purpose of ego

From a purely spiritual perspective, there is no purpose for the ego. Spiritual practitioners actually work to purge or minimize the ego. True spirituality is about selflessness, it’s about deepening your humanity so you no longer think of yourself first. Instead, you put others before you. And your life’s work aligns around helping others discover the same for themselves—that giving back to others is the true purpose of human existence.

At the same time, I think we should pause to recognize our successes in life. We should feel proud to be married to a special person. We should be proud when our children are living to the best of their ability. And finally, we should be proud to be part of a loving and supporting family or friendship. LOL! If you noticed, we’re being proud of things outside of ourselves. It has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with others. That’s the true purpose of ego.

I’m sure there are people who will argue that we can be proud of our personal accomplishments, awards, financial or business successes, the kind of car we drive, the house we live in, etc. etc. But in the overall scheme of things, those are trophies for the self. What does that amount to anyway? Maybe an award recognizing how you helped others should be lauded? But isn’t the joy of helping others award enough?

In my spiritual walk, I never want to argue about what’s right and wrong in differing belief systems. What I prefer to discuss is how we’re personally transformed by our beliefs and how we’re now helping others achieve the same transformation. To me, that is the great reward of spirituality. It’s not about recognition from peers or constituents. Not to say that we shouldn’t be happy when we’re seen for our life contributions. But we must be careful how we allow our worldly accomplishments define what it means to succeed in life.

Ultimately, a spiritual life succeeds by the way it helps other people. A spiritual life is dedicated to living an excellent life and then giving back the lessons learned to others. It becomes a circle of learning and growing and giving back. And the ones you give back to will ultimately help others learn and grow. That’s the true success of a spiritual person. It’s not in things, it’s in people.

#noegoplease #purgetheego