Ego is the need to be right, to be better, to have more—to believe that my group, my neighborhood, my city, or my country is special, or that my God is the only path toward salvation. As it is impossible to successfully demonstrate or prove any of this, the path of ego is a fool’s errand that can only lead to conflict and frustration.

Ego is that voice in the head that is suspicious of people, that has you attack others to make a point, that tells you to demand and take what it thinks you need. The strategies of ego seem to make sense, but never solve any problem and never lead to lasting happiness.

Ego is fear and paralysis. Constantly up and down. Stressed. Tired. Depressed. Jealous and possessive in relationships. Unproductive and uncreative at work. No fun. Always thinking about past and future until one day time runs out.

Ego cares so much about what others think, about what might go wrong, about what shouldn’t have happened—that there is this tendency to pretend that the present moment doesn’t even exist. And so in this present moment—the only dimension where anything real exists and ever has existed—those in the grip of ego hide away from human contact, they obey tyrants, they cut off communication, they pretend that our souls are not one and that our minds are not always in communication.

This sad state is, by far, the most popular way humans exist on this planet. Then there are the very few of us (and growing in number) who have looked upon our egos and decided against it. As strange as it may sound, and as much as nobody seems to want to talk about it, an entirely different reality is possible now—but only through the full escape from ego. Ongoing joy, no drama, no real suffering, no conflict—it is only a decision away.