Just What is the Spiritual Ego?

Reader’s Question

I have heard that there are two types of egos, the spiritual ego and the psychological ego that Freud talked about. I’m looking for some insight into what the difference is. I’ve been doing some reading, and from what I’ve learned it seems that the regular ego wants things — anything — whether it’s a girlfriend or a nice car. When you were a kid the ego was smaller and you didn’t want as many things, and you didn’t even get troubled as easily if you failed to get them. But when you get older, competition and pressure from others makes your ego want things more.

How this all applies to my situation is that for a long time I didn’t have a genuine desire for a girlfriend, but my ego wanted one. I didn’t care about looks or anything like that because after all, I didn’t really want a girlfriend. But a friend told me “You don’t want one only because you can’t have one” and tried to give me all kinds of advice about how to get a girl. This made me feel small and insignificant and I took it to heart. Deep down, I knew I didn’t really care if I had a girlfriend, but my ego sure felt the need because I was feeling like I wasn’t measuring up to what my friend or the world expects.

I’ve read that your spiritual ego is more like who you really are and that it’s not concerned with what other people think. So, what’s the difference between the regular ego and the spiritual ego?

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

Many philosophies and faiths that embrace spiritual “enlightenment” (especially Eastern schools of thought) contrast what they refer to as our spiritual ego or “divine self” with our psychological ego. Some suggest that the more mundane or regular ego tends to view the world in Darwinian terms, and “competes” with other egos for survival, material prosperity, and the promulgation of one’s DNA. This more “worldly” ego tends to be more self-focused and possessive. The “spiritual” ego, on the other hand, is regarded as a “spark” of the eternal, universal divine flame and seeks not individual glory but rather peace and union with the rest of creation as well as its source. It is more selfless and inclusive, seeking not to compare, compete, or possess but to give and embrace.

Many proponents of enlightenment believe that to be our true selves, we must first be in communion with our spiritual ego and to transcend our more worldly egos. This enables us to be free from the pressure to be and to have what the “world” tells us we should be or should have. But to reach the highest level of enlightenment, even our spiritual egos have to be transcended so that the “spark” within us attains a more perfect union with the divine.