A Simple Explanation of Ego vs. Self

A recent telephone discussion with my brother, Bill, brought up the common confusion surrounding the terms "Ego" and "Self."  People often use these terms interchangeably, without defining exactly what they mean. This can easily lead to misunderstandings. Bill suggested I write an article defining the distinctions, using the Simple Explanation. 

This article will clear up the confusion between what people call that part of themselves they identify with as their "self." In other words, when you peel away the external stuff, who are you? When you say "I", what is that "I"? What is the difference between being "selfish" and "selfless"? And finally, is having a strong "ego" a bad thing? How is "ego" related to "selfishness"? 

According to the Simple Explanation, our bodies are comprised of countless units of consciousness (UCs) that are all working to keep us alive. Every particle and molecule, every cell and body organ from your skin on in, works to keep you alive and functioning. Every piece of you knows how to do its job, and all of your pieces coordinate their work to keep you up and running. When any part of you breaks down and no longer does its job, it either has to be replaced by fresh parts through cell regeneration or by other means like surgery. When major parts fail, your physical body dies.

This diagram shows how your body is comprised of countless units of consciousness (UCs) that work to keep your body alive and running smoothly. "You" are not only that sole person you usually identify yourself with, but also every particle, molecule, cell, and organ that makes up your body. The "Ego" is the "mind" that  arises from and watches over the billions of parts that make up your physical body.  The "Ego" is only aware of the needs of your body, not the needs of others. The "Self," on the other hand, is a singular unit of consciousness attached to your body, like the raja riding atop an elephant. Unlike the "Ego," the "Self" identifies with the Universal Unit of Consciousness rather than the body. The "Self" is a perfect singular fractal of the Universal UC and is oriented to the Universe at large. Your "Self" is interested in others and works according to the Golden Rule.

The reason your Ego appears so "selfish" is that it is entirely concerned with you and your body's needs. The Ego is your organ-level consciousness. The Ego helps you translate the body's physical needs into action. The body's organ systems have their own "mind," and that mind is your Ego. Does your sexual organ system want sex? The Ego will bring that about in the most selfish way. Does your digestive system want food? Your Ego will make sure it gets food in the most selfish way possible. Does your nervous system crave excitement and stimulation or perhaps quiet and rest? Your Ego will make sure it gets it. The Ego's job is to care for and feed the body whatever it wants, and too bad for everyone else. That's their own Ego's job to take care of their needs, not yours.

The Self, on the other hand, is other-oriented. The Self reflects the character of love called "Agape" in Greek--Godly love. The Self is like the raja riding atop the elephant. It is not the elephant and all its moving parts, but rather a singular unit of consciousness: "me," "I." The Self is a perfect fractal of the Universal Unit of Consciousness that ties our entire universe together into one organism. Your Self is akin to a single cell of the Universe itself. Your Self's job is to connect to others, following the law of the Golden Rule.

The Simple Golden rule states  "In order for units of consciousness to join and work together for the greater good, they need relevant information (including shared meme chords), they need to be willing to channel coherence from the metaverse, and they need to love one another."  

"Selfless" love comes from your "Self" fractal, which is a perfect reflection of the Universal Unit of Consciousness. This is the true meaning of being created in God's image. The Self's job is to reach out to others with information, assistance, and love in order to work together to build something greater than oneself. This is the Simple Golden Rule.

"Selfish" love comes from your "Ego," which is a by-product of your body's organ systems. The Ego's job is not to reach out to others, but to take the best possible care of you and your body. Its focus is on you, not others. Romantic love arises from this organ-level Ego. Your Ego feels good when someone else pays attention to you and your Ego wants to spend more time with them. Casual sex is an activity arranged by the Ego at the sexual organ level, with no strings attached. Ego's job is self-centered.

A strong Ego reflects the intensity of your body's needs. A weak Ego is less aware of the body's needs. Selfishness without awareness arises from the Ego. The Ego is amoral other than taking care of its primary duty of taking care of you. 

