The ego what is it? How to transcend?

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 01:07 PM

I would respectfully sugest that a good book to read on the subject is
Discovery of God ( Devotional Nonduality) by David R Hawkins MD Ph.D
Who is in the enlightened state.

A little about myself.
In my twenties I suffered Alcholism and through AA became a recovering alcholic. The twelve step program led me into the spiritual serch.
Up till then my ego was in control, it thought it could control my drinking Ha Ha!!!! I had to get enough humility to realise that only a power greater than myself could lead me to sanity. I had to hit rock bottom first.

I can thank my ego for leading me to the depth of suicidal dispare and therfore getting me on the path of enlightenment.

Im dyslexic so spelling I hope you forgive.

Anyway It became obvious that the only true way to learn anything was to listen to those who have done it, not theory or second hand, so the same applies to the spiritual path regarding enlightenment.

Aside from those in India (my avatar picture is the late Ramana) the only enlightened ones I know of are Eckhart Tolle and David Hawkins, im sure there are others.
Awake is not the same as enlightened.

The caterpiller becomes the butterfly its that different.

Only God (which we are) walks through the final door of enlightenment.
We are waves of the Divine Ocean. The Ocean can say it is the wave but the wave cannot say it is the Ocean.

There is a big difference between talking about it and being it.
Enlightend beings are it.
The ego likes to thing it can be an enlightened ego, sorry it cant.
Hope this is helpfull

With respect Chris

mikey · 12-15-2009, 01:22 PM

Much love and festive blessings to you chris, thank you kindly for the reading recommendation, i shall chase it up. Peace always

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikey

Much love and festive blessings to you chris, thank you kindly for the reading recommendation, i shall chase it up. Peace always

Same to you Mickey.
Much love Chris

RedeZra · 12-15-2009, 03:28 PM

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

the Acharya of Arunachala

you climbed up the calm mountain

and brought it back down

passing pebbles of peace to people

as if it is sweets to chew on

you look so humane there on the couch

walking with a stick wearing a cloth

you are a poor excuse for a man Bhagavan

I know what you are

A Column of Light

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 05:46 PM

Thank you for the poem re Ramanah.
He was one of my first teachers albiet by book.
One of the finest.

The ego can be trained and will become the spiritual ego which is no small achievement, however it can only take you so far before it is to be surendered to God if further progress is to be made.

The spiritual ego is very clever and will lay claim to being Co-Creator with God. Not so. God dosent require a Co Creator -- that is just a vanity of the ego.

Co-creator obviously is duality--- Him and me. Not Oneness.
God is incapable of creating negativity
Im paraphrasing David Hawkins in saying all that.

The ego is self centered and is responsible for every form of misery on this earth. At its worst it is Meglomania and responsible for all the wars.
At its best it will lay claim to being compasionate and perform good deeds but there is still the "Look at me how clever I am" agenda.
The egoless has no agenda but to serve as a channel for Gods work. That seems like duality but its not. The moment words are used its not it. The words can only point to the truth -- not be it. Its like being a branch of the tree of God.

The ego is not the enemy and it has got us this far, it is just not capable of Love as expressed by Jesus.
He said "Of myself I do nothing it is the Father within who is the doer."

Joy is our natural state. Nothing external causes that. Whaen all the obsticles to what we are are removed the Love/ joy just shines out, hence the term enlightend as in the poem re Ramanah. Saints are depicted with a halo, that is an indicator of the spiritual energy of love that radiates forth from them.

Love is like gravity it is a powerfull energy field it dosent have to do nything it just affects all that is attracted to it.

Love Chris

14 Chakras · 12-15-2009, 06:26 PM

Great comments above ~ and I like a lot of what you have said Greybeard (although I personally believe the reality is taht we are indeed free willed co-creators here to raise up our own planet ~ the question is whether we are co-creating from our human ego or co-creating from our very own I AM/ God Self)

Here's a good teaching on ego from Website already referenced above:

http://askrealjesus.com/G_Path/letegodie.html

kriya · 12-15-2009, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greybeard

I would respectfully sugest that a good book to read on the subject is
Discovery of God ( Devotional Nonduality) by David R Hawkins MD Ph.D
Who is in the enlightened state.

