It serves your Highest self to be aware of it. It is part of who you are ......so why would you want to get rid of it?

I agree fully with Satori and Susan...awareness is the key. Our ego is an inherent part of who we are as humans and to deny it is to deny our humanity. However, most of us have handed the reins of control to the ego and disconnected from our Higher self and that's where the problems arise.

This whole journey is about realizing what areas we have allowed the ego to reign supreme and allowing our Higher self to reclaim it's rightful position thus using the ego as the wonderful tool that it was originally intended to be... both are part of All that is, so the ego is not something we can ever, or should even want to, get rid off.

I think what's happened, as a species, is that we've learned to use our ego as a weapon as opposed to a tool. Then, when we begin to wake up, we view it as something wrong that we have to get rid of instead of integrating it as part of our whole being and using as the tool it was intended to be to help us navigate this human experience.

As above so below, as below so above, as within so without, as without so within. You seem to understand that we are all connected, a part of one whole. Now on every level, that is so. Therefore, as a person, we are one whole person. The Ego, the Id and the Super-Ego are all connected and a part of a whole that is your mind that is a part of a whole that is you that is a part of a whole that is your family and then community, etc... Killing your Ego would be killing part of yourself. When we look at cells and how they function and do what they are supposed to do, it shows us that there is an order to things, but since we have free will, we can choose to do our part and work together as a whole, or to make ourselves separate and not work together. The same with our Super-Ego, Ego and Id, those are afterall only names we call them to understand the way we function. So here again, the goal is to have all the "parts" work together as one. It seems that our Ego is our connection to the physical world. It is how we engage in the world. Our Id would be our connection to the Universal Mind and then our Super-Ego would be the part of the mind that connects us to our minds. So the goal is not to kill anything or anyone, but to train all the parts to work together as one. Maybe then it is our Super Ego that we need to strenghten to better understand and incorporate what is happening in the physical and spiritual worlds so as to function as a whole.

What You put out is what You get back.

Why do we have an Ego? Because here on planet earth it is necessary for survival. The reason for our ego is for the survival of the species. Our Ego is the judge that saves our life countless times in our physical world. Weather we like our ego or not we can't kill it that would be imposible.

use your will to control the ego, though sometimes easier said than done,
it is the incessant stimuli of our senses that present new opportunities of choice,
yet ego needs are only part of our awareness may better serve our growth when guided by that which is of spirit

Ego is the form child that I observe playing. The only thing that "changed" is my awareness that the ego is not the true essence of self. For I am nothing. As the ego, I take the imaginating form and learn what is. The balance simply is to let the child play, and that means she will get hurt, but then she learns. All I do is remember where I truly am.

And that you are there with me... So let the child play.

I think the ego is useful when controlled by your consciousness, i.e. making thoughtful decisions instead of following your impulses. Having said this, I believe we must learn how to tame our egos to be more productive. We recently wrote about this http://academy.justjobs.com/tame-your-ego to help employees feel better at work and be more productive. - Erich

I think that the body is the physical vessel or the physical interface of the spirit And the ego is the consciousness vessel or the consciousness interface of the spirit.

But then along the way we have forgotten that we are spirit and instead we operate from within the interface of the spirit.

The interface is a temporary framework or the work space or the sketch book or the notepad for the spiritual you. In this temporary workspace you hold on to all that you need for who you are right now.

From this temporary work space (ego) you operate within this physical experience.

But when your spirit begins to identify with the temporary workspace for its own place of existence the idea that its actual source is elsewhere (all that is) is no longer plausible or acceptable; because the ego can only access its own temporary workspace and cannot investigate its source of creativity.

The ego is afraid to loose what it has and doesn't trust anything new unless the new material somehow fits with the existing jigsaw puzzle of consciousness.

You can easily identify a person whose reference point is based on the ego's point of reference. Such a person would be described as a rational person.

The whole "rational thought" thing is a deliberate tool to keep the mass of humanity stuck within an ego reference point. I think it is because it is much easier to control a person who is stuck within the ego. All you have to do is tell them how to authenticate incoming data and train them to reject all other data. They are clueless that the devices of authentication and the very concept of rational thought is to control and crush accidental discovery.

The best part is that the ego reference point is a survival reference point once the attention is fixed upon it. Anything new that is not "approved" is seen as dangerous. The ego needs constant guidance in order for it to feel self-assured.

So imagine an entire population of humanity that has been trained to be un-sure if its own thoughts that they need constant assurance from elsewhere to know that their own thoughts are correct?

You think I'm joking about this, but this is exactly where humanity is at right now, and from all the research that I have done, it appears that it was absolutely deliberate.

If you have to check Wikipedia or Google or a source of "authority" to be comfortable with the authenticity of your own ideas and thoughts, I'm sorry to say, you my friend are completely trapped in the ego. But if it makes you feel any better, it was not your fault; the system is designed to keep you there.

You were not meant to be so insecure about your own existence.

You point of reference was not meant to be stuck within this temporary workspace for your consciousness called the ego.

Even as you read this you should know that you are much more than the ideas that form your identity.

You should know that you are pure spirit with an adopted identity that is a place-holder within this matrix called reality.

You should know that you can reach back to the greater source of spirit that you are.

You should know that in order to do that you have to stop thinking.

Yes I said it, you have to stop your thinking and teach yourself to listen without thinking.

