Strengthening the Ego

“There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realising its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being.”

– Wei Wu Wei (Terrence Gray)

There are different kinds of meditation.  In practice, it seems any technique that attempts to make the ego other than it is, strengthens it.  If that’s true, it is not only true of techniques of meditation, but also true of psychological techniques such as positive thinking, imaginative role-playing, and prayer.   It seems all of these attempt to modify the ego and, in doing so, strengthen the ego.