Spiritual teachings emphasize dethroning Ego from the top of the elephant and placing God on the throne. In truth, the Self may continue to sit on the throne atop the elephant because the Self is a pure reflection of God and as a reflection of God it is inherently Selfless and loving. 

Notice that our human concept of "God" occupies the same niche in this Universal hierarchy as our Ego occupies in the Human-level hierarchy. Using analogical reasoning, our universe is a reflection of the collective choices (karma) and memes (beliefs and narratives) of every entity in the universe. The personality we humans call "God" also reflects this Universe's karmic record and memes, as It organizes and instantiates those patterns on behalf of Creation. This "God" is not identical to the Metaversal Universal Consciousness because of its necessary involvement with this material Universe. The Metaversal UC exists in a limitless, undifferentiated state of pure consciousness, unaffected by the affairs of this Universe.

If you would like to behave like a less "selfish" person, that is, if you would like to put others' needs ahead of your own from time to time, you need to realize that your Ego is only looking out for #1. The good news is that your Self is waaaay more powerful than your Ego. The struggle is not between you and God and the Devil. Your struggle is between your Self and your Ego. You must realize that your Self already reflects all of the characteristics of God, including loving, selfless behavior. Don't let your body's meat dictate your actions.

A Simple Explanation of The Perennial Philosophy

A philosopher friend of mine recently commented on the Simple Explanation, "Excellent retelling of the Perennial Philosophy!"

I was unfamiliar with the expression "Perennial Philosophy," so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here's their essential definition:

Perennial philosophy is the philosophical concept which states that each of the world’s religious traditions share a single truth. Perennial philosophy asserts that there is a single divine foundation of all religious knowledge, referred to as the universal truth. Each world religion, independent of its cultural or historical context, is simply a different interpretation of this knowledge...

Yes, my friend was right. The Simple Explanation is all about identifying the universal truth embedded underneath ages of confusing memetic overlays.

And what is the basic truth that all traditions share when you strip away their superfluous memes?

• There is a Divine Reality underpinning everything; without This, no thing and no one would exist. 
• Ground, Sat, Undiffentiated Unity, Brahman, Godhead, Pure Light of the Void, Pure Consciousness, Metaverse

• This Divine Reality may be directly perceived under certain conditions.
• through prayer, meditation, near-death experiences, mystic revelation, psychedelic drugs, religious ecstasy, inspired ritual, super-rational intuition
• Humans possess a dual nature: the little, egoic "me" of day-to-day living, and a true Self that reflects the Divine Reality.
• egoic "me" is selfish, competitive, single-minded, short-sighted, meme-bound
• transcending ego, Self reaches out to others with love, help, and information for the betterment of all
• People long to reunite with that divine Reality from whence they came.
• salvation, enlightenment, Self-realization, Buddhahood
• Unification is only possible through denial of the earthly self and identification with divine Reality.
• focus on the here and now; drop unwanted memes

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The late Aldous Huxley wrote an excellent book on the topic in 1944 called The Perennial Philosophy. I've only read the first three chapters so far, but they are already marked up with happy scribbles. What a smart man Huxley was! Everything he is saying fits in perfectly with the Simple Explanation, so if you would like a fuller explanation of the Perennial Philosophy, I'd recommend Huxley's book.

Shed Unwanted Memes Here! Now!

As defined in the article "Memes and Chords of Memes," memes are the cultural expressions of societies. Every discrete cultural concept, mythology, or icon you can think of is a meme. Indeed, each and every concept that a person can know and name is a meme, even self-concept. According to the Simple Explanation, the memes we believe in and cling to are like theads draped over our souls, obscuring our perfect Self UC and interfering with our awareness of here and now.

If my Self UC is a perfect fractal expression of the primordial Universal UC ("Holy Ghost," "Kutastha Chaitanya," "Purushottama") then my personal meme bundle is the garment woven by my mind out of life's experiences ("avidiya," "maya"), and sustained by my Ego as personal identity ("Ahamkara").



Self UC





Self UC Clouded by Memes

The article "Bundles of Memes" explains that once you acquire a meme, it becomes part of your unique vibratory bundle. If you do not wish to continue holding that meme in your personal bundle of strings and chords, you need to detach that meme from your bundle.

