Within the system, only children of a certain age manage to have free thought, but this does not last long. Just as the child begins to create their own form of thought, socio-religious control begins to act. Entering into contact with other living beings, the child begins to build his first Egos, that is, the psychic structure that we create for the relations with the people around us, in order to be accepted and to be part of the system.
Egos are necessary for survival in society, a psychologist would say. But the problem is that Egos are shaped according to society's behavioural models.
When Egos take on too much importance, one lives to feed them, nullifying the individual's true nature. The approval, acceptance, and admiration of others are fuel for the survival of each Ego; one learns to think and act as others want and in a way that pleases others... the more you feed the Egos and the more the Egos grow, the bigger they get and the more important they become to the individual... until the individual thus loses their true nature and capacity for independent thought. We begin to like what others like and we behave as others like; we dress as others dress, we do what others do.
As soon as one tries to differentiate oneself from the system, one is branded as nonconformist, and isolated and denigrated.
It is not easy to create independent thought. It would seem that the system was perfectly designed to nullify any attempt at forming independent thought.
In school textbooks and in the news disseminated by the media, only one version of the facts is always proposed, which automatically becomes the right one; many people do not even dwell on the notion that there could be a second version of the facts, another side of the story. Unfortunately, even those who try a second version of the facts, are rarely able to get a clear view, being in the middle of the system. Then there are also the conspiracy theorists, that is, those who see an alternative version of the facts controlled by strong powers (deep state included); they are led astray by the confounding effects of the system, which causes exaggerated distortions to their perspectives.
Egos are formed in the psyche of individuals to facilitate interaction with society's various situations: we create an Ego for family, one for work, one for friends, and so on.
We can think of Egos as masks, all a little different from each other, that we wear depending on the situation. The purpose of these Egos is adaptation to society.
We have seen how within societies in which we grow up, being happy means making money, having a brilliant career, being admired, being successful, having a cherished family, acquiring increasingly valuable status symbols, having a good circle of friends, and possibly having fame.
This all requires Egos for interaction with people, simultaneously this all feeds the Egos themselves. These Egos, which were created for society, rely on society itself for support.
Whenever we receive approval from any part of society or reach a goal imposed by society (see Socio-religious System ⇒), we feed one of our Egos and consequently experience a feeling of ephemeral happiness.
But these Egos need continuous and repeated support: a vicious circle is created, turning people into eternal chasers of ephemeral happiness due to the existence of Egos. Procuring this ephemeral happiness is both a waste of energy and a diversion from more important and nobler goals.
From a spiritual point of view, Egos' negativity arises from the moment at which the individual identifies with them, which happens when one overfeeds an Ego, causing it to assume undue importance; when Egos become too many and too important, the individual loses his true identity.
Some people consider Egos parasites of the individual, which come into play as the individual starts to become a puppet, reciting roles and scripts to please others and to oneself be pleased by others.
It would be inappropriate to see Egos as parasites at the psychic and energetic levels: we ourselves create them and feed them with our psycho-energetic efforts, meaning that we ourselves are the generating cause of our ills, even if one can point the blame at the socio-religious system.
Seeing Egos as parasites may generate a psychological excuse to justify laziness in acting against them.
Growth in Individual Consciousness occurs at the same time as the destruction of Egos, or at least the loss of their importance.
Most people are a part of society, so there is nothing wrong with having Egos so long as they are moderate and the individual is aware of them.
Egos must be moderate: Egos must not generate any form of frustration or stress; Egos should be accepted and experienced by the individual as if they were a game.
The individual must be aware of own Egos: when an individual is aware of own Egos and understands their purpose, he will be best able to manage them, training them without causing harm and without feeding them with ambition or other poisons.
Unfortunately, however, more often than not people are unaware of their Egos; they do not recognise them, become confused by them, must constantly feed them, and suffer Ego's harmful consequences.
Love for oneself is the simplest method for limiting Egos.
The Who am I? exercise, performed in a state of deep concentration, is a tool which may help to improve one's relationship with one's Egos (see chapters Who am I? ⇒ and Meditation ⇒).
“...
After the morning downpour, with the air a little cooler and the red earth turned to slippery mud, I stopped to greet Pragnil and went to walk along the inner paths. I knew that the further we went, the deeper into the jungle we got, and the more a contemplative silence would fall... today I wanted some stimulus from Pragnil, so I asked him for advice on what I could contemplate during the walk. He told me, - Who am I? - ...I was a little taken aback, but then he added - ask yourself who you are... Who am I? Am I my job? Am I my soul? -. I immediately commenced with this contemplation; I was so submerged in my thoughts so that I did not realise how much time had passed until it began to get dark... I had so many useful reflections, one after another; a lovely experience. I really needed it, and I think Pragnil knew that.
...”
The contemplative exercise that Pragnil suggested is certainly valid and should be repeated multiple times until a satisfactory result is achieved.
Once we become aware that we are not our work, that we are not what we wear, that we are not what we possess, that we are not any of the various masks that other people paint on us, and we are not any of the other masks that we wear in different circumstances within society, then we can start to detach ourselves from various Egos that are unnecessary and harmful to our spiritual path.
It is not an easy exercise; some people experience strong emotions when they get rid of their harmful ties to Egos.
Some Egos will be destroyed, demolished, leaving nothing of them remaining. Other Egos will be kept as they will come in handy in everyday life unless you wish to pass on to life as a hermit. The Egos that we decide to keep will be detached from our being; they will no longer be part of our skin, but more like inactive clothes that we wear in case we need them; they will therefore no longer be psycho-energetic parasites, but rather masks to wear to our liking.
By practising Who am I? calmly and consciously, we automatically acquire more individual awareness and, leading us to understand who we are: we are Universal Consciousness in the Reality that manifests itself in Individual Consciousness in the Virtual Reality.