What is the ego and where does it come from? Surely, it is more than just the conscious mind. It seems a necessary thing for identifying one as an individual and yet, we are an indisputable element of the whole of life. It seems; however, that the ego has only succeeded in leading us astray. It has led many human beings to erroneously believe that they are superior to others. In short, it is the ego that has led to all of the conflict this world has ever known.
For most of my life I have believed that after I am gone, I will be given the gift of seeing my loved ones (family, friends, and pets) again. It now seems absurd to believe that all of those who have already died will be waiting around to greet me whenever I arrive in the next plane of existence. Suppose they have already reincarnated or moved on to yet another level of being? Do they even miss me as much as I have missed them? Will they want to be with me again or take up where we left off? Very probably, they have taken up with new friends in the proverbial “out of sight, out of mind” scenario. As I approach the end of my life I must be honest with myself. I must admit that it is my ego that is hanging onto the hope of being with my loved ones again. It is my ego that wants to believe the good I may have done, will be remembered. It is my ego that wants to believe that my individuality will remain intact.
Is life merely a dream from which we will one day wake up? Are the dreams that we have when we are asleep just a dream within the dream? Is the real reason that so many are afraid of death because they are unwilling to release their ego? It seems to go back to the idea that the more we know, the less we understand. Each question raises more questions, to which there are no seeming answers. Do we seek the comfort and safety of the womb from which we were born – to know that death will return us to it? Perhaps it is not our intelligence or even our manual dexterity that has allowed us to exert power over millions of other species, but our over-inflated egos that have created so much havoc in the world. We must be willing to let go of our ego if we are to live in peace. We must let go of our ego knowing that death will ensure its final end. We can open our hand and let it fly from us effortlessly, or we can wait until death takes it from us along with the hand that holds onto it so tightly.