• Some memes fall away of their own accord through disuse.
• Other memes must be consciously detached and laid aside.
• Some memes are pernicious; addictions are their behaviors. 
• Emotionally evocative memes such as victimhood or jealousy are difficult to detach due to the intense synergistic coupling of thoughts and emotion.

In the worldly course of events, unwanted memes must be detached through an effort of will, either through conscious disuse or by acquiring a competing, more desirable meme. Therapies such as EFT may help.

Within one's spiritual tradition, memes may be surrendered to one's Higher Power through prayer and meditation. Serenity is achieved as memes are discarded.

Here, now, you may lay down that unwanted meme. If you find yourself accidentally carrying it around again, lay it down again. If you notice yourself invoking that meme out of habit, good. Lay it down again. You may need to lay down some neighboring memes as well, if their vibrations are invoking that pernicious meme in you. No need for dismay or despair. Onward and upward.

Nested Hierarchies

After diagramming the hierarchical structure of human Units of Consciousness in the article "My Self, the Governor of Whoville," I extended the concepts to include the hierarchy above us. This follows the principle of "as above, so below" and the nested fractal nature of the universe.

To review, here's the distribution of Units of Consciousness (UCs) in each of our aggregate selves:

The Human UC's Hierarchichal Structure

Applying the same reasoning "upline" yields the following hierarchical structure:

The Universal UC's Hierarchichal Structure

In the hierarchy above, fewer and fewer instances of each type of UC appear as their scope of responsibility becomes broader and broader. This follows the principle of "the higher the fewer." Eventually, all units of consciousness in this universe combine to rejoin the Universal Unit of Conciousness from whence they came.

Notice that our human concept of "God" occupies the same niche in this Universal hierarchy as our Ego occupies in the Human-level hierarchy. Using analogical reasoning, our universe is a reflection of the collective UCs' choices (karma) and memes (beliefs and narratives). The personality we call "God" also reflects this Universe's karmic record and memes, as It organizes and instantiates those patterns on behalf of Creation. This "God" is not identical to the Metaversal UC because of its necessary involvement with this material Universe. The Metaversal UC exists in a limitless, undifferentiated state of pure conciousness, unaffected by the affairs of this Universe.

Nested Hierarchies

My Self, the Governor of Whoville

My body is a veritable galaxy of Units of Consciousness working to instantiate "me."

As you can see by the above diagram, the simpler the UC, the more of them there are. While there is only one "me" (represented by the blue triangle), my body is comprised of 11 organ systems made of 78 organs, which are in turn comprised of 50 trillion specialized cells made up of such a large number of atoms and molecules that I don't know how to read or write the numbers. The more organized and complex the UC, the fewer of them there are. Note that the "Mind" or ordinary consciousness, as well as the subconscious, are artifacts of the organ systems, organs, and cells that make up my body. In other words, the mind is the meat's thought process, not the Self's. 

My Self UC sits atop this hierarchical mountain of countless UCs, all working to instantiate my body. While I may believe I am the only conscious entity inhabiting this body of mine, my physical body is actually home to all of these aggregated UCs, each with their own jobs to perform, each laying down their own karmic record. Lucky for me, their job is to hold me together and facilitate this life of mine, and they generally go along with the program and do a good job. 

Another basic trait of my aggregate UCs is this: "The more UCs of the same level of complexity that are laterally linked, the greater their shared perception of here and now." This means that when you add all of those UCs together that make up my body, their aggregated consciousness is about as aware as my singular Self UC. And those aggregated UCs (my "mud" and "meat") are everywhere I am! No wonder I can get around so well without my conscious Self paying attention!

The "Ego" is my subjective sense of who I am, and it is largely a reflections of my Self UC's choices (karma) and the memes I cling to (my beliefs and narratives). My Ego also reflects my body's aggregates and their karmas and meme choices. Ego is not identical to the Self, as the Self UC is the immutably perfect soul that exists independent of material instantiation.