When we do a deep form of the inner work, with a goal to reach a complete dissolution of the ego, we find ourselves involved in a continuous self-observation, observing the five psychological centers from moment to moment. By so doing, we discover that our psychological world comprises many things; we see the subtlety of thoughts, emotions and sensations. We also see the structure material of our mind, different energies that fuel the physical and non-physical bodies, and the jewel of consciousness, often overshadowed by the more active parts of the psyche.

To progress spiritually in a deep way, everything needs to be seen, and all the egos must be dealt with; the egoic energies must be disintegrated so that the trapped consciousness is freed from them. The latter is trapped in both “good” and “bad” egos. Unfortunately, a lot of folks interested in spirituality want to work on the bad egos, but not on the good ones. In ignorance, people praise and nurture good egos, not knowing that they too contribute to the slavery in which their consciousness is, and that without dying to them, they will only reach a small level of peace, perhaps some knowledge, but will not move along the Path towards a complete awakening. In order to walk upon such a path, there needs to be an understanding of what the ego is, being able to see that both good and bad egos have the same root – they both have the same low energy, which we see increasingly more clearly as the consciousness grows in size.

The bad egos would be things that humanity in general knows is bad, immoral and wrong, things such as anger, greed, spite, ill-will, uncontrolled passion etc. However, the good egos are seen as something that “makes us human”, and which we couldn’t possibly be without of because our existence would, as it is thought, become plant-like and inhumane. Those are things such as excitement, envy, desire, nostalgia, fear, sadness, etc. Even though many of the egos create a strong suffering, they too are seen as intrinsic and adding a lot to the human experience. But regardless if there is suffering or elation, the heaviness of the ego is always present, keeping the consciousness bound to it.

Without a doubt, all egos have their part in our evolution and have added to our human experience, but all of them have their root in the animal kingdom and as such become redundant as we become more and more human. The basic animalistic drives have over time become more and more refined and adjusted to the human body and human norms, which is why we justify them as intrinsic. We teach our descendants that they are an important part of human life, but that we should have control over them, not allowing them to run rampant. This is like saying that it is fine to have a monkey in a cage, but it is bad when the monkey is set free. The question is, why do we feel the need to still keep the monkey in our inner home? Why can’t we let go of the animal?

To be ready to let go of the animal, we would need to arrive to a stage in our spiritual evolution where we see that the animal (the ego) is redundant, and that it is a blockage for our true self, the consciousness, to shine free and fully as it should. At that point, we don’t know yet what it is like to be free of egos and filled with consciousness and the Being, but we trust the feeling that brought us to take the steps towards awakening. Most people are still not there yet, which is why they only want to detach from the unpleasant side of the animal, but don’t want to let go of the animal completely.

Both pleasant and unpleasant sides of the animal, both good and bad egos is what keeps us from taking the step towards further development, first to become a proper human by incarnating the Human Soul, and then to move towards becoming a divine being. We will not become that if we don’t let go of the ego. Unfortunately, there is a strong opinion circling around, diminishing high aspirations by claiming that as a human being we can never achieve spiritual heights, that we can never become truly spiritual while having the physical body, that the purpose of having the physical body is to go through experience of being human. It is unfortunate that the streams of thought which propagate this inaccurate teaching are very widespread and deeply rooted in the minds of people who might otherwise be ready to attempt awakening. The truth is that our physical body and this physical world in which we live is a perfect stage for the learning that is necessary to transform ourselves from the human animal into a divine being, to reach a type of freedom and transformation that is beyond our imagining. But to reach those high states, it is necessary to let go of both good and bad egos, both pleasant and unpleasant subconscious states, because both of these weigh us down and keep us from going through the gateway of initiation and reaching the Being.

HDP, July 2021.