Between every thought there is a brief moment when you are listening.

The instant that you download something, your ego reference point immediately goes to work trying to analyze what came through.

This analysis is the beginning of a thought.

When you are thinking you are actually fitting wisdom from beyond yourself within the limited framework of your ego's understanding.

And the more rational you are the more you reject your own spirit's greater wisdom, for it doesn't conform to the ego's limitations.

The only way around it is to stop your ego from analyzing the wisdom that is coming from your greater self.

To do that you have to stop thought.

Don't get me wrong, you have to think to drive your car, to do your job, to make breakfast, to hunt and gather, and to physically survive.

But when you need and answer that you don't have.............stop thinking.

Only then can you listen without your ego screwing the flow of wisdom with rationality.

You can comprehend without thought.

Don't believe me?

What is that moment when you say AH...HA...I'VE GOT IT...I'VE..GOT IT.

That moment is comprehension without thought.

Of ‘course, right after that moment, you hand over the entire solution to your ego so that your ego can analyze it within the context of rationality and take all the credit for the solution.

You ego does not come up with any answers or solutions.

Your spirit does.

You ego just takes the credit for it because it converts it into rationality.

well you need ego in this world because most people are controlled by it. but it does not mean you need to let it control you. so make wise choice. experiance and enjoy.

i will give you example: someone control by ego come to see you asking for trouble. sure you could let ego control you and kill him. or you could control ego and look at what level that person is and what he needs to achive and just let him be because he is far lower then you and killing him will not help him out.

so make wise choice you have free will. experiance and enjoy.

The real can be known only through the false, so the ego is a must. One has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only through the illusion. You cannot know the truth directly. First you have to know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue. Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the truth. If you know the false as the false, truth will dawn upon you. http://deoxy.org/egofalse.htm

A conversation Eddie and I have been having on Ego sparked an enlightenment in me, I see ego like fire. Yes we could put out a fire and solve a problem so no one gets burnt this has been for many years what people did with fire. But little by little they started saying can we harness fire? Can it be used in other ways safely? Now today we have very many ways fire is used much more than the old camp fire, we even use it to fly in the air working inside our gas engines.

So for me I do not prefer to kill ego, (put out the fire) but I chose to use it wisely like this answer for example. I am inspired to answer this but the ego says "Go ahead and do it. They would like to hear your inspiration." Now if I killed my ego I would get inspired by the question and keep it to myself because I'd feel it wouldn't matter to me if I told you, "someone else will answer, I'm not needed." The ego says "No, they will enjoy your answer go ahead an post it, it will help someone!"

So I use ego in a way that is my fire it pushes me forwards but I do not let it in control, I must remember I am the one that controls my brain.

If you cannot kill Satan, you cannot kill the ego, for they are both from the same family, therefore, you cannot save one, and kill the other!

In Islam we believe in balance. Some beliefs say that the body imprisons the soul and thus you have to put it in constant punishment and go on hunger because food is a material and they consider that if they eat food then they might get attached to it and this is what they are trying to avoid. But at the end, it always results in a negative matter because what happens is that they reach a point where they feel surpressed and they reach a point where they feel worn out and can't continue any longer and so they go back to eating- and this time they become excessive in eating- its sort of how a yoyo diet works..anyhow, also this is not a proper method because some of them would start to look down on people and consider themselves as noble outcasts and enjoy receiving praise and labels such as "saint" or "holy" from others and hence, there is no genuine faith in the inside and no real relationship with Allah (God) The Creator, The Lord.

In Islam, we believe that you worship Allah with all your heart all your strength and all your power. This means that the body and material are not secluded articles, but they combine to fit that purpose. For instance, food, since its a source of energy , if our intention in eating is to gain energy in order to be able and fit to worship Allah better, then even this act of eating is considered a good deed in Islam. The same goes for sleeping and other human acts, if we sleep inorder to reload our energy with the intention of wanting that energy to worship Allah better, then it is considered a good deed. Nevertheless, we are also obligated to seek a middle course in the amount of food we consume, the Prophet Muhammad said: Their is no container worst to fill for son of Adam than his belly. Even observe the Muslims' prayer; all the main body parts (back, knees, foot, head) have part in prayer. Why? because we believe that this body that Allah created us with works in the field of fulfilling that purpose that purpose of spiritual elevation and thus it was even marked in our prayer and makes it distinct from other forms of prayer in other beliefs where they consider they seclude the body from the soul and consider it as a prison for the soul. But what is the significant factor that draws the difference between the Islamic ideology and other beliefs ideology regarding the body: that factor is intention. Intention to be faithful for Allah and live for His sake changes everything, it makes even your walking on earth a prayer, because your purpose is always for your intention. May Allah give us peace and make us of his Humble and devoted servants. email for contact or inquiries: timiz56@hotmail.com May Allah grant us peace, and make us of those He is pleased with.

I tame my ego and use it whenever it can be for good reasons. More than that I love using others' ego. I use their ego to get the work done for everybody's well-being. I am not sure how I learned it but all I remember is that the day I learned that Ego is, I learned its use too. :)

My wife found this site, I haven't read it or apply it myself but from what my wife told me it contains very valuable information.

I just wanted to share it and maybe gather experiences in the process. http://www.theego.org/transforming-the-ego.html