Thanks for this greybeard,

I have not heard of David Hawkins and will check him out now.

Love,

Kriya

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 06:50 PM

14 Chakras.
Respect your obvious knowledge and have no way of personally refuting what you say and certainly at a high level this is so.
I can only point to statements by Hawkins and Eckhart and others of that level.

Have you heard of Indras dream? or the concept of the in breath and out breath of God?

Ramana said
"The world that you are trying to save dosent even exist"

For sure you do and I do exist and thats beyond dispute, that life is eternal I believe.

To higher beings enlightenment would be seen as kindergarten, so yes its endless as far as spiritual evolution goes.
That is my understanding.

As far as prayer goes, of course God does not need that either but we do influence outcome by praying. But who or what put the idea into our mind to pray?

The truth is I dont know, so refer to enlightened sages who certainly seem to.

Much respect to you

Chris
Namaste

kriya · 12-15-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greybeard

Ramana said
"The world that you are trying to save dosent even exist"

I think this is referring to the fact that life is a dream of God's and like our own dreams has no intrinsic existence. We were created out of thought, God's thought. We are living in a dream within a dream.

Love,

Kriya.

14 Chakras · 12-15-2009, 07:03 PM

(As you can see I edited and removed my last post as too many caps detracted I think from message).

I'm suggesting what's coming is East meets West.

Enlightened sages have been Eastern. Eastern is spiritual not material.

Western is material, up till now, hasn't been spiritual.

Eastern gurus help achieve enlightenment for those who really have no interest in the world or it's peoples other than the spiritual aspect. (Gross generalization I know)

I'm suggesting we are here in the West for a reason. East meets West. Spiritual meets Material.

Meaning ~ we are here to solve the problems in our world, bring abundance for All Life.

The leaders of the New Earth will be fully enlightened. There is indeed darkness in the world, and Eastern mystics have for the most part ignored.

It is not right that children are being abused and literally sacrificed by dark forces in our world. It is not right that the earth's populations are deceived.

What will solve these problems? While yes, a shift in consciousness, but what is truly required is for the Light to Be shined on the darkness. Meaning we throw over the money changers tables and expose the lies in the current system, religions and illusions of the world.

We are co-creators I would certainly say, and it's up to us to choose to Be in order to do our part to Be the Body of God which will raise up this planet. Our strength comes from our Oneness with our source ~ beyond ego our Divine Self.

I suggest the in breath out breath has been mis-interpreted in our world to mean loss of individuality. I would suggest the in breath is really everything coming up higher and Being More in Oneness ~ meaning maintaining the I but the "I"s are expanding ~ For example, when Yogananda ascends, he does not disappear, you can connect with Yogananda right Now if you choose to do so ~ We are not here to disappear, we are here to earn our Divine individuality in the mind of God by surrendering the shadow self and Being reborn into the reality of who we are in Oneness with the infinite ~ not a static image, but the God Self that is always Being More ~ I will Be that I will Be.

kriya · 12-15-2009, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14 Chakras

.

I suggest the in breath out breath has been mis-interpreted in our world to mean loss of individuality. I would suggest the in breath is really everything coming up higher and Being More in Oneness ~ meaning maintaining the I but the "I"s are expanding ~ For example, when Yogananda ascends, he does not disappear, you can connect with Yogananda right Now if you choose to do so ~ We are not here to disappear, we are here to earn our Divine individuality in the mind of God by surrendering the shadow self and Being reborn into the reality of who we are in Oneness with the infinite ~ not a static image, but the God Self that is always Being More ~ I will Be that I will Be.

The in breath out breath is a kriya yoga technique to enlightenment. We are all unique expressions of the one and retain our individuality even after liberation (or so I'm told).

