Welcome to the Self Study Lesson on Ego. There are several lessons on this topic below. Take as long as you want on each lesson, focusing on the action step at the end. Then, go to the next lesson.
Lesson 1: What is the ego?
Q: What is the ego?
A: It is the personality self, with a limited view which is ruled by emotional drama and life in the opposites.
Q: What is the difference between the ego and the soul?
A: The ego is the personality self that exists in a world of its own desires and wants, creating the feeling of being separate or limited. The soul is that which is connected to God, infinite and unlimited.
Q: Why do the ego and soul seem to work against each other?
A: Even though you want to be free, your ego is afraid of losing the illusion of control. Your lower self will fight with your soul and resist these changes of consciousness. You may end up feeling pulled in two directions. Your ego wants you to stay the same and remain in the third dimension. Meanwhile, your soul is magnetizing you toward the fourth dimension.
Watch the following video and use it to help you move ahead in your understanding of Ego:
Lesson 2: Getting Unstuck from the Ego
Q: What are some examples of how the ego keeps me stuck?
A: The ego may convince you that moving ahead is frightening, that you’re too weak to do it, or that the whole process is a waste of time. It wants you to live in fear, be worried about the past or future, think happiness lies in the outside world, be afraid of change, afraid of making decisions, feel powerless, separate and alone.
Q: Sometimes I don’t feel that I’m good enough compared to others. Is this my ego?
A: The ego constantly measures its limited self with other limited selves because the ego wants to feel special and unique. The ego lives in the opposites—joy/sorrow, love/hate, etc.–and feels inferior or superior according to its judgment of the situation.
Action Step to take:
Start observing just how often you measure yourself in comparison with others.
Q: How does the ego keep my mind busy?
A: The ego works very hard to keep you busy in your mind. It is worried about being abandoned, so of course, it is going to fight for its little self! The ego can make you feel like it is you who will be abandoned when really it is only that limited ego that is being abandoned–and must be! You can take charge of that limited ego, and this is a necessary and important part of your soul evolution. You will be more in tune with your soul as you conquer that inner chatter. More divine ideas will be accessible to you because you will be able to hear them when that ego is quiet!
Q: How do I dethrone the limited ego?
A: You dethrone the limited ego by observing how your ego keeps you so involved in the desires of your limited self and always justifies its behaviors and actions. The ego is very, very sneaky!!!
Action Step to take:
Keep a journal about what you are witnessing from your ego. This will help you to observe how your ego operates. Being able to observe and see how your sneaky ego works begins the detachment process.
Lesson 3: Moving from Ego to Soul
Q: How do I shed my ego and align with my soul?
A: As you journey to evolve your soul, there are times you have to go against yourself, against what your ego has held totally sacred and this is learning how to shed your ego and align with your soul! Listen to your inner guidance and follow it RIGOROUSLY!
You are stuck in your ego when it is something that is your identity! To align with the soul is to let go of this identity. Often the talents and abilities that you have used to hold this identity together will be used in a new way as your soul is
advancing in consciousness.
You must first realize that you are definitely a spiritual being having a human experience–but then you have to drop the human experience to become a spiritual being!
Q: What are the results when I shed my ego?
A: You are a being of light. The strength of your light depends on your consciousness, which comes through daily meditation, forgiveness and giving up the ego. The light that you can shine nourishes those around you, bringing comfort and healing like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. What a lovely way to serve humanity!
Action to Take:
You have to go beyond the ego play. It will become very apparent that it does not serve you anymore. Keep your Observer Self very alert to decipher what is real–what is the soul–and what is the ego wanting an identity for itself.
Lesson 4: Untangling the Ego
Q: What will I have to let go of as I release my ego?
A: By its nature, the ego is attached to family, friends, places, things, activities, and desires. You are only ever asked to release that which stands in your way to a greater alignment with your higher self.
These attachments own you until you decide to transmute that attachment into real,
spiritual gifts. As above, so below. Each attachment released is an opening for a
higher expression of that energy.
Q: What kinds of false identities keep me stuck in my ego?
