Now Playing: silence
Topic: intelligent living
The Enemy Within
For EnlightenNext magazine's classic “Ego Issue,” one of our editors traveled to a remote Greek Orthodox hermitage to speak with Archimandrite Dionysios, a revered elder from that ancient tradition, about why the narcissistic ego has always been considered the great nemesis of spiritual life.
Q: Why is the ego considered to be such a formidable adversary on the path? A: It is the enemy because it is against love. When I look at myself, I don't love others. When I want to occupy for myself what is yours, I become the killer of my brother, like Cain killed Abel. When I want to satisfy myself, this satisfaction is gained through sacrificing the freedom of the other. Then my ego becomes my lord, my god, and there is no stronger temptation than this. Because to us, this ego may seem like a diamond. It has a shine like gold. But whatever is shining is not gold. The ego is just like a fire without light, a fire without warmth, a fire without life. It seems that it has many sides and many possibilities—but what is this possibility? What is ego? Only the means by which I protect myself as if I were in a battle, as if every other person is my enemy, and the only thing I care about is winning the victory. |
Read our full interview with Father Dionysios here, or listen to the audio here
