Consciousness

Consciousness. It's our awareness, our understanding, our ignorance. It's a concept that has puzzled humanity for thousands of years, but it's something we all experience every single second. What is consciousness? Is the Universe conscious?

Ego death is the (often instantaneous) realization that you are not truly the things you've identified with, and the 'ego' or sense of self you've created in your mind is a fabrication. In some instances, it can offer a profound feeling of peace and connectedness with all that is, as the walls of separation the ego creates come crumbling down. In other cases, and especially if your ego resists this 'death', the experience can be very scary and result in a sense of detachment or disassociation, Kaiser says. "Often a complete loss of subjective self-identity occurs, causing depression, anxiety, and fear—but the more in touch one is with their spiritual core, the easier the awakening will be," she adds.

Ultimately, ego deaths are not a casual experience but rather quite the opposite. It changes the course of people's lives entirely. When one comes through on the other side having released all the things they've identified with, with only their true spirit left, Kaiser says, they begin to live from a place of pure love.

If you're looking to experience ego death for yourself, it's first important to look at what your objectives are, why you want to get rid of your ego, and how you plan to do it. Again, this is not a casual experience and should not be taken lightly. With all that said, some ways to 'induce' ego death involve spiritual practices that help you reach transcendental states, such as meditation or breathwork exercises, Nuñez explains. Certain retreats and workshops may offer specific practices tailored for this, she notes.

It is also worth noting that psychedelics are a popular avenue for ego death. "Ego-dissolution is a key phenomenological feature of the psychedelic experience," adding that participants who reportedly had ego deaths often also reported feeling at one with the universe during a psychedelic experience. And of course, there are other, less instantaneous ways to begin fostering a more enlightened way of being without suddenly shattering your ego, such as studying spiritual texts, learning from healers and spiritual thought leaders, and putting what you learn into practice. But ultimately, as spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle writes in A New Earth, "The greatest miracle is the experiencing of your essential self as prior to any words, thoughts, mental labels and images. For this to happen, you need to disentangle your sense of 'I', of Beingness, from all the things it has become mixed up with."

Experiencing ego death is life-changing, intense, and sometimes terrifying, but it can also lead you to your soul's nature and allow you to live a life in harmony with your deepest truth. So whether you're in the throes of your own ego death right now, or are just getting started, in the words of Kaiser, "There is no need to worry—the real you is emerging."

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