A: Whatever is keeping you stuck, ask for guidance to find out what it is, and move it out. If you are stuck in that identity of yourself that is something other than the spiritual being that you are, you are stuck in an ego. It may think that it’s a teacher,
a banker, a minister, or an assembly line worker. It doesn’t matter. You identify yourself with it. You have to move out of that false identity of self.
Action Step:
First, begin your journaling process. Or, maybe you already have, so continue with it. Journal your feelings, your frustrations, triggers, and so forth. Learn about yourself! That is what journaling helps you do, and that is a very important part of becoming aware of your WHOLE self! You begin seeing your own patterns, which enables you to change those patterns. You also began to learn how to hear your intuition and what it is trying to show you–and that means everything on the
spiritual journey!
Second, get over your own ego resistance and any problem you have about how “boring” journaling is. The ego does not want to surrender, so it will work hard to tell you all the other things you need to do besides your spiritual work. This is a
very important statement to be aware of.
Lesson 5: Moving Past Ego Blocks
Q: If I let go of my ego, how will that change my relationships with others?
A: The more you become aligned with your spiritual self, the more your friendships are going to change. You will see that there are people in your life who are stuck in ego and you may no longer be able to play the role that they want you
to play in their ego-play. I had to move out of some of the friendships that I had–much like an alcoholic who can’t go back to the bar!
Q: What should I say to myself when my ego starts to resist?
A: Your ego is going to resist on this journey, over and over again. You must have your observer-self watch your ego resist. I just told you something huge. The more you go into the soul of yourself, the more the ego will throw a hissy fit, because it
doesn’t want to surrender.
Q: What kinds of things does my ego tell me to keep me from doing my spiritual work?
A: My limited self didn’t want me to journal. It said, “Don’t journal. This is boring!” Who told me it was boring? My limited self. “This is not exciting enough!” Who told me that? My limited self.
Action Step:
Journal and identify the other ways your limited self tries to run your life. Continue to observe and witness your ego behavior. Write down what you are witnessing. This will help you discover how your ego operates and begin the detaching process.
Q: What more can I do to release the ego?
A: Journaling also helps you discover the ways that little ego disrupts the flow of your growing awareness. It doesn’t want you to grow! It will keep you trapped.
What happens is your awareness of these traits of a personality self you are working on will lose their power, begin to dissipate and that’s freedom!
Action Step:
Watch the following video and use it to move you forward in your understanding of Ego:
Lesson 6: Overcoming the Ego’s Fears
Q: How does my ego use fear to stop me from moving forward?
A: Fear causes you to hesitate to take your spiritual steps, doubt your guidance and miss special opportunities. Fear causes you to take two steps backward instead of five steps forward. Your God-Self has all the courage in the world. Don’t listen to
your small scared ego — it shakes in its boots! It can give you a million reasons why you should remain stuck.
Action to Take:
Learn to conquer fear. Face your fear, understand it and move on in spite of it. This is courage! You need to be courageous and adventuresome to walk this path.
Q: How can I let go of this fear?
A: It is important to understand that when your soul starts pushing you, fear will arise.
Vanquishing your fears is a daunting task. You must release the fear of letting go of control and the fear of moving into the unknown.
The spiritual life always encourages you to move beyond your present state of awareness and pushes you out of your comfort zone into the unknown! You’re never asked to take a spiritual step that is comfortable. When fear comes up,
recognize it and say, “OK, I’m going to take this action anyway!” With that attitude, the whole universe will back you up! Then you can be assured that you’ll reach your goal, which is gaining the next level of awareness and moving into a
higher level of consciousness.
Action Step:
Gather your internal forces and say, “I use my will to take this step. I demand that my personality now work with my soul! I don’t want to be stuck! I want to cooperate with my soul!”
Q: Why does letting go of my ego feel like such a struggle?
A: There is a part of you that wants to move, and a part of you that doesn’t. That is a huge battle. When you fight against yourself you feel spiritually disoriented.
Your soul is trying to shake you loose! You can do anything because you have the strength within you. You have to fully master yourself. When you master yourself in these small experiences, it eventually adds up to balancing your karma and
having complete mastery over your ego/personality. Your soul will be in charge!
Action Step:
Perform the actions that will push you ahead and stop listening to fear-based excuses. You will benefit from the struggle because you are going to learn more about your real Self.