Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
Imagine your life as a house.
From the day you came into this world you’ve been building it.
As a child, you chose the plot of land, drew up the floor plans, broke ground, and poured the foundation.
As time went on, you framed up the walls, put a roof on, and picked out the interior and exterior finishes.
You performed all of this work until it has now become your house.
While your house may fulfill all of your needs and wants in life, there may be a problem with it.
You may be living in a house that ego built.
The reality is that most of us are living in houses built by ego.
This is because ego is very strong here on the physical plane of existence.
In a sense, you could call this ego’s domain.
So, naturally any structures we build here are going to have some degree of ego built into them.
How much, depends upon us.
And yes, our lives are structures. They’re structures in our consciousness, that we build, and they then govern the experiences we have in life.
So why destroy the house that ego built?
Because spirit can’t live there.
This is by far the most important reason.
Spirit and ego can’t occupy the same space.
And guess who gets to decide which one stays and which one goes. That’s right, we do.
We get to decide whether we want to live with spirit or with ego.
This is how much power we have.
The other problem with living in a house that ego built is that we have to live by ego’s rules.
And ego’s rules aren’t in our favor.
They’re not in anyone’s favor.
In the ego’s game, we’re all just pawns.
We’re disposable.
Waking up to this fact is one of the prerequisites for living a happy life.
If we live in a house built by ego, sooner or later the place we call home is going to be taken away from us. It’s going to be destroyed. It’s really only a matter of time.
And, when that happens, when we lose the ego’s game (and we will all eventually lose), it’s going to painful.
With this in mind, it’s in our best interest to destroy the house that ego built before it destroys us (so to speak) so we can get on with the business of building a new one – One that is built by spirit.
Another way to look at this concept is to think of the old adage, “To really be happy, we must die before we die”.
This is essentially what we’re doing here.
We’re killing our ego-created story before our ego-created story kills us.
When we do this, we release the hold our story has over us and we wake up from the illusion we’ve been living and operating in.
We then realize that everything is really one thing and that we’re all connected.
Here are 3 more reasons to destroy the house that ego built
Living in this house keeps us separated from:
1 – Our Divinity
The most detrimental type of separation is to be separated from our divinity. This is separation from God/The Divine/Universal Intelligence/Source/etc. It’s separation from the place we all come from and will all return to one day. Our divinity is the source of our spiritual power.
It’s the source of life itself. When we live in houses built by ego, we don’t have access to this power. When we feel separated from God, we often drift without purpose. Many have said, and I believe this is true as well, that we came here to perceive the presence of God within us.
To wake up from the egoic dream of separateness and realize our own divinity. Living in an egoic state keeps us separate from this vital aspect of ourselves.
2 – Other People
When we believe we are separate from everyone else, and every other living being on the planet, we act in ways that aren’t aligned with the highest good for all. When we think a harmful thought about another person, the harmful thought actually harms us as well.
Until we realize this, and change, our lives can’t improve. Simply realizing that there is only one thing happening here…which is a singular consciousness expressing itself as everyone and everything you come across, is vital for not only our own happiness and well-being but the happiness and well-being of others.
When we realize this, we learn to be very deliberate with our thoughts and actions, because we know the ramifications of haphazardly wielding either. Waking up to this is the key to radically enhancing our lives. When we know that we’re all connected, and that there is nothing we can take from another person without taking it from ourselves, we start to think more deliberately.
We become more supportive of other people on their own journey, and we want them to succeed and prosper just as we want that for ourselves. We start to help them in the same ways we’d like to be helped, from both an energetic standpoint and a physical standpoint.
3 – Our life’s purpose
When our lives are ruled by ego, we forfeit our own souls purpose. Our life’s purpose has to take a back seat so we can do the bidding the ego wants us to do. This is so detrimental to our own evolution as spiritual beings. We all came here for a reason.
To do something unique and contribute to the overall evolution of humanity. We came here to be a participant in the cosmic play that is unfolding all around us. Each of us came here to express an aspect of divine consciousness in a way only we can.
When we allow ourselves to be pawns in the ego’s game we can’t play our part in the cosmic play. And when we can’t play our part, the overall production suffers.
So, how do we know if we’re living in a house that ego built?
