We spend most of our lives wearing a costume that we did not choose. In this case, the “me” is made of roles, stories, likes, dislikes, and the endless commentary in our heads. This costume is the ego, a useful survival mechanism that organizes identity, separates the self from others, and helps us navigate society. But when the costume starts calling the shots, we mistake reflection for reality. That is where essence meets the quieter, truer ground beneath the noise, becoming a doorway out.
Think of the ego as a social mask (Carl Jung called it the persona). It’s built from conditioning: family expectations, culture, CVs, achievements, and the narratives we rehearse to feel whole. It promises safety and belonging, but it’s fragile: threatened by criticism, hungry for validation, and dependent on comparison. Essence, by contrast, is not a performance. It is the field of being that remains when stories fall away as an experience described across traditions, from Advaita Vedanta’s insistence on the self’s underlying oneness to contemporary wisdom teachers like Eckhart Tolle who point to presence beyond thought.
This is not an esoteric fluff. Modern psychology and neuroscience help translate these ideas into practical language. Research into the brain’s default mode network (DMN) links self-referential rumination with anxiety and depression; practices that quiet the DMN mindfulness, focused attention, and compassionate reflection, correlate with improved mental health and a clearer sense of agency. In other words: less ego-chatter, more access to essence, more resilience.
How do we move from ego-dominance to essence-atonement?
Let us start with questions, not prescriptions, by asking, “Which narrative am I carrying right now?” rather than “Who am I?” Name the voice that seeks approval, and you’ll find it has a pattern predictable, often repetitive. Also using short practices: two-minute breath checks, journaling to separate facts from interpretations, and honest feedback from trusted peers. Over time, these micro-habits reveal the difference between conditioned reaction and spontaneous response.
Crucially, essence is not the erasure of identity. A teacher answered this beautifully, noting that we do not extinguish the ego, rather, we put it in the service of something larger. The polished resume remains useful; it simply stops being the only measure of worth. Authentic leadership, creative work, and deep relationships flourish when rooted in essence rather than driven by egoic scarcity.
For experts exploring the terrain, the interplay of narrative psychology, contemplative practice, and neural correlates offers a rich research frontier. These are timely, empirically testable questions with real-world impact.
In everyday life, the payoff is less mystical and more tangible: steadier attention, fewer identity-based conflicts, and an increasing ability to act from clarity rather than from the compulsion to prove. Breaking free from illusion is not a spectacular overthrow; it’s an ongoing conversation between what we have been told we are and what we discover we already are, a simpler, quieter presence that survives every mask we try on.
#BeCurious #Mindfulness #EgoAndEssence #ModernWisdom #InnerWork #NeuroscienceOfSelf
Sources Referred
https://pamela-ullmann.medium.com/breaking-free-from-the-ego-4fed4485ad43
https://meridianuniversity.edu/content/egoic-illusions-vs-true-self-a-journey-of-self-discovery
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