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 07:34 PM

14 chakras I can see the logic and indeed the need for what you say, certainly I hope that this is so and you are right.

Difficulty is levels of awareness -- not yours and mine I hasten to add, we are in this earthly experience together.

Beyond our personal subjective knowledge there are sages who will say that
creation and disolution never happened its Indras dream ie we are part of a dream. In fact we are the dreamer.
There is only the One without a second.

The sages are in a timeless state.
Scientists are begining to assert that time does not exist.

Sages say that it is a dream, consciousness at play -- The Dance of Shiva.

There is no time for anything to have happened.
Time is a construct of the mind.

Ramesh Balsekar said.
God wrote the play
God produced the play
God directed the play
God is every actor in the play.

He also said "God is the totality all of it" as did Sai Baba.
Sai Baba on being asked if he was God said "Yes I am but so are you, the only diference is I know I am you dont yet"

In a way all this muddies the water.

It is our job to act as though the play is real and it is for us at the level we are at.

Im not saying I am right for I have no way of knowing this to be so but I do have faith in those who who are enlightened.

Ramana talked to people at the level they were at and out of compasion would not disalusion them but sugested the well know technique of keeping asking the question "Who am I? " so that at some point the truth would be revealed to them.

So it would not be helpful for most to hear that he said "The world you are trying to save dosent even exist"

All i can say with absolute certanty is that I exist.

Regards and respect
Chris
Namaste

greybeard · 12-15-2009, 10:50 PM

I would like to thank all who have contributed so far.
I have got a lot from the wisdom expressed here.

Chris
Namaste

mudra · 12-15-2009, 11:28 PM

We are not here to perform miracles but to let miracles happen through the heart we all share.

Thank you Greybeard for your thread.

Love from me
mudra

greybeard · 12-16-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudra

We are not here to perform miracles but to let miracles happen through the heart we all share.

Thank you Greybeard for your thread.

Love from me
mudra

Exactly so Mudra
Thanks
You are
Love and Kindness
in action.

Namaste
Chris

RedeZra · 12-16-2009, 01:36 AM

the One

could clap His right hand

and make everything Right

what would it take to fathom this

RedeZra · 12-16-2009, 01:54 AM

the short-circuit of ego

surrender and service

service to Man and surrender to God

or

practise faith and patience

14 Chakras · 12-16-2009, 07:14 AM

We truly are who we think we are. As long as we believe we are separated from the infinite, we are a no good sinner, etc. we will remain so. Solution: Affirm the Divine within you because it is who you and I AM.

The short-circuit of the human ego ~ (continuing with theme from 2 post up) ~

Stop pretending you're human and remember you are the Christ ~

Christhood Affirmations:

I AM the Way the Truth and the Life.

I AM the open door which no human can shut.

I AM the resurrection and the Life.

I AM the Light of the world.

I AM come that all might have Life and that they might have it more abundantly.

I and my Father are One.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedeZra

the short-circuit of ego

surrender and service

service to Man and surrender to God

or

practise faith and patience

greybeard · 12-16-2009, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14 Chakras

We truly are who we think we are. As long as we believe we are separated from the infinite, we are a no good sinner, etc. we will remain so. Solution: Affirm the Divine within you because it is who you and I AM.

The short-circuit of the human ego ~ (continuing with theme from 2 post up) ~

Stop pretending you're human and remember you are the Christ ~

Christhood Affirmations:

I AM the Way the Truth and the Life.

I AM the open door which no human can shut.

I AM the resurrection and the Life.

I AM the Light of the world.

I AM come that all might have Life and that they might have it more abundantly.

I and my Father are One.

Totaly agree.
Thats exactly what I am. No more no less.

What more can be said?

Be kind to all no matter what including your self.

See Chris thought of something else to say. "did he?" smiling

God within me greets God within you 14 Chakras

greybeard · 12-16-2009, 11:50 AM

This is a short poem by Hafice

"I am a hole in a flute
that the Christs breath is moving through
listen to this music"

That is as egoless as it gets.

