove, we cannot have control over the Ego because it is that part of our selves that protects us from some tendencies.  Granted that the Ego can become more dominant than what people would consider "normal" but it does serve a purpose.  The "Id" (child), the Ego (adult) and Super Ego (parent)  is part of our makeup and attempting to do away with one or more of them is not possible.  

Answer 5

One day I was sitting silently, and I "envisioned" all the attributes that make up my "personality" (ego)

I kind of imagined them as a ball of excess baggage on my true self

From that moment onward, my ego has been completely transparent like a subtle aura of my mortal scars

Live your life in truth no matter the consequences, your ego will fight it. Always fight back

Answer 6

Short Answer: You don't. The ego must gradually resign its dominion over your mind, thus allowing your True Self to shine forth.

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The answer to this question is both simple and complex. Ultimately the answer must unfold within the one asking the question. Here are a few pointers to consider:

Asking this question from the perspective of 'one identified with/as their ego' is like ego asking how it can overcome itself, which of course is totally opposed to ego's prime directive: self preservation. In a sense, all effort to overcome ego is an ego tactic for short circuiting the endeavor altogether. But there is a way out...

There are many levels to this understanding, but initially the ego, or false self, must be educated and shown what it truly is, and just as importantly what it is not:

"When the  personality is shown, step by step, what it was created for, and how  wonderful the change will be, it will gladly erase itself to allow essence to  emerge." (Patrick Moore, book reviewer of  A. H. Almaas)

You can begin to initiate this through meditation--by simply fixing your awareness upon the awareness that is naturally present within you, and ignoring any thoughts that arise. In essence, you are looking at your Self, or Self gazing, to the exclusion of all else. You may also educate your ego through studies in Advaita Vedanta and Non Duality, as well as immersing your mind in several of the resources listed below.

Also worth mentioning is that cultivating the quality of unconditional love within your heart center will probably move you further along the path toward Self realization than any other one thing. Ego cannot persist within the presence of unconditional love. Unconditional love is the great solvent of the ego, and it can be cultivated in much the same way as anything else: you practice and then apply it.

One milestone along this path is the realization that 'you are not your thoughts', and that your True Self has nothing at all to do with thoughts, whatsoever. Thoughts are the product of a false self/core, a false construct within mind that was born long ago and that continues to reinforce and perpetuate itself through a vicious circle of past and future associations. Your True Self is completely independent of all concept and thought, and can be glimpsed when the seat of your awareness has shifted from your ego, to the simple and silent state of Being (be-ing).

How do you know when you have "overcome ego"? Perhaps one signpost is when you are able to perceive your world from a place of 'no-thought', when you are able to abide in silent awareness devoid of all mental chatter. You now control the on-off switch to your mind. Sound tricky? The ego would have you believe that it is, but in truth it is all much simpler than you could imagine.

Ego is utter complexity, as its nature is to slice and dice up all experience in order to make comparisons and judgments, to arrange hierarchies, and to position all of these object valuations within an increasingly intricate web, commonly referred to as 'me'. Abiding in/as the silent awareness of your Being, however, is the essence of simplicity, for it requires nothing in order to reveal itself in awareness.

The ego is do-ing, while the state of "ego transcendence" or Self is be-ing, and this is a common sticking point where ego will lead you astray at every given opportunity: It will convince you that in order to "overcome ego" and embody something greater which your intuition senses is 'there', will require certain efforts or things that you must "do", but any "doing" is a trap designed to lead you further away from Self. In truth, to embody your True Self requires that you cease doing much of what you have been doing all along and to simply allow the brilliance of your True Self shine forth. Simple, yes, but maybe not particularly easy, in the beginning.

See, your True Self has been there all along, it's just that your awareness of it has been clouded over by the impostor self (ego) and all the adorning ideas and identifications it uses to reinforce its seat of power in your awareness. The way out of this entanglement is much more about non-action than it is about action. You can't 'kill' or get rid of your ego, but its predominance within your mind can be transformed, intelligently.

Keep in mind that realizing the Self does not require that you retreat to a monastery or abandon your obligations in life. This state of Being, of Self realization, is your natural condition. It is You with all of the ego's clothes removed. When you're no longer a slave to ego, you naturally have much more space to negotiate your inner and outer life, and you're able to see things from a much greater perspective. When ego has been justly demoted, you'll come to realize that it actually requires more effort to identify with/as ego than it does to be as your True Self abiding in simple and silent awareness. Living an existence identified as ego is essentially more exhausting, requires much more energy, than living from your authentic Self.

If you stay with this, you'll truly be amazed how simple it all really is, and you'll begin to understand the complexity of this simplicity in all its glory.

Answer 7

Eat a big slice of humble pie

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