Who am I | Why was I born | What is Ego

Most people already know what the soul is, so let’s talk mind & body. The mind is like a person that changes clothes daily. The clothes in this case are like us, humans; but they can also be heavier like trees and animals, or lighter like insects or angelic beings. So each time we are born, it’s the same as the mind changing clothes for the occasion, for what is needs to achieve in that part of its mission. Be it our current human life or another type of life.

Our body is only the outer garment of the mind, it has little meaning. Yet, we think it is the “I” that I am this and that. We are attached to it, adore it and sacrifice eternity for it; we even fear death as if it’s the end of us. In reality our human body is just one set of millions of incarnations the mind goes through. It’s a flash in the existence of the life of the soul.

It terms of how long things last, the soul is like the universe. The mind is like a planet created after the big bang. Our body is like a living organism on the planet. We humans strive so hard to live 80 years or so, but actually the real us lives for billions of years, actually for eternity. The limited small self (the ego and our body) we associate with restricts us and creates pain. Our greater soul-self creates freedom and bliss.

So how does the “I” in who am I work? In a dimension which is not visible to our physical eyes, the soul attaches itself to the mind, which in turn dwells within the body. All connected by a silver cord. Our soul is too big to be enclosed in a small body like ours, so the soul is everywhere; both in and out of our bodies. It’s just the consciousness we identity with that resides within us.

The soul does not die, was never born and cannot feel pain. The mind reincarnates life after life, taking new clothes each time (a physical body of some sort). Sometimes the clothes are human, sometimes animals or even plants; depends on a number of factors. Generally the soul enters a body of higher and higher consciousness as it evolves.

What is ego? The you who you think you are, the ego, is just the tip of the iceberg. You are much greater. If you associate with your soul through a process of meditation, you become as large as creation, you will experience the infinite and know the answer to the questions, Why was I born. If you associate with your mind, you can experience oneness with all life and fully develop your intellect. If you associate with the ego, the small self or the body, you will only experience suffering (well, that’s why the Buddha said. He did not mean 100 percent of the time, but mostly. Birth & Death are forms of suffering as is life intermixed with happiness).

Often we hear people have big egos, others who are more humble may have smaller egos. The ego does not have a size but does have a grip. The object of spiritual practice is to become so small that we can fit between the fingers of the ego, like fitting through the bars of a prison. With a masters grace, this is possible. To remove the ego is not in the interest of living, better just to be in control of it rather than letting it control us.

Some example of the ego at work. Depression, emotions, feeling proud, achieving something in life and praising your IQ or physicalism for it; stuff like that. It is not quite so black and white, but generally the ego is a useful tool which allows us to do things in life. But when the tool is in control then it is not good.

There is a great quote from a great book which may help you.

“Start telling the truth now and never stop. Begin by telling the truth to yourself about yourself. Then tell the truth to yourself about someone else. Then tell the truth about yourself to another. Then tell the truth about another to that other. Finally, tell the truth to everyone about everything. These are the 5 levels of truth-telling. This is the five-fold path to freedom.”  ― Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Vol. 2