553 Ego: Being mindful of its behavior, which may tricl you. June 14th 25

The ego is:  “ I, me, myself, and mine”. The image of how I create, perceive myself, and act in other words: the self. This entity is perceived as unique, permanent, separate, and indispensable, all of which are delusional.

It is created by our mind from a multitude of factors such as our genetic background, education, conceptual thinking, opinion, belief systems,  experience, behavior, social relationships/achievements, possessions, nationalistic, ethnical, racial, and religious identifications. Etc..  Yet, none of these is the genuine you.

So, as far as Zen is concerned, the ego does not exist per se because, again, it is the product of our mindset and remains subconscious.

Our ego is critical to function and survive, but our best friend can also be our worst enemy since it is the main source of our suffering from attachment, desire, hatred, illusion, and delusion.

Our subconscious ego has a zillion of ways to express itself non-stop. Therefore, it is critical to be mindful, that is to know when and how our ego may trick us, and become detrimental.

The following ego attributes/ traits vary in frequency, prevalence, and degree for each of us.

Here is a non-scientific short list in non-specific order. Few of them will sound familiar. When listening or reading them, always ask yourself this:

 “ Am I ego-driven here? If so, how can I prevent its potential negative effects?”

• Using the words “ I, me, mine, myself” all the time.
• Taking anything too personally.
• Need to be right, to appear important, wanted,  indispensable, smart, in control.
• Making yourself right and the others wrong through futile mental or verbal complaints.
• Expecting recognition for something you did and getting angry or upset if you don’t get it.
• Judging w/o any purpose or decision.
• Giving your opinion when nobody is asking for it. 
• Need to have “enemies” to know powerful people.
• Trying to get attention in whatever situation.
• Talking more than listening.
• Being always concerned with how people judge you.
• Comparing yourself with others. 
• Trying to always make a positive impression on others through various tools such as education, experience, possessions, good looks, socio-professional status, achievements,..
• Creating and maintaining a self-image made of negativity, such as guilt, resentment,   anger, jealousy, blame, complaint, victim, or made of positivity, such a power, control, wealth,  intelligence, success, attractiveness, 
• Having poor insight or too much of it.  Etc… You got the picture.

 What to do, you may ask:

“ I, me, myself, and mine” are vital to function and survive.

The key is to prevent its detrimental impacts by being aware of its subtle behavior as described previously. The moment you become aware of your hidden ego and what it is doing, it is, strictly speaking, no longer the ego, but just a subconscious self-created mindset that you are now observing mindfully.

Observing the ego implies awareness of it, whereas being hidden, the ego implies unawareness.  

Therefore, awareness of the ego and the unawareness of the hidden ego cannot coexist at the same time. In other words, being aware of our ego will help us to manage it more efficiently.

Homework:  Print this list and score each trait/behavior of the above list from 0 to 5, N/A . The higher the score, the bigger your ego is. If you consider your ego too big or too small or normal, it is just more ego talking.   Thanks.