You’ve probably heard the term ‘ego’ thrown around by everyone from spiritual teachers to psychologists. Due to years of interpretation, the true essence of the ego has become elusive. Thankfully, this lack of clarity leaves the ego up for quite a bit of personal interpretation.

To explore the ego fully, we first need to discuss resistance, attachments, and emotion.

Attachment and Resistance

Forming a mental belief about something creates an attachment. Attachments can be anything from the belief that your eyes are blue to the idea that your opinion is right. Attachments are typically formed from past experiences, and are a natural part of human existence. These beliefs form our self-identity, and create the lense through which we see the world. When the mind attaches to a belief, it creates a road map for the future.

However, attachments can cause resistance. Resistance is a reflection of our mind’s need to identify with certain beliefs and occurs when an attachment is challenged. For example, if I were to try and convince you that the sky is actually purple, you would likely become frustrated, because I am challenging your belief that the sky is blue.

Interestingly, resistance can also occur when an attachment is validated. When someone agrees with the belief you hold, and you have that ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying!’ moment, you have once again identified with a mental attachment, thus participating in what I call ego-inflation. This is also a form of resistance, as you are identifying with the mind instead of truly becoming the observer. Because resistance is a reflection of mind-identification, there are two predominate forms: ego-inflation and ego-deflation.

Emotion

Every thought you have is based on attachment, but what you do with these attachments is up to you. When you pay attention to the attachments your mind forms, you become aware of your own resistance.

The product of resistance in any form is an emotion. Before you begin to shake your head, let me explain. The word emotion comes from the Latin word emovere meaning to agitate or stir up. This means that emotions are simply a disturbance to our natural state of being. This natural state includes peace, love, compassion, and joy, but not joy in the traditional sense. Essential joy is a product of the soul, not of the mind. However, any emotion that you experience, including anger, sadness, jealousy, and excitement, is a direct product of resistance.

Anytime you experience frustration, you are witnessing the mind’s response to being challenged. For example, the indignation you feel when a coworker tells you how to do something better is the result of resistance. In this instance, the resistance is caused because an attachment (your belief that you are doing a great job) was challenged, an example of ego-deflation. Similarly, you experience resistance when you feel excitement over a promotion, because your belief (that you are doing a great job) is validated. This is an example of ego-inflation.

So, what is the ego?

Simply put, the ego is the center of resistance. It is where your mental identity resides, and it is the house that shelters attachments. Because all of your attachments reside within your egoic mind, the dictionary defines ‘ego’ as someone’s self-esteem or self-importance. Egocentrism is simply an overidentification with the mind. (Read more about the mind, the soul, and who you truly are here.)

The ego is consistently viewed as something to be eradicated, or, at the very least, balanced. However, you cannot forcefully erase the ego, as to do so would once again be playing into the mind. Truthfully, the ego and its attachments are useful for humanity’s typical state of existence. It is impossible to balance the ego from the current state of consciousness usually seen in society today.

When you allow the ego to balance, you allow yourself to shift into another level of consciousness. As you begin to identify your mental attachments, you can begin to watch them. By simply observing your attachments, you separate from them. It is in this separation that the ego begins to fade away.

Enlightenment can be defined as the death of the ego for this reason. When you no longer identify with the mind, and the mind no longer identifies with attachments, the ego has nothing to feed off of. When you release your resistance, and thus your ego, you can be truly present.

So tell me: What are your most troublesome attachments, and how are you experiencing resistance today?