Ego Dictionary of Definitions

This page is devoted to a common set of definitions used in spirituality. Some words have overlapping meanings, or are misunderstood, I am defining the following terms and how I understand their meaning in the context of ego versus soul.

Consciousness

is an alert state of awareness of one’s true nature in a spiritual sense. It’s a capacity to observe one’s reactions and thoughts without being totally identified with them.

Psyche

is what animates the human brain and gives it sentience. We know we are more than mechanical  functioning meat and bones. We perceive that we have a soul, an ego mind, and an awareness of spirit or a higher consciousness. It is the mental life, including all aspects of conscious and unconscious states of awareness.

Soul

is the unique conscious signature of an individual person, the true Self, the part of us that is not limited to one life but is immortal and exists outside the limits of space/time of our physical dimension.

Our soul wears the physical body like a garment, or if you prefer, body suit. It has all five senses active and more, and is intelligent and creative. It leaves our physical body when we sleep at night.

Ego

is the habitual thoughts and fear-based emotions that occupy a person’s conscious waking time.

It holds the intellect, habits, spectrum of baser emotions, impulses and instinct. It’s basic ingredient is fear in all its subtle forms. It is also referred to as the lower self.

Ego forces thinking on the mind when the mind wants to be still. It constantly tries to take you out of the present moment using chatterbox thoughts to make you to dwell on the past or speculate about the future. It keeps trying to get you out of the present moment, to stop you from connecting to your real self (the small still voice within).

Higher Self

is essentially the soul but for spiritual growth it is a term that says we have the potential to be operating at a higher capacity, much more optimally than we are now. Its basic ingredient is love.

While in the physical dimension, it is the aspect of our being that we can tap into for inspiration, creativity, advice and protection.

To tap into our higher self, we need to understand that negative emotions belong to the ego.

Higher Self and Lower Self

Some people think that labelling a Higher Self and a Lower Self is another form of duality. But it’s really a way to define and put a boundary around aspects of our psyche for the purposes of spiritual growth. For spiritual psychology and practical application, it makes it easy for you to be ‘the observer’ and ‘the observed’.

Explore these topics for more about soul and ego:

Soul & Ego (will the real me please stand up!)
Ego Emotions
Ego Training