What Makes Ego Stronger? - 03-20-22 by Sokuzan - SokukoJi.org

What makes the self-centeredness, the "me"-feeling stronger, more assertive and pushy, like a dictator? When a negative emotion shows up in your mind stream in all its variations we tend to personalize it. Something triggers us and suddenly we are enraged. There is no direct cause; everything is done with everything else. It’s called dependent origination. What strengthens the ego is commenting on it. This is the petty mind, the embodied negativity of the 7th consciousness or the paranoid mind. This is the part of the consciousness that thinks there is somebody. Just see that your comments are stories. The goal of spirituality is to realize your true nature. You have to transcend that by receiving what is actually happening in your life.
https://youtu.be/Ra2Gougv154