[Ahriman]

I know the general consensus on these forums and in the spiritual community as a whole is that ego is bad and should be reduced/avoided/destroyed, but I think this is just extremely narrow-minded. Your ego is what allows you to enjoy life as it is, it's what gives you that good feeling when you receive praise, or that satisfaction you feel after eating a whole pint of delicious ice cream, and it's even active when you play or cuddle with your dog. Ego is what seperates life from death, it's what makes us glad to be alive in physical bodies, so that we can experience all the mundane realm has to offer. Ego keeps us grounded in reality; a good example of this is when you fall asleep and dream a dream, and eventually you wake up back into the reliably solid mundane realm, which is especially fortunate if you were having a bad dream. Ego allows us to discern truth from fiction, an important tool for setting boundaries in order to reduce the likelihood of being hurt or used in some way. You know when you're dreaming, and then you wake up, and it's like the dream never happened? Well I think the afterlife will be just as fleeting, and I certainly don't think it will offer the kind of permanent vacation a lof of people are looking for. Nothing is ever that easy, and life is not so simple that you can merely discard your ego, without even knowing why you're really doing it, and expect everything to be okay. The ego is to be cherished, or at least respected. Own it. Make the most of your ego while you still have one, because you don't know what comes after this. You might just end up regretting all the time you spent engaging in anti-ego discussion and activities.