How to Tell Your Ego from Your Higher Self 

If you’re wondering how to tell your ego from your higher self, buckle up. 

One simple method exists, but it can be confusing for those who have been in full blown ego mode for a long time. 

And then there are several other ways to tell your ego from your higher self. 

The thing to remember on this journey that you are beginning, the distinction and differentiation, is that you must forgive yourself along the way, be kind to yourself, and take everything that happens as an opportunity to learn. 

The Ego

The ego is the face most of us put on to go out into the world. 

The mask. 

The ego is necessary for human survival as it helps us navigate the human world. It tells us how to behave like everyone else, how to dress (meaning you should probably wear clothes), when to be afraid, and when to feel ashamed. 

The ego wants you to be comfortable, wants to protect you at all costs, and wants to fit in. 

“Keep a low profile.” The ego might say on one occasion. 

Of course, the ego, when fed by the dark parts of you, will also lure you into self aggrandizement. 

The ego recognizes hierarchies, and depending on your childhood training, you will learn to either stand out to get critical acclaim or attention – positive or negative – or shrink down so you will never be noticed. 

It is necessary to stop here for a moment and discuss the darkness and the subconscious.

The Darkness

The darkness is a an essential part of contrast. 

We were born into these human bodies with free will and the ability to do, say, and be pretty much anything we want. 

And part of that anything includes darkness. 

It is necessary to free will. 

Think of it this way – before we were in these human bodies, we were Source Energy, with all of the wisdom, power, and presence that Source Energy, the Universe, or God has. 

We, as God, were all there was. 

We created the light, the sun, the planets, everything on the planets, black holes – you name it. 

And on each planet then we set into motion forms of life. Remember that we knew everything, all there was, all that could be, all possible consequences of all possible actions. 

It is literally mind blowing. 

Your higher self gets it.

And from that place, we saw the evolution of humans from the life forms we created on earth, and knew we would be able to inhabit these human bodies as each one sprung to life. 

The point of it all is, and has always been, expansion. 

The purpose of the Universe is to expand ever forward and outward in all directions. 

In order to meet that goal, we, in our spirit forms, as tiny “god drops” if you will, inhabit human bodies with limited access to the greater presence, wisdom, and power we have in spirit form. 

Limited Access

Why? 

Why the limited access? 

Well, first of all, we live temporary lives full of sensory experiences. The purpose of humanity is to come here and have the full sensory human experience. 

We would be severely distracted if we also had full access to all of our god powers. 

Second of all, what would be the fun in that? 

If we knew all, could see all, and could be all, why even become human in the first place? 

Why not just stay gods? 

No. We were meant here to have a connection to our god selves, but to simply enjoy the human experience. 

Remember I said that experience was sensory? 

Right. 

A god cannot taste, touch, hear, smell, feel emotions, see. It just is. 

God Is Love. God Is Your Higher Self.

God is love. Period. 

And God is your higher self.

“Just” a loving, all powerful, all knowing creative energy. 

Thus, in order to have access to the full range of the human, sensory experience, we must also have access to the darkness. 

We feel joy because we know pain. We feel presence because we know absence. 

We appreciate the light because we know the darkness. 

We need the darkness in the human experience. 

And each one of us has the ability to carry the darkness within us, to foster it, to feed it, to allow it to grow. 

And the ego, as a purely biological and psychological mechanism, can attach itself to the darkness in a way it cannot attach itself to the light. 

Because the light comes from God, and the ego is human. God is not attached. 

God, in fact, is neutral, detached, objective. 

The ego is subjective, as is the darkness. 

Darkness Is Negative Energy Created by Humans

The darkness is fed by jealousy, rage, irritation, hierarchies, superiority and inferiority. 

And when the ego is attached to it, it will help feed that darkness to the point of slothfullness. 

You see, we were never meant to sit in the darkness. The darkness, truly, does not feel good. The darkness leaves you feeling spent, exhausted, drained, and miserable. 

But in the moment, thanks to the ego, it will feel a kind of sickly good. 

When you drink too much, do drugs, eat too much crappy food, engage in risky sexual behaviors, seek revenge, make others feel small, and so on, you are feeding the darkness. 

Afterward, though, you get the hangover.

The darkness was meant to be the bumps on the highway, letting you know you are veering off the path of alignment with your Source Energy, with your higher consciousness. 

But some of us, most of us if we’re honest, have plowed over those bumps and dwell in darkness most of the time. 

It becomes addictive, and it has been so long since we’ve see the light that we cannot tell the difference between the ego and higher consciousness any longer. We lost touch with our higher consciousness long ago.  

We were meant to see the darkness and turn away from it. Instead, we use it to create and perpetuate negative energy. 

Why? 

The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is a powerful part of human creation. 

It is the part of us that rules over our actions, our emotions, our thoughts – everything. 

Bruce Lipton, PhD, a cellular biologist who has spent his career studying the mind, tells us that from the time we are born until we are seven years old, our subconscious is recording everything around us. 

We are watching our mentors, our models, our teachers, our parents, model for us how to behave, how to love, how to navigate the world. 

Then, for the rest of our lives, if our subconscious minds go unchecked we spend our time on record, playing back those lessons we learned in early childhood. 

This is why you will see people dating the same type of person over and over, repeating cycles with their children that their parents played out with them, and acting from a place of love or from a place of fear, accordingly. 

The subconscious mind rules 95% of our day; we are operating on autopilot, following the programming within. 

It takes a tremendous amount of power, commitment, persistence, and consistency to change that programming. 

Thus, the darkness and the ego are trained and determined by those first 7 years, and your subconscious learns to either feed them or to subdue them. 

If you want to change this, you will have to retrain, or reprogram the subconscious. 

The Higher Consciousness 

The higher consciousness, then, is everything ego, subconscious, and darkness are not. 

Higher consciousness is directly connected to Source Energy. You are constantly streaming from God, from the Universe, you cannot disconnect even if you want to. 

You can block it, you can resist it, you can deny it, you can ignore it. 

But you cannot disconnect from it. 

Why?

Because it is you. 

Your higher consciousness is who you really are. 

Everything is else mere human trappings. 

You are an invincible, unkillable, undamageable spirit having a human experience. 

Your higher consciousness is love, light, pure creative power. 

Your higher consciousness is constantly showering you with love, constantly guiding you toward your highest good, and constantly sending you messages. 

Your higher consciousness wants nothing but what you want, in your most loving space, and it has a much, much better imagination than you do. 

So, for example, when you ask the Universe for something, you should always say “this or better,” because the Universe, and your higher consciousness which is inextricable from the Universe will send you so much better than you can imagine. 

How to Tell the Difference between Ego and Higher Self

To tell the difference between ego and higher consciousness, ask yourself if you are coming from a place of love or fear. 

Love is your higher consciousness. 

Fear is your ego. 

Always. 

And, like Elizabeth Gilbert says, you can listen to your ego, listen to your fear, take it into consideration. 

Just never allow your ego to drive. 

Your higher consciousness should be in the driver’s seat at all times. 

But, hey, we are human. 

There will be times when ego grabs the wheel and goes for a joy ride. 

Just be sure to forgive yourself. Love yourself. And get higher consciousness back in charge. 

Happy manifesting!