Humility.

Chris

mudra · 12-16-2009, 12:55 PM

Always willing to re-open
to bloom
more vulnerable, brighter and closer
to the edge
like a lily painting itself with vivid
strokes of presence
savoring the breath of its petaled limbs

The precious mercy of our Sunstar
to warm and illuminate
this heroic dream
we are housed in
and abide within
is the tenderness
our master serves to us
with much exactitude
and divine fire

Love from me
mudra

mudra · 12-16-2009, 12:59 PM

Where there is Love there is beauty .
What a beautifull thread my friends .
Keep that Light of yours shining .
It's glowing with Love.

Namaste
mudra

greybeard · 12-16-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudra

Where there is Love there is beauty .
What a beautifull thread my friends .
Keep that Light of yours shining .
It's glowing with Love.

Namaste
mudra

Thank you Mudra and all other contributors.
I feel quite emotional.
The tears are flowing.

Namaste

greybeard · 12-16-2009, 01:23 PM

The teacher is the same presence as the pupil,
there is only the One

chris

LucidJia · 12-16-2009, 01:22 PM

Thank you Chris for this wonderful thread.

Ego is fear. Fear is an instinct. Instincts are very tough to break out of, especially in the environment most of us live in.

Transcending the ego seems like a long way of for most (myself included). Being aware of the ego is lost to most. I have been working on my ego for a while now and it is a long process.

I think lucid dreaming is a great way to work on your ego. I experience no fear in this state whilst being fully conscious. I have learned allot since learning to lucid dream and think it has helped me realize that there is more to life than my body and my ego.

Namaste, Jia.

12-15-2009, 01:07 PM	#1
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? I would respectfully sugest that a good book to read on the subject is Discovery of God ( Devotional Nonduality) by David R Hawkins MD Ph.D Who is in the enlightened state. A little about myself. In my twenties I suffered Alcholism and through AA became a recovering alcholic. The twelve step program led me into the spiritual serch. Up till then my ego was in control, it thought it could control my drinking Ha Ha!!!! I had to get enough humility to realise that only a power greater than myself could lead me to sanity. I had to hit rock bottom first. I can thank my ego for leading me to the depth of suicidal dispare and therfore getting me on the path of enlightenment. Im dyslexic so spelling I hope you forgive. Anyway It became obvious that the only true way to learn anything was to listen to those who have done it, not theory or second hand, so the same applies to the spiritual path regarding enlightenment. Aside from those in India (my avatar picture is the late Ramana) the only enlightened ones I know of are Eckhart Tolle and David Hawkins, im sure there are others. Awake is not the same as enlightened. The caterpiller becomes the butterfly its that different. Only God (which we are) walks through the final door of enlightenment. We are waves of the Divine Ocean. The Ocean can say it is the wave but the wave cannot say it is the Ocean. There is a big difference between talking about it and being it. Enlightend beings are it. The ego likes to thing it can be an enlightened ego, sorry it cant. Hope this is helpfull With respect Chris

12-15-2009, 01:22 PM	#2
mikey Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 228	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Much love and festive blessings to you chris, thank you kindly for the reading recommendation, i shall chase it up. Peace always

12-15-2009, 03:28 PM	#4
RedeZra Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 539	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi the Acharya of Arunachala you climbed up the calm mountain and brought it back down passing pebbles of peace to people as if it is sweets to chew on you look so humane there on the couch walking with a stick wearing a cloth you are a poor excuse for a man Bhagavan I know what you are A Column of Light

