The moment you know yourself, you have known the most divine.—Osho
Your ego is a professional liar. It tells you you’re separate. That you’re in control. That the masks you wear are who you are. But every now and then, something slices through that façade—a psychedelic flash, a near-death moment, a deep meditative dissolve—and your little self slips off like a costume that no longer fits.
And for a few surreal, sacred seconds: you’re not ‘you’.
This exercise invites you into that raw liminal space where the ego disintegrates and something else—bigger, older, truer—steps in.
Core Ideas:
- The ego is useful but not ultimate.
- Identity can be a cage.
- Moments of ego death offer liberation from illusion and access to a more primal awareness.
Shadow Writing Prompts
Prompt -12a: The Cracking of the Mask
Describe a specific moment when you experienced ego dissolution or a loss of self-identity. What triggered this event: a drug, trauma, meditation, orgasm, near-death experience, divine encounter? How did your perception of reality shift during this experience? What felt terrifying, liberating, or utterly alien?
Prompt -12b: Walking Without a Name
In the aftermath of that experience, how did you reconstruct meaning? What did you learn about the nature of identity, attachment, or the illusions you’d once taken for truth? How did you integrate the experience back into your daily life without clinging to it or rejecting it?
Prompt -12c: Methods of Dissolution
Reflect on any spiritual, mental, or somatic practices you’ve used to intentionally challenge or dissolve ego structures. This could include breathwork, psychedelics, tantric sex, long-term isolation, or fasting. Which practices helped you let go, and which ones triggered resistance? How did you cope with the aftermath?
Prompt -12d: Compassion Beyond the Self
When you loosen the grip of your ego, what happens to your sense of connection with others? How does transcending self-importance lead to deeper compassion or oneness? In what ways has ego death made you gentler or more ruthless in your shadow work and your life?
Ego isn’t the enemy, but it is a clever little tyrant. And sometimes, the best thing you can do is let it die for a while. So you can remember you’re not just the actor…
You’re the stage, the script, the silence between the lines.