Here are a 3 common signs
1 – We play power games
The primary indicator that we may be living in a house that ego built is that we play ego games. Ego games are built on the premise of us vs. them. When we play ego games, we knowingly manipulate other people to get what we want at any and all costs.
We do this without considering the other persons perspective, or their wants and needs. Rather than entering into relationships (be they business or personal), with an open heart and a clear intention for a favorable outcome for everyone involved, our intention is to first and foremost get what we want.
The problem with playing power games is that sooner or later, we’re going to meet someone who is better at playing power games than we are. When we meet this person, and we play the same power games we’ve always played, our house is going to be destroyed or seriously damaged.
Remember the pain I mentioned earlier? Well, this is when we experience it. And in a big way. This obviously isn’t a pleasant scenario to go through. So, we need to realize that in the game of life, our only real competition is us. It’s ourselves we’re engaged in battle with. Not other people.
2 – We never look within
When we have inharmonious experiences in our business or personal lives, we never look within and ask, “How did I contribute to this?” Since we are largely responsible for the experiences we encounter in life, this is a powerful question.
Asking it with an open heart can bring all sorts of self-sabotaging behaviors to the surface so we can examine and clear them.
3 – We feel attacked by others
We often feel cornered or attacked by other people. When the ego rears it’s ugly head, it can cause a visceral response that is both powerful and consuming. In this state, we are totally cut off from the source of our divinity and any higher thinking that could save us.
We’re also cut off from our connection to other people. We become possessed by the ego and act in ways that cause a lot heartache and suffering for ourselves and others.
So what should we do?
Simply put, we need to destroy the house that ego built.
But don’t worry, destroying the house that ego built can actually a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
And, the best part is, when we do the work our lives will improve immensely.
How to destroy the house that ego built.
Here are 5 daily practices that destroy the house that ego built:
1 – Meditation
In my own experience, meditation has been by far the most effective practice in keeping my ego in check. It wasn’t until I learned to meditate that I really felt I was severing the major ties that bound me to my ego and my ego-created story.
When I began meditating regularly, I felt that these ties were severed almost instantaneously. I practice Transcendental Meditation, but there are a number of types of meditation. So, find one that resonates with you and incorporate it into your daily practice.
2 – Live in the spirit of gratitude
Gratitude is one of the magic elixirs that destroys the ego’s grip on us. Living in the spirit of gratitude makes us virtually immune to any and all tricks the ego tries to use on us. Gratitude is powerful medicine for all ailments that originate in consciousness and separate us from our true spiritual nature.
Practicing radical gratitude makes it almost impossible for the ego to plant the seed of resentment within our consciousness.
3 – Help and serve others
Serving others is a powerful purifier for our souls. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. When we take our focus off the battles we’re fighting, and help someone else win their battle, a bridge is built. These energetic bridges connect us to one another. When it comes to helping people, think outside the box.
There are infinite ways to help other people. It doesn’t have to be the traditional methods. In fact, simply sending someone healing thought energy can often be more powerful than anything we could do for them here on the physical plane.
It’s important to keep in mind that what’s happening here on the material plane is down stream from our conditioned state of consciousness. All the problems and challenges we face here really originate in our own consciousness. So working at the source is much more beneficial.
4 – Practice radical humility
Humility is like Kryptonite to the ego. It’s highly effective at keeping the ego in check. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of every day to humble ourselves and make a pledge to get beneath others and support them throughout our day can work wonders. Not only for them but for us as well.
5 – Do our work
Discover and do the work (soul work) we came here to do. Taking daily action toward the fulfillment of our life’s purpose keeps the ego away. If we stay busy doing the work we came here to do, we won’t be available for the ego to use to do it’s work.
And remember, it’s the consistent, on-going practice of these techniques that gives us the best results. So incorporating them into our daily routine is the best approach.
In conclusion
I’ve found that even if we’ve already done a lot of work to sever the ties that bind us to our ego-created story, there is always a need to practice every day to keep new ties from attaching themselves to us.
Just as we need to renew our vision and motivation on a daily basis, we also need to renew our connection with spirit and clean up any loose ends that ego may have attached to us without our knowing.
Maintenance is the name of the game when it comes to enhancing the human experience.
So, making these practices a part of our morning and evening rituals is the best approach to reaping maximum benefits in the form of overall happiness and well-being.
Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it!
Until next time, all the best – health, wealth, and success.
Mark
