What is the ego?

According to Freud, the ego is “the representative of the outer world to the id."[1] The ego, according to Freud, is concerned with the reality principle (as opposed to the pleasure principle) and is oriented toward perceptions in the real world. My dictionary defines ego as 1) the self; the individual as aware of himself, 2) egotism, conceit. Popularly, the ego is regarded as something immutable; that aspect of our psyche that becomes prideful or arrogant, seemingly beyond our conscious control, and which defends self from the attacks of others, or justifies behavior.

None of these definitions help us to transcend what we might consider the inappropriate qualities of the ego, nor do they really define something we can work with. If you want to solve a problem, you have to first define the problem! But no one can really say for sure what the ego is.

First off, let us say that the ego, the id, the sub–conscious, or any other named component of the psyche are just identifiers that really don’t represent anything. Psychology gets confused because behind it is the belief in the biological basis for consciousness; that a person’s awareness of self originates in the brain. Psychology, therefore, is always –– at least subconsciously –– searching for something to identify as the source of what it conceives of as the various substructures of consciousness.

But consciousness isn’t a building, or a biological entity. The inherent nature of consciousness is conscious. the suffix -ness means, "the state or quality of." So consciousness means, the state or quality of being conscious. In a vibrational universe, you are always sending out a signal to the universe. The universe does not recognize sub-conscious, id, ego, or any artificial psychic compartmentalization's. All the universe knows is that you are sending forth a vibe, and it is working hard to match up your vibe with others like it. You see, a vibrational universe rewards mindfulness and punishes irresponsibility!

In a vibrational universe, what is unconscious is vibrationally out of range, and what is subconscious is that which is on the periphery of our activated vibrational platform of perception and attraction.

The entire universe is a sea of vibration, and what we perceive at any one time is an infinitesimal fraction of the whole. That which appears real to a perceiver is that which is vibrationally in tune. What is not in range has little or no power to affect us.

 

In order to overcome the ego, or integrate it holistically into our consciousness, we have to get some new definitions. Let’s begin by saying that consciousness is essentially non–physical in nature, and survives the death of the body. That is something that all spiritually aware people just know. A person’s activated thought patterns compose the vibrational signal that person sends out to the universe, and which the Law of Attraction works with. The collection of thoughts on any subject is called a belief. A person who believes that terrorism must be fought tooth and nail in order to guarantee freedom, will naturally think that war is a pretty good solution to the problem of terrorism. This person will have a whole bunch of thoughts aligned around that belief, like, “if you don’t fight for your country you are a coward,” “anyone who is for peace is a traitor,” “we need to suspend civil liberties to fight the terrorist threat,” etc.

In a vibrational universe, the ego is the collection of activated beliefs around any subject. A belief is a fixed way of thinking about something. Underlying any belief, however, is a state of being. A state of being creates a tendency to think or believe in a certain way. It is a sort of psychic container for thoughts and beliefs. The point is that a state of being, and the beliefs that are generated from it, is something that you can consciously deal with!

In other words, to change the ego, change your state of being.

What is a state of being? It is your conception of self on any subject or area of life. A state of being can be very broad, like “I just seem to be able to get it right the first time,” or “I am a screw–up,” to something more specific like “I know how to make money in internet marketing,” or “I am a great comedian.”

When someone has an issue, they naturally want to work on that issue. The problem with this approach is that working on the issue vibrationally activates it, and feeds more power to it. In a vibrational universe, the only way to de–activate a vibration is to ignore it, and create a new vibration in its place. The way to transcend the ego is to create a new state of being!

“Hah!” you say. “If it was so easy, then why doesn’t everybody do it?”

Well, partly because people aren’t educated, but mostly because of the nature of vibration and energy. You pick up a tuning fork and bang it on the table. “Do you hear this note? This is an A. You know, I really hate this note! I have to deal with my issue on the A note, and I’m going to work on it until I get it resolved!” Well, banging on that tuning fork isn’t going to get you anywhere. You have to pick up another tuning fork that has a different note, and activate it. The problem is that when you have a strongly activated vibration, you are IN that vibration, and it’s damned hard to think of anything else!

Everybody reading this knows what I’m talking about. When I was having trouble with one of my websites, I was practically in a panic. I knew I had to get out of that panic vibe and start thinking rationally, but I couldn’t! I went out for a walk in the clean fresh air, and all I could think about was that I HAD to get the site straightened out. My mind was filled with this panic vibe and it was so strong, it blocked everything else out. That‘s what happens in a vibrational universe!  So what do you do? Well, you have to create a new vibe even if you are immersed in the old one. The Law of vibration and the Law of Attraction say so. Otherwise, you stay stuck. Some people stay stuck in the same vibe their entire lives![2]

 

Here’s an example from my life about how to create a new state of being. One of my issues has always been that I can never do anything right the first time. I always struggle and mess up, and then after a long time –– or at least a time interval that seems way too long for me –– I manage to get it together. What I really want to do is be able to do it right the first time without so much sweat and struggle. The first thing I did was to recognize that my “issue” was really a belief. And I knew that underneath that belief was a state of being, or a self–limiting conception of myself. Now I’ve had hundreds of hours of therapy, and I’ve been over and over issues very similar to this, without resolving it. I’d feel better for a while, and then the same old stuff would crop up. So I knew that I’d have to try something different!

