Today I silence the noise in my mind, I stop listening to my ego and the influence of others. I become aware of what comes from my heart. I listen to my inner voice. I stop doubting myself and I develop confidence in my inner sense. My inner truth is the Divine Truth.
Mario Duguay
The Inner Sense: Understanding the Ego and the Path to the True Self.
A common question arises in the spiritual journey: If I had a loving and nurturing childhood, why has my adolescence or adulthood been so painful? The answer lies not in the absence of love, but in the unconscious search for a deeper, seemingly more fulfilling happiness outside of ourselves. Despite early experiences of love, many begin to look outward, attempting to recapture or surpass that joy through external means. In doing so, we unknowingly repeat the original inner fracture, the moment when the ego-self emerged, giving rise to the illusion of separation from our Source.
Of course, it is not possible to truly separate from our Creator. But in the dream of the ego, this illusion becomes our lived experience. The ego, born from this imagined separation, falls into a dream of autonomy. Though it forgets its origin, it retains a faint awareness of God and the true self, a presence of unconditional peace and joy. Perceiving this divine presence as something “other” and inaccessible, the ego reacts with a sense of lack, envy, and rejection. Rather than turning inward, it embarks on a relentless pursuit of external validation, through status, possessions, relationships, or achievements, in a futile attempt to replicate divine fulfilment.
As Galileo wisely noted, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it within himself.” This is especially true on the spiritual path. The ego seeks happiness through accumulation, applause, and control, but it is never satisfied. Seeing others who appear joyful, it tries to mimic them, only to find that their happiness too is often surface-deep. The ego is then left with a gnawing question: Why can’t I be happy? What is wrong with me?
Einstein offered insight when he said, “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” The ego, operating from a foundation of fear, unworthiness, and illusion, cannot lead us to wholeness. It is both the source of our suffering and the voice that interprets our experiences through the lens of separation. Ironically, it is the ego that feels rejected, yet it is also the ego that does the rejecting, pushing away the inner presence of God and the true self that never left us.
Amidst this confusion, our higher self remains untouched and ever-present. It waits in quiet peace for our return. Every loving thought, every moment of forgiveness, brings us back into alignment with this inner truth. Over time, we begin to recognise the patterns: ego-based thoughts always result in pain; peace emerges only when we re-centre on the divine presence within.
Navigating this dynamic can feel like a balancing act. The pull of the external world, news, complaints, conflict, or fear, can easily draw us back into egoic thinking. Yet with practice, we begin to notice ego’s voice more quickly and consciously choose a different perspective. This shift often involves releasing judgment, attachments, and the need for control. When the pull of ego feels too strong, spiritual support, from within, from others, or from the unseen, can guide us back to presence.
For those who experienced verbal, emotional, or physical abuse in childhood or early life, the disconnection from the true self can feel complete. One may come to believe that they are inherently flawed or broken. But this belief, while deeply painful, is not the truth of who we are. Humanity as a whole suffers from a form of spiritual amnesia, forgetting our divine essence and internalising the false narratives shaped by pain.
As Marcus Aurelius reminds us, “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it. This you have the power to revoke.” The ego clings to fear because it reinforces the illusion of separation. It resists joy, for joy dissolves its influence. But we are called to release the ego, not by force or suppression, but by choosing to listen only to the voice of love, to God, who is incapable of deception and lives within us as our true identity.
If you seek lasting happiness, do not look for it in the images and illusions the ego offers. You are not the bundle of memories and roles your ego has stitched together to create a sense of identity. You are not the judgments, labels, or past experiences. To see yourself as Love sees you is to recognise that you are Light itself, radiating from the source of all creation.
The ego stores memories laced with its own evaluations, good, bad, painful, triumphant, all processed through its distorted lens. These memories form the identity we carry, yet they are often far removed from objective truth. When life presents us with familiar emotional triggers, these “identity tapes” resurface, and we react not to the present, but to the ego’s interpretation of the past.
This realisation offers a profound invitation: to question the validity of these stories and to free ourselves from the narrative the ego uses to keep us small and afraid. If the ego has chosen the role of “victim,” then every memory is filtered to reinforce that role. But this is not who we truly are.
We are called now to release the illusion and awaken to the present moment, the only moment where real life is lived and where healing is possible.
As author Timothy Pope beautifully put it, “If our consciousness were the size of the Sahara Desert, the ego would be but a grain of sand.” Yet we allow that grain to dominate our awareness, while the vast inner expanse of our divine self remains largely unexplored. The ego fears the true self because it knows that in the light of truth, it cannot survive. Our task, then, is to reclaim our minds, to overcome the patterns of negativity, and to return to our natural state as creative beings, whole, holy, and free.
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said My son, the battle is between two wolves, inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride and superiority, it is ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith, it is Spirit.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
which wolf wins?
The old Cherokee simply replied…… The one you feed.
Author Unknown 12th October 2008
There will come a day when you’ll finally decide that you’re ready
to live up to your full potential.There will come a moment when you will no longer settle for less than you know you’re capable of achieving.
There will come a time when you’ll no longer be satisfied with making excuses and rationalizations.
There will come a time when your desire to move forward will outweigh your fear of the unknown.
One day you’ll realize that everything you do makes a difference, and you’ll put that incredible power to valuable use.
There is really no reason to put that golden day off any longer.
There is every reason to go ahead and make it happen for you.
You were born to do great things, to create much value, to make a real difference.
The longing and frustration you feel is a constant reminder, so listen to what it has to say.Your life can be as full as you are ready to make it, now is the day to make it great.
Ralph Marston
