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Ego masks
Imagine that all you know yourself to be and all that others perceive in you—your personality, attitudes, beliefs and mannerisms—just disappears. These attributes slip off like a robe, leaving you psychologically naked before the universe. This existential nakedness is what theologians call a state of “pure being” or “the ground of your being.” Theoretically, it’s what’s left when your mental onion has been peeled down to its primal core.
To most, the idea of ego dissolution, of losing one’s sense of self is a fearful prospect, if not a terrifying one. But among some mystics, this is an aspirational state, one in which they seek to shed their social identities and enter the realm of unified consciousness, of oneness with all. Consequently, many of them believe that when we die, the persona called “me” (which encompasses your personality and identity) just vanishes. If that’s true, then what, if anything, is left? Well, some mystics claim that once the ego is gone, there is no mental observer left in one’s psyche. You are no longer a splintered self, with one part (the one who thinks and judges) observing and critiquing the other (the one who feels and experiences).
What remains, they assert, is a profound sense of oneness in which you no longer feel like a separate individual. One’s consciousness merges with an all-encompassing unity. Some call it ego death. We get a teensy taste of this when we totally lose ourselves in some engaging activity, like reading a book, listening to music, watching a film or any other “in the flow” experience. Self-awareness ebbs but does not entirely disappear. In a more intense way, episodes of awe and wonder, which often arise when in nature, offer more powerful doorways to this feeling of transcendence. We connect and merge with something greater than ourselves, leaving little or no room for self-absorption.
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The End of Me?
Now, many mystics believe that to truly know God, whatever you hold that to be, your ego must get out of the way. This is a different route to the divine than some religions propose, particularly those that believe we retain our sense of self (personality) beyond death. So, assuming for a moment that death is the end of “me,” who or what is left to experience this timeless state of spiritual oneness that mystics say remains? Good question.
“At the core, we are pure consciousness, which death cannot destroy,” one of them told me.
His assertion can’t be proven, of course, and there are many who believe that once the brain dies, so does any semblance of consciousness. Nonetheless, science does know that we humans are energy in a material form. Physicists also tell us that energy cannot be destroyed, but only transformed. There’s little disagreement that death is transformational. The debate arises over what that metamorphosis yields. Do you remain a “me” on the other side of death’s door, does your personal identity dissolve into a greater whole, like a raindrop falling into the sea, or is it simply lights out altogether?
Obviously, nobody knows, but if the ego is a transient mental persona that dissolves at death, as many mystics contend, then each of us would do well to whittle ours down to size while still in this world. Through spiritual practices such as meditation and prayer, acts of kindness and service to others, as well the pursuit of transcendental states of consciousness and experiences of awe and wonder in nature, we can learn to identify less with the ego and more with that state of pure being that the mystics seek.
“Do I end at death?” many of us wonder.
The answer may depend on whether your “I” mostly represents your ego or, instead, largely reflects your soul.
For more, visit philipchard.com.