12-15-2009, 05:46 PM	#5
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Thank you for the poem re Ramanah. He was one of my first teachers albiet by book. One of the finest. The ego can be trained and will become the spiritual ego which is no small achievement, however it can only take you so far before it is to be surendered to God if further progress is to be made. The spiritual ego is very clever and will lay claim to being Co-Creator with God. Not so. God dosent require a Co Creator -- that is just a vanity of the ego. Co-creator obviously is duality--- Him and me. Not Oneness. God is incapable of creating negativity Im paraphrasing David Hawkins in saying all that. The ego is self centered and is responsible for every form of misery on this earth. At its worst it is Meglomania and responsible for all the wars. At its best it will lay claim to being compasionate and perform good deeds but there is still the "Look at me how clever I am" agenda. The egoless has no agenda but to serve as a channel for Gods work. That seems like duality but its not. The moment words are used its not it. The words can only point to the truth -- not be it. Its like being a branch of the tree of God. The ego is not the enemy and it has got us this far, it is just not capable of Love as expressed by Jesus. He said "Of myself I do nothing it is the Father within who is the doer." Joy is our natural state. Nothing external causes that. Whaen all the obsticles to what we are are removed the Love/ joy just shines out, hence the term enlightend as in the poem re Ramanah. Saints are depicted with a halo, that is an indicator of the spiritual energy of love that radiates forth from them. Love is like gravity it is a powerfull energy field it dosent have to do nything it just affects all that is attracted to it. Love Chris Last edited by greybeard; 12-15-2009 at 05:53 PM.

12-15-2009, 06:26 PM	#6
14 Chakras Avalon Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 832	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Great comments above ~ and I like a lot of what you have said Greybeard (although I personally believe the reality is taht we are indeed free willed co-creators here to raise up our own planet ~ the question is whether we are co-creating from our human ego or co-creating from our very own I AM/ God Self) Here's a good teaching on ego from Website already referenced above: http://askrealjesus.com/G_Path/letegodie.html Last edited by 14 Chakras; 12-15-2009 at 06:42 PM.

12-15-2009, 06:50 PM	#8
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? 14 Chakras. Respect your obvious knowledge and have no way of personally refuting what you say and certainly at a high level this is so. I can only point to statements by Hawkins and Eckhart and others of that level. Have you heard of Indras dream? or the concept of the in breath and out breath of God? Ramana said "The world that you are trying to save dosent even exist" For sure you do and I do exist and thats beyond dispute, that life is eternal I believe. To higher beings enlightenment would be seen as kindergarten, so yes its endless as far as spiritual evolution goes. That is my understanding. As far as prayer goes, of course God does not need that either but we do influence outcome by praying. But who or what put the idea into our mind to pray? The truth is I dont know, so refer to enlightened sages who certainly seem to. Much respect to you Chris Namaste

12-15-2009, 07:03 PM	#10
14 Chakras Avalon Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 832	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? (As you can see I edited and removed my last post as too many caps detracted I think from message). I'm suggesting what's coming is East meets West. Enlightened sages have been Eastern. Eastern is spiritual not material. Western is material, up till now, hasn't been spiritual. Eastern gurus help achieve enlightenment for those who really have no interest in the world or it's peoples other than the spiritual aspect. (Gross generalization I know) I'm suggesting we are here in the West for a reason. East meets West. Spiritual meets Material. Meaning ~ we are here to solve the problems in our world, bring abundance for All Life. The leaders of the New Earth will be fully enlightened. There is indeed darkness in the world, and Eastern mystics have for the most part ignored. It is not right that children are being abused and literally sacrificed by dark forces in our world. It is not right that the earth's populations are deceived. What will solve these problems? While yes, a shift in consciousness, but what is truly required is for the Light to Be shined on the darkness. Meaning we throw over the money changers tables and expose the lies in the current system, religions and illusions of the world. We are co-creators I would certainly say, and it's up to us to choose to Be in order to do our part to Be the Body of God which will raise up this planet. Our strength comes from our Oneness with our source ~ beyond ego our Divine Self. I suggest the in breath out breath has been mis-interpreted in our world to mean loss of individuality. I would suggest the in breath is really everything coming up higher and Being More in Oneness ~ meaning maintaining the I but the "I"s are expanding ~ For example, when Yogananda ascends, he does not disappear, you can connect with Yogananda right Now if you choose to do so ~ We are not here to disappear, we are here to earn our Divine individuality in the mind of God by surrendering the shadow self and Being reborn into the reality of who we are in Oneness with the infinite ~ not a static image, but the God Self that is always Being More ~ I will Be that I will Be.

