The false ego

 

The false ego

Summary:

The false ego and the ego are two different words. One is known, the ego, the other almost unknown, the false ego. The false ego is what people take for the ego, the origin of misplaced pride, selfishness, vanity. The ego is a good thing; it was tied to the soul at the time of its incarnation so that it could be self-aware, so that it could say “I” and have free will, which is the fundamental condition of humanity. This is what some in India have called "Ahamkara." On The Path, this association, "soul," "ego," is called "spirit."

The soul has a reason to be, to return in all freedom and conscience to its origin. To do this it needs the ego. The false ego is another thing: it comes from the absence of right consciousness, in other words, when the consciousness (or soul-incarnate) identifies with the mind, memories, concepts, the false ego is aroused. It is the fruit of the nescience or absence of knowledge (not learned or vijnana). Some have named it: "Abhimāna".

When the consciousness, also called «Spirit», knows who it is and that it makes the difference with the mind, the memories, the personality, the emotions, then the false ego becomes less strong. But, the false ego is important, just as much as the rest of God’s creation: it participates in his divine game or Lilà.

 

 

Among the words that often recur, in the writings of The Way, there is one, «false ego», which requires some explanation. Most people who love spirituality know the word “ego” and think it means what makes the human being turn around his navel, forgetting others.

According to the teaching of the Way, and not only, they are mistaken, confusing two things: ego and false ego. Even if they are mistaken in describing the ego, at least these people know the word, while the word “false ego” is unknown to them. Is that an ego that’s not true?

In reality,
the false ego is exactly
what people think about ego

 

The word “ego” means “the self” and refers to the psychic self, the individual consciousness. The ego is a good thing: it has been «married» to the soul, at the moment of its incarnation, so that it can be aware of itself, so that it can say «I». Without the ego, the human being would not be conscious of himself. The ego and the soul form an entity, like the alga and fungus that make the lichen. It is our deepest being. On The Way, we say «spirit».

 

Where does the word “false ego” come from? Is it the invention of The Way? The false ego is the “false self”. This word is mentioned in the book of The Way, the Bhaktimàrga. Another book speaks of it: He whose actions are not motivated by the false ego and whose intelligence is not obscured, can fulfill his duty, even if he must cause the death of other beings, without being in fault. His acts will not bear fruit." (The Song of the Awakened" 16.15 or Bhagavad-Gita 18:17.)

"Having sought refuge in the false ego, power, pride,

lust and anger, the ignorant mocks knowledge

and wants to be perfect, pretending to be God."

(The Song of the Awakened 14:18 or Bhagavad-Gita verse 16:18)

In Hindu and Vedic spirituality, the false ego could be related to the notion of guna, more precisely guna tamas. There would be three gunas, which would establish our human nature, which are all three present, with different dosages: sattva, rajas and tamas. Sattva would be light, reason, purity, truth. Rajas, would be the seat of animality, senses, pleasure, energy, passion and tamas, would be the seat of opposites of sattva.

 

It is he, the false ego, who leaves us in confusion, but the strangest thing is that this "enemy of the soul" does not exist. Its consequences exist.

 

These consequences are all that is heavy, confused, cruel, iniquitous, blind and ignorant in the world of men. Imagine a ghost who has no physical power over the living: if he tries to hit them, his hand passes through them. Yet when this ghost appears in front of its victims, they flee screaming. So it is for the false ego, the father of vanity.

 

How is that possible, if it doesn’t exist?

What arouses the false ego is the absence of knowledge (vijnana). This knowledge has nothing to do with those learned in books. It is not learned, fruit of contemplation.

The false ego is caused by ignorance, by confusion generated by illusion, blindness. As darkness is only the absence of light, the false ego is the absence of a just consciousness. 

Darkness is the absence of light, it has a main consequence very damaging for those who are immersed in it: they are blind! How an absence can have significant consequences. The absence of right consciousness generates the false ego which then takes the direction of the mind and this is how beautiful human intelligence does so many absurd things.

For your mind to be under the guidance of the soul-incarnate, or spirit, you must be concentrated in the right place. Identify with the mind, not the mind. For that, you must be able to discern one another. This is the whole purpose of Revelation, of The Path, of its practice (sadhana).

It is through false ego that duality is possible in you. Duality is useful: without duality the soul could not incarnate. It would always remain melted in God, in His Kingdom, as a drop of water is in the ocean. A drop of melted water in the ocean, is that a drop of water? Duality allows the soul to incarnate, to be bound to the ego, and thus to be an entity endowed with consciousness and free will, the spirit. It is up to her to decide to return to its origin, in all freedom and in all conscience.

This game of duality is what we call the Lilà of God,

 

 

 

 

 

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