The Eagle and the Ego

In modern spirituality, there is a lot of talk about the “ego”. I don’t focus much on the ego, as I have seen many people get caught in the struggle of fighting against it, or trying to destroy it. This comes from a common misconception: the idea that the ego is inherently bad, or even evil.

There is nothing wrong with the ego. It is just a protection. The ego is the individual persona, the masks and defenses we use to hide our insecurity. In order to explain this, I often use the following analogy:

Imagine that you are an egg. Inside is a baby eagle. This eagle represents love-consciousness; your true self, your full potential. Yet we don’t know that this eagle exists; for now, we are just an egg. The shell represents the ego. The function of the eggshell is to protect that which is not yet mature; to shield the baby eagle from the world, until it is ready. This shell might present itself as false pride or arrogance, as insecurity or feigned humility. The ego is the voice that tells us there is something wrong with us, that we should be different. It is the voice that is always pulling us down, keeping us small, doubting, mistrusting, worrying. But is there something wrong with the eggshell? No. It’s just doing its job, providing protection until the eagle has grown strong. When the baby eagle is big enough, it starts to chip away at the shell. This happens naturally as our consciousness expands: soon the eagle is too big to be held by the constraints of the ego, and it begins to fall away naturally.

In your journey towards awakening, don’t try to destroy the ego or fight against it: instead, focus on cultivating the eagle within. When your consciousness has matured, the ego will fall away naturally, without any effort on your part, because it will no longer have anything left to protect.

Isha Judd is an internationally renowned spiritual teacher and author; her latest book and movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly? explain her system for self-love and the expansion of consciousness. Learn more at www.whywalkwhenyoucanfly.com.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

KS G.

12:20AM PST on Mar 2, 2011

Thanks for the article.

send a green star

Kats Greenseas C.

7:25AM PST on Feb 2, 2010

good post ty

Irina B.

1:25AM PST on Feb 1, 2010

The Daily om article : Serving the Higher Self
The Ego is one of mv favorite articles . It comes to the point: " It is healthy to have ego, but like all things in life, ego functions best when it is in balance and harmony with your whole self."

1:19AM PST on Feb 1, 2010

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/20519.html

1:18AM PST on Feb 1, 2010

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2006/3479.html

Stephen C.

2:56AM PST on Jan 4, 2010

We all have the gift, you have done the work to expose yours. The analogy and your expression are simple and yet profound. I stumbled onto you and am very pleased to have. ( then again I search now and look )

Beth M.

4:47PM PST on Dec 28, 2009

...*smiles*....thanks*.......

Silvia M.

4:43PM PST on Dec 28, 2009

interesting

gerlinde p.

9:56AM PST on Dec 20, 2009

i love the metaphor thankyou so much.

Joylene K.

11:20AM PST on Dec 17, 2009

This article contains great symbolism and analogies that really relate well to all areas of spirituality. I totally agree with the article and am living this in my own walk. Thanks for the reminder