|
Ego can refer to the self that is a product of data from the human body and it's brain and mind and all of it's cultural and environmental conditioning. Consciousness is fed this data as consciousness is merged with the human body and it's brain during the human incarnation.
So consciousness experiences the body's sex drive, the eating of an apple, a hug from a friend, someone stopping you from getting something you desire and getting mad or frustrated, having beliefs and opinions, and every single thought and emotion the human brain produces.
So the idea of being free from ego seems kind of misleading to me because as we are merged with the body and it's mind there is no way to be free of it. But, we can stop identifying with a lot of it and so maybe that's what you mean by "free"" of it? But then I think you refer to smoking? Not sure.... if so this desire and physical addiction to the drugs in smokes would be ego or "body/brain" stuff.
One can be non-identified or non-attached to a lot of "ego" stuff thus tell themselves they are free of ego, but really a lot of subtle un-noticed ego stuff is still gong on. Like one example is not liking to do some chore you have to do. Every single activity you do is the same. If you prefer one to another, you are believing thoughts from your body's brain which is ego. Like the idea that comes to smoke, or get some ice cream, or a drink.... all ego. All a consciousness identified with some parts of the human body and mind.
Normally what is referred to in spiritual philosophy as "no ego" means free from thought. Just being in the moment without personal conditioned bias, no opinions, no beliefs, so free from mind in that sense. So you have no "beliefs" about anything as experiential reality. Your "mind" is empty and not reactionary or responsive. Somebody asks you your opinion about something and you are aware of no response. You have none. In that moment, you are not identified with mind or thought or any of that conditioned self. You are only aware of raw sensory data, the light, the smells, the beauty of being as nothing and everything.
So it is possible to have no experience of thought based ego, because you no longer identify with the body's mind, but obviously you still have it. You are still "in it" or merged with it. Even with no thought, you are experiencing the body's senses. It is the point of reference while you are merged with the body. But then physical addictions or body based pleasures are fed by thought, so smoking etc means there are still thoughts one is following or reacting to.
|