Self-awareness stems from a deep compassion for yourself and then for others. When someone lives from a place of Self-Awareness, they are awakening. Self is not ego-driven. Instead, driven by the Soul’s Truth and the desire to move beyond the controlling ego-mind.

Self

Self seeks itself, which means it is whole. Self can’t separate into fear, for example, or anger. When you are in fear or anger, you’re not in the True Self but the ego.

On the path to awakening, you’ll want to address all elements of ego without judging them. Most everyone agrees they feel elated around happy people and feel down or depressed when their environments are burdened by people who are always negative.

Suffering and Ignorance

Many people physically and emotionally suffer. The fact you don’t know how you feel or what you think is called ignorance. What Buddha taught, though, is that we are not the being who is hurt or angry–it’s the ego–a fabrication of identity. The ego seeks adoration, praise and titles. There’s nothing wrong with having titles as long as you do not identify with the title. In other words, would you be OK if the title was taken from you? You can have anything in life if it doesn’t define you.

I see the ego shrouding the True Self from the cruel world. Think of the ego as a guard protecting the delicate true Self. The purpose of spirituality, meditation and awakening is to help unravel any hurt, fear, anger, doubt and unworthiness, the conditioning we learned from parents and others along the way.