12-15-2009, 07:34 PM	#12
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? 14 chakras I can see the logic and indeed the need for what you say, certainly I hope that this is so and you are right. Difficulty is levels of awareness -- not yours and mine I hasten to add, we are in this earthly experience together. Beyond our personal subjective knowledge there are sages who will say that creation and disolution never happened its Indras dream ie we are part of a dream. In fact we are the dreamer. There is only the One without a second. The sages are in a timeless state. Scientists are begining to assert that time does not exist. Sages say that it is a dream, consciousness at play -- The Dance of Shiva. There is no time for anything to have happened. Time is a construct of the mind. Ramesh Balsekar said. God wrote the play God produced the play God directed the play God is every actor in the play. He also said "God is the totality all of it" as did Sai Baba. Sai Baba on being asked if he was God said "Yes I am but so are you, the only diference is I know I am you dont yet" In a way all this muddies the water. It is our job to act as though the play is real and it is for us at the level we are at. Im not saying I am right for I have no way of knowing this to be so but I do have faith in those who who are enlightened. Ramana talked to people at the level they were at and out of compasion would not disalusion them but sugested the well know technique of keeping asking the question "Who am I? " so that at some point the truth would be revealed to them. So it would not be helpful for most to hear that he said "The world you are trying to save dosent even exist" All i can say with absolute certanty is that I exist. Regards and respect Chris Namaste

12-15-2009, 10:50 PM	#13
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? I would like to thank all who have contributed so far. I have got a lot from the wisdom expressed here. Chris Namaste

12-15-2009, 11:28 PM	#14
mudra Avalon Spiritual Mother Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: belgium Posts: 4,919	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? We are not here to perform miracles but to let miracles happen through the heart we all share. Thank you Greybeard for your thread. Love from me mudra

12-16-2009, 01:36 AM	#16
RedeZra Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 539	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? the One could clap His right hand and make everything Right what would it take to fathom this

12-16-2009, 01:54 AM	#17
RedeZra Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 539	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? the short-circuit of ego surrender and service service to Man and surrender to God or practise faith and patience Last edited by RedeZra; 12-16-2009 at 02:23 AM.

12-16-2009, 11:50 AM	#20
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? This is a short poem by Hafice "I am a hole in a flute that the Christs breath is moving through listen to this music" That is as egoless as it gets. Humility. Chris

12-16-2009, 12:55 PM	#21
mudra Avalon Spiritual Mother Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: belgium Posts: 4,919	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Always willing to re-open to bloom more vulnerable, brighter and closer to the edge like a lily painting itself with vivid strokes of presence savoring the breath of its petaled limbs The precious mercy of our Sunstar to warm and illuminate this heroic dream we are housed in and abide within is the tenderness our master serves to us with much exactitude and divine fire Love from me mudra

12-16-2009, 12:59 PM	#22
mudra Avalon Spiritual Mother Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: belgium Posts: 4,919	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Where there is Love there is beauty . What a beautifull thread my friends . Keep that Light of yours shining . It's glowing with Love. Namaste mudra

12-16-2009, 01:23 PM	#24
greybeard Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Inverness Scotland Posts: 924	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? The teacher is the same presence as the pupil, there is only the One chris

12-16-2009, 01:22 PM	#25
LucidJia Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Zealand Posts: 135	Re: The ego what is it? How to transcend? Thank you Chris for this wonderful thread. Ego is fear. Fear is an instinct. Instincts are very tough to break out of, especially in the environment most of us live in. Transcending the ego seems like a long way of for most (myself included). Being aware of the ego is lost to most. I have been working on my ego for a while now and it is a long process. I think lucid dreaming is a great way to work on your ego. I experience no fear in this state whilst being fully conscious. I have learned allot since learning to lucid dream and think it has helped me realize that there is more to life than my body and my ego. Namaste, Jia.