Surrender.
The very sound of it puts us on the defensive
and creates an immediate feeling of resistance
in the deepest recesses of our being. For this
reason, ego surrender may be the single
greatest challenge confronting anyone on the
path of spiritual or personal growth.
It is essential to understand that the need to
surrender the ego is not only for those whom
we would consider "egotistical." None of us is
free of the ego's influence.
Every human being, without exception, lives a life
whose daily, hourly, moment-to-moment behaviors
emanate from a core of learned beliefs. And every
human being, without exception, has developed an
ego whose view of life is intimately intertwined with
this core of learned beliefs.
To fully appreciate the influence of our ego in our
lives, we need to understand how it functions.
The ego is best understood as a kind of "child king"
as one who wields great power, but who as yet
lacks the wisdom and maturity to make
decisions that are consistently in the best interest
of those whom it governs: our own selves.