The ego is defined, its origin explained along with the egoic structure. It is the main obstacle to spiritual enlightenemnt and it is essential that we transcend it.
Merriam-Webster defines the ego as the self, especially as contrasted with another self, or the world. Freud says it's one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality. An exaggerated sense of self-importance developing into egotism or conceit, it could be considered a reflection of what others think of you, but ultimately has nothing to do with your real self. It actually thwarts your real self by becoming a "false center."
The Origin of the Ego
The ego is an individual's awareness of others' awareness of their selves, often in a way that doesn't exist in reality but only in imagination. It is a social need and by-product accepted to be a person, but it doesn't define them. It is an inividual attempt to define one's self through association with everything around it, through form. Life mostly consists of interactions with other people who are trying to modify, change or contribute to one's ego in a way that you they not become a problem to society. The ego is concerned with society and not the individuals within, so it focuses on what has noting to do with the true person: their ego.
The Egoic Structure
At first, when a child is born, there isn't any ego. They are busy becoming aware of the world and people around them, and function according to their needs and their survival. Typically by age three the attention they receive makes it inevitable that they would become aware of themselves and their significance. In the beginning, the mother and father are the world and it is their opinion of the baby that defines his or her ego. The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, resulting from social interactions, or lack thereof. There is a theory that the "real" can only be known through the "false". At least so far it has been that way, and that is why so far the ego has been necessary.
How is it an Obstacle to Spiritual Enlightenment?
It is mostly based on fear, and relies very much on attachment, which as Eckhart Tolle explains in The Power of Now and A New Earth, is the identification with form. Andrew Cohen, spiritual teacher and pioneer of evolutionary enlightenment, also describes the enlightened perspective as being the absolute, universal and impersonal view of the Authentic Self, as opposed to the relative, separate and personal view of the narcissistic ego. Ego is the deeply ingrained, compulsive need to remain separate and superior at all times, in all places, under all circumstances. Cohen labels it the anti-evolutionary force, and with reason. Surely ego has a purpose, but how close are we to transcending, or ascending to the realm of enlightened and universal consciousness?
Why do we need to go beyond the ego?
Ego death doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with individuality. In reality, when the ego ends, the personality is enriched. The ego is an idea that simply has never been real and there are many layers of underlying reality that consist of personality and individual traits and experiences. Greed plays a big part in the ego, as do fear, jealousy, envy, insecurity, shame and guilt. The most important thing to remember is that once one is freed of the ego, and is rid of rules of right and wrong, there is now a chance to know the real meaning of love, and to gain insight into a new, deeper level of intimacy. A mind that is in a perpetual state of unawareness of its interconnectedness to other human beings and to the essence of the universe contributes to a social madness, much like the one that can be witnessed throughout the world we know presently.
