02/08/2026
The wisdom of the sages….
“Prabhuji, what is the ego and how is it dissolved?”
(Question from Alejandra Ramos)
Prabhuji’s Response:
Before I begin to answer, I would like to make it clear that the egoic phenomenon is not an object; when speaking of the “ego,” we are not referring to a thing. In reality, the ego is a habit, a custom, a small fantasy that you repeat constantly and that, through repetition, seems solid. It consists of a simple knot made of memory, comparison, and fear; a voice saying, “I am someone,” “I am right,” “I must be respected,” “I must win,” “I must be special.” In a certain sense, David Hume already suspected that when one looks for a fixed “self,” one finds shifting perceptions and a habit of calling them unity.
In Śaṅkarācārya’s view, ahaṃkāra is not an entity but a psychic mechanism that builds the self-image and claims lived experience as “mine.” Through that artifice, the Ātman becomes confused with the organism and mental processes, along with the belief of being the agent who carries out and controls actions.
The ego without an audience weakens; it trembles in silence. That is why solitude is frightening. Near solitude, the suspicion awakens that perhaps you are not the person you have defended so seriously for so many years. For the ego, that is sheer madness; however, the reality is that it is freedom knocking at your door. As Pascal observed, a decisive part of human unease is born from not knowing how to remain alone with oneself. The ego desperately needs the other in order to exist. It is an extremely crafty impostor, capable of disguising itself as virtue and love, as humility, and even as spirituality. It can give lectures on holiness and even give satsangs, presenting itself as an enlightened Master.
Without even blinking, it can smile and claim, “I have no ego”; however, that is already ego—made up, perfumed, and well dressed, ready for a photo.
The egoic phenomenon is incapable of truly loving, because loving implies melting boundaries, and the ego lives off them. The ego can desire, possess, negotiate, dominate, but it is impossible for it to be silent and peaceful; it cannot be love. In the presence of authentic silence, of true love, the ego evaporates.
It is important to understand that you do not dissolve the ego, because that “you” that wants to dissolve it is the same thief ego disguised as a police officer.
The very character that so badly wants to eliminate the ego is the same ego masked as “spiritual.” Because the ego is not defeated, not overcome, not killed; observing it is enough… because, when it is observed, its energy runs out.
It is impossible to kick or shove darkness out of a room; the only thing you can do is turn on the light, because, since it is not an object, darkness does not die.
True dissolution occurs through consciousness observing, like someone watching a cloud pass by. By observing, it is possible to see its nonexistence directly, and by confirming it, obviously you will never believe in its solidity again.
There are two doors that lead to the same sky: one is observation and the other is love.
By observing, you place yourself as a witness; you observe the “I” as just another idea; you observe the impulse to defend yourself, to compare yourself, to have the last word, without justifying it, without condemning it, without feeding it. You only observe, and in that attentive gaze the egoic phenomenon shrinks because it is only organized unconsciousness.
The second door is love, but not the love of soap operas or cheap romances. I mean a clean love, not a strategy to possess or dominate. By loving without motive, without reasons, without manipulation, consciousness arrives on its own, without seeking it or chasing it. Because in loving the ego is reduced, since the important one is the beloved; to love from an egoic perspective is to die a little. To the extent that we love, we are less; the ego contracts, it softens, it weakens. In that same direction, Meister Eckhart spoke of a “detachment” in which the self stops clinging to its own image.
Observe: each time the thought or idea “I,” “me,” “my story,” “my problem”… appears, just look at it. Very gently, say to yourself, “it’s just a thought”… repeat it, but without violence… because this is nothing but ego in a police uniform… William James, from psychology, intuited that the course of experience changes when the focus of attention changes.
Carry the same into daily life; when you are with others and notice the rise of that urgency to impose, correct, prove, win… just smile, recognizing the old mechanism. It is in that very instant that the egoic hypnotic state dissolves, because what keeps it alive is precisely your own sleep.
It is not through effort, but through understanding, that you will reveal that what you really are is not heavy armor: it is an emptiness full of life, presence with no need to defend itself. You will discover yourself as harmony, which means that the separate “I” is completely unnecessary.
The ego disappears the very moment you renounce serving it. And in that renunciation your authentic face manifests: silent, vast, simple, plain, and ordinary… like a child and his innocence walking along the seashore, happy and without arguments…
