Struggling Against the Ego

Before we start the silent meditation, I'd like to say a few words about the notion of struggling with the nafs, or struggling against the ego, which is a central concept in Sufism. I'm going to talk about 3 fundamental questions: first of all, what does struggling against the ego mean? Second, why is it important or significant to struggle against the ego? And third, how is it possible to struggle against the ego?

What we know of the notion of ego is that it basically came out of two fundamental instincts in animals and humans. The first fundamental instinct is self-preservation, meaning that if your life is threatened, the instinct of either fight or flight is activated. So preservation of ourselves is very fundamental. The other basic instinct we share with all the animals is the drive towards reproduction. Procreation or passing on our genes is necessary for the species to survive. So those are two fundamental instincts — self-preservation and reproduction for continuation of the species. And I think the notion of ego partly comes from that, from us trying to preserve or continue firstly ourselves and secondly our genes, which can be translated as our relatives primarily.

So when we talk about selflessness, or say somebody is being selfless in Sufism, it does not mean that they should go against these two instincts, or that they should entertain self-harm or let other people abuse or not care about them or their relatives or offspring. Selflessness does not mean that you should be complacent about these things or not take self-preservation or reproduction seriously.

There are other ways the ego in human beings comes from the animal kingdom, and two main features of the ego come to mind: one is the idea of possession, or possessing things. In the animal kingdom, we can see possession of territory or being protective of their territory is a very primary instinct. The other one is dominance, dominating over other animals. In the animal kingdom, the idea of dominating over others in relation to food or mating becomes very significant. And as you go up the evolutionary scale in mammals, we see that for some types of apes, possession and dominance are fundamental behaviors. It is also important to note that violence and aggression are usually associated with these sorts of behaviors.

So the notion of ego gets more sophisticated, moving from the basic ideas of self-preservation and reproduction, to possession and dominance... and then when it gets to humans, we've got this added feature of intelligence. So whereas animals have limited ways to enact their urge towards possession and domination, humans, with their advanced intellects, have the capability to take these concepts to the extreme with more destructive amounts of violence and aggression. Where in an ape you see a single act of aggression towards another, in humanity, you can see one human can carry out an act of aggression towards many at the same time.

Intelligence has enabled human beings to pursue unhinged, unlimited possession and unhinged and unlimited dominance over others. With human intelligence, we've been trying to reach the state of being unlimited in both desires.

So when we talk about ego, or about nafs, what does it mean in Sufism? Ego is this idea of unlimited possession of everything, and unlimited dominance over other people, which can mean finding ourselves better than others, possessing more things than others, and trying to rule or dominate others, sometimes by cleverness and persuasion and sometimes by violence. Sometimes ego tells us to ignore completely others who are less fortunate. That's the general notion of what the concept of ego means. I think when Sufis talk about struggling with ego, they're talking about this notion of the desire to possess and — in this society, consume — without limits, and to dominate people and things as much as you can, or to concentrate on your own well-being to the extent of ignoring others altogether.

Now the question is why is it important to struggle against the ego? Well, I think from the discussion I've outlined, it's becoming very clear why it is important. Because if you have this desire to possess at all costs and also to dominate at all costs, it harms other human beings and it harms the environment. This desire to possess and dominate creates war and conflict among people, and because we have limited resources, we get conflicts all over the world. And it also propagates the idea of dominance of human beings over the animal kingdom and over the environment and Earth.

Naturally, it is very easy to connect the dots and show that the state of the environment and global warming are in part a direct result of that egotistical desire of mankind to dominate everything and possess everything. That's why it's important to harness this ego — to make sure it doesn't create so much harm with respect to human beings and the environment.

So the last question, the last part of this talk, would be: how is it possible to harness the ego or struggle against the nafs or ego? Well, the first method that has been prescribed since ancient times is the idea of mindfulness — which is trying to mind, or be mindful of, the content of your consciousness and your state — and basically observe what drives you into these inclinations or desires, and try to stop it, try to struggle against these selfish desires. But there are two problems with the mindfulness: one is you're using your ego to monitor the ego, and ego is a tricky business. When you're trying to use the ego to monitor itself, it can trick you into thinking that you are monitoring, but in fact it's serving the purpose of the ego. One example can happen when being kind to other people. Now, being kind is something which is not egotistical — of course it's not. But sometimes, unbeknownst to you, you do an act of kindness because unconsciously you think you would get some benefit from this act. So having an ulterior motive is not really kindness to other people. So that's why you need some guide to show you whether what you're thinking and doing is from ego or if it benefits others, and whether it's true struggling with the nafs or if it's not. You cannot monitor the workings of the ego yourself. You need a teacher, a guide, to help you. And so that is how the notion of a spiritual guide or master developed in Sufism: somebody who has traveled the path of spiritual poverty and can help and aid others in this struggle with the ego.

From my personal experience, if you want to know whether you've done something which is not based on ego or is caused or driven by ego, know that a genuine act of love towards other human beings is always a struggle against ego or the nafs.