Let’s take a problem we all experience and look at it through the lens of the ego: traffic.
We are stuck in traffic, and someone cuts in front of us. In a second, we lose all sense of proportion and are ready to “kill” that driver.
What is actually happening to us in these moments? Our emotional consciousness swells to monstrous, hysterical proportions, and a moment later our intellectual consciousness steps in to justify our reaction.
This is how the ego works: for every emotion, the intellect finds a justification.
The intellectual consciousness and the emotional consciousness are two earthly consciousnesses bound to time and space, which together form the ego, our false self. (By the way, for the psychologists among us: the “Ego” we are talking about here has nothing to do with Sigmund Freud’s definition of the ego.)
The ego is by nature focused only on itself. It cannot see past the end of its own nose, so being stuck in traffic feels like the end of the world.
Now take that combination — emotions justified by the intellect — and apply it to every other area of life, and you’ll begin to understand why so many areas of our lives become toxic, and how we ourselves keep them that way, with no room left for harmony or love.
At work: a colleague who did not answer an email fast enough becomes a personal enemy.
In marriage: a spouse arriving ten minutes late becomes proof of “disrespect.”
In parenting: a child refusing to eat becomes a battle of wills.
But against all the ego’s clever arguments — and the ego always sees everything from the narrow angle of the material world — the spirit poses one decisive question:
Does this matter for eternity?
The spirit, which is our true self, can always look at a situation from the higher perspective of eternity and respond from that place.
As long as we have not yet awakened our spiritual consciousness, that perspective is very hard to reach, unless we are facing great danger, serious illness, or death. In those moments, when the spirit finally manages to push the ego aside, we grasp at once what matters and what doesn’t. And then, often with great sorrow, we have to admit that we spent most of our lives on things of no importance.
That is exactly why, during the Train the Trainer seminar of LET MY SPIRIT GO, when a participant came up on stage to share a problem he was facing — a problem whose spiritual resolution was meant not only for him, but for everyone in the room — an image of a cemetery with an open grave was shown on the screen.
The purpose was simple: to stop the racing thoughts and emotions for a moment, and to remind everyone of the one perspective that cannot be disputed.
That image shocks the ego deeply, because the ego knows its existence is limited to the material world. So if the image frightens you, it is a sign that your earthly consciousnesses, the ones that make up the ego, are currently in control. But if it awakens your eternal spirit instead, you’ll immediately view any problem from a higher perspective.
There is no arguing with our earthly death. It is a fact. So, if we remember that our last day will come, we can let the spirit guide how we use our time on earth, toward the higher purpose we came here for.
In the end, no one will stand at our funeral and talk about how we sold a business for millions, bought a magnificent house, or achieved anything else material. At the graveside, even the most materialistic people look for good deeds to speak of, because if those deeds are genuine, they are the only thing we can take with us when we pass on. They are the spirit’s one true possession.
So, the next time you are stuck in traffic, take it as an opportunity to make a conscious choice: will you let your ego take control, or will you strengthen your spiritual consciousness?
