I often hear people mention this word as it is a very popular term in spirituality and often being thrown out there as if it was this type of evil entity that we have to absolutely get rid of, But before we try to demonize the Ego, why don't we go ahead and try to understand it a bit better first?

What is the Ego?

My own simple definition of Ego is: All The terms we use to designate our persona or the human avatar that we play on this earth. Simply all the terms we use to define our sense of "self": Our identification to words, thoughts, actions, titles, positions or roles we play in our society are all part of the Ego. When I ask someone who they are, the first thing they will probably say is their Name and what they do: I am John Smith and I'm a Photographer. But are we really our name and our role?

Our real Self goes way beyond that!

Then what is our true essence?

Our career, our Status, our fame, our failures, our success, our name, our body, our own minds and even our beliefs, are all part of the Ego. The lawyer, the doctor, the famous actor, the father, the son/daughter, the fat, the skinny,the bodybuilder, the intellectual, the genius, the rich, the poor, etc... None of these tags mentioned above describe who you really are. They describe part of your persona, the avatar you decided to play on this planet and they serve their purpose in order to have a physical and human experience. But they are not your true essence. The Soul on the other hand, is that one thing that operates outside the Ego.

Our soul doesn't seek anything, it is pure and complete as it is, a source of unconditional love and light. It doesn't look for recognition, approval, identity or external validation the soul simply is.

So is the Ego a toxic thing? 

Yes and no, let me explain...

Yes It could be a toxic thing if we're unconscious about it, if we let our Ego become toxic for ourselves and others. A toxic Ego can blurry our vision and do a lot of damage if we don't keep it on check, but keep in mind that our Ego also plays an important role in holding together the physical matter and preventing our human experience to be scattered all over the place or else our physical life would be like a flying aircraft without a radar, not really knowing who we are, what we're doing or where we're heading.

How do we get rid of toxic Ego?

By not trying to fight against it in the first place and simply bringing awareness to the situation. The moment we become aware of those toxic behaviours, patterns and train of thoughts coming from the ego, only then can we move on from those things that keep us prisoners of our own suffering, only then are we really able to simply and peacefully detach ourselves from it and let it go and occasionally(or should I say often) even laugh at ourselves. The more we are able to dissociate ourselves and emotionally detach our real selves from our egos. The easier it becomes to communicate with others, because we won’t feel attacked or offended if someone challenges our thoughts, words or actions. And then the purpose of conversations turns into finding out the truth or the best solution and not about winning an argument, or proving ourselves. Admitting our mistakes then becomes a lot easier, because we realize that we ARE NOT our past mistakes, thoughts or actions. Simply being aware of this already arises a feeling of peace. We are constantly evolving beings and our thoughts and actions evolve as we do.

If we transcend the shield of the Ego, at the source we are all pure and unconditional Love. We are not what we do or have, we are the universe experiencing itself and becoming aware of it's creative power at an individual level through us. Which means, in other terms, that we are that collective consciousness from the cosmos expressing itself trough individual creation. The Ego is just another tool that we created to try and understand and give sense to an experience that is way beyond our human comprehension: LIFE.