What Defines the Ego?
Eckhart Tolle wrote The Power of Now and throughout his writings you will find that he refers to the ego on a regular basis. I’d like to begin by addressing the ego as I have had many people be quite confused as to the meaning of the word.
Let’s first look at the dictionary meanings of this word:
- Your ego is your conscious mind, the part of your identity that you consider your self. If you say someone has a big ego, then you are saying he is too full of himself.
- The ego gets a bad rap, it is often confused with vanity and all kinds of other nasty things, but strictly speaking it is only a psychological term popularized by Freud meaning the conscious (as opposed to the unconscious) mind, or the awareness of one’s own identity and existence.
- An inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others.
- Self-esteem, self-image.
- Egotism, conceit
- In short, “I.”
So, the ego then is your “I”dentity. It is who you consider yourself to be which is in fact a false identity
as this is a temporary role you are playing. It is not who you really are.
The Ego in Action
Some examples of ego in the positive & the negative …