“All right,” I said to myself, “let’s try creating a new state of being.” So I came up with “I always do it right the first time.” Only one problem with that: I felt rotten! After some time in meditation I realized that I was butting up against my activated beliefs from another, unwanted, state of being! The state of being which said I could never do it right the first time. This is a common problem, I’d imagine, because so many people make resolutions to be or do this and that, and can’t bring it off. 

Solution: I found a state of being that I could get excited about without feeling all of my old issues. You know what they are for you –– and they are different for each person. The idea is to get yourself to BE what you want first, to create a new state of being around which new, more empowering thoughts and beliefs can form. A directed meditation is a good vehicle for that –– for it gets you to precisely identify a desire  (something you want) and then imagine that you already have it.

Let’s go back to the previous example: Every time I attempt something I never succeed on the first try. I just know I’m going to make a mistake –– even if its something as trivial as inserting a light bulb into a socket. My conception of self –– my state of being –– is such that I AM someone who will never get it right, right away. So what do I do? I begin to meditate, and deliberately create another state of being that I can feel comfortable with. I avoided the old activated beliefs by simply creating “Everything I’ve always wanted has already been created –– in this moment, and in the future.” This might sound bizarre or weird to someone else. Indeed, there is nothing logically to connect it to a solution of my earlier difficulty, but it felt right to me, and I noticed right away that I was taking less time to get things done.

The creation of a state of being is so powerful that it will align thoughts around it. New beliefs then form because you feel better and attract new thoughts that have a higher vibration  ––and when you feel better about what you’re doing, you naturally get more efficient.

What you’re doing with this process is what Esther Hicks calls “doing a sales job on yourself.” And what society calls, ‘”getting a new image.” It’s incredibly powerful!

All self–help and self–improvement processes –– no matter how simple or intricate –– work for only one reason: they align you to a clearly defined goal and make you feel better about yourself. Any successful process connects you to Source and is self–reflexive. In the Keys To Deliberate Creation course this is the reflexive flow –– you to you. It’s the most important energy flow for manifestation.

The creation of a state of being essentially bypasses your “issues” and goes directly to the creation of a new platform for attraction. After trying zillions of processes and procedures, I’ve re–discovered that the tried and true –– like directed meditation –– are the most effective. That’s because meditation directly involves the reflexive flow and aligns your energy with a desire and toward a defined goal.

A state of being is intimately connected with a desire. Desire is life force, the creative energy of the universe. When you identify a desire, you can more easily create a state of being around that desire. That’s what we do in the Keys To Deliberate Creation Course.

 

The origin of unwanted manifestations and feelings lies in a state of being, but you assign the cause to karma, or bad luck, or something outside of yourself.

The state of being “I can’t ever do it right the first time” then leads you to try and fail, which just confirms what you believe about yourself, which then orients you more to failure. Soon you begin to believe that you can’t do it right at all –– and the actions you take in the physical universe begin to bear you out! I mentioned before that even screwing in a light bulb became an irritation for me, because I knew that I wasn’t going to find the thread even before I went into the closet to get a new one. People, that is bloody irritating!  Then you begin to create more self–limiting beliefs like “I am just a screw–up.”

“Why do you have such a low opinion of yourself?” your sister asks. “Well for goodness sakes.” you say, “look at my life objectively! Everything I attempt seems somehow to go haywire. I’m cursed!” But those manifestations are all based around your concept of self, and that is mutable.

What is bizarre is that you then begin to defend your unwanted state of being! This phenomenon is what has been called the ego  defense mechanism. This happens because you are stuck in a powerfully activated vibration. And deep down inside you know you are trying to do as well as you can. You really can't understand why you are acting the way you are, but you feel compelled to do so anyway! Vibrationally speaking, however, your solutions always match the vibration you are in, because that is where you are stuck.  

People who don’t understand that they have control over their state of being then begin to act neurotically, because thought is energy and if you don’t change, it keeps building up and up. You can literally become a slave to your own beliefs! The "ego" becomes more and more powerful. By assigning cause to "ego," however, instead of a self created state of being, you cannot hope to transcend the difficulty.

In a vibrational universe, you have to “turn the other cheek” and create a new state of being. And it isn’t that hard, my friends. You don’t need years of therapy. A good directed meditation, or a course like The Keys To Deliberate Creation, can get you out of the rut.

Factoid: The idea that self–improvement is difficult, is itself a belief! A very powerful and self–limiting one.

 

Ego can be positive or negative, depending on your state of being. Successful people are often regarded as egotistical, and undoubtedly some of them are –– but when you are successful, you have a very strong desire and a very positive conception of self, because you are aligned with success. Lots of people said that Mother Theresa was egotistical, just as a lot of people say that Barbara Streisand is a cast iron bitch. But Mother Theresa did a whole lot of good in the world! A strong and positive conception of self leads to a powerful intention to get things done. And that rubs some people the wrong way.

Egotistically speaking, a higher vibration is never perceived correctly by a lower one![3] “Look at her,” a woman says about our friend Barbara Streisand, “so high and mighty. She thinks she’s better than everyone else.”

Well, maybe she IS better than everyone else –– as far as success in her chosen profession is concerned! And maybe the complainer sees B.S. and is reminded of her own failed dreams.

 Ego is just the activated set of beliefs you have about yourself, based upon the state of being you have chosen. And you can change that. The ego, far from being an immutable component of your psyche, is something entirely self–created!