There is such thing as a spiritual ego?

Osho, Bhagwan Rajneesh, and the Lost Truth
Do enlightened men have egos? In my younger idealistic years I would have said the answer is no. Rajneesh, Gurdjieff, and even J. Krishnamurti prove to me that they do. I became convinced that Rajneesh had an ego when I saw him on television in chains being transported from jail to an Oregon courthouse. In response to a reporter's question he looked into the television camera and spoke to his disciples saying "Don't worry. I'll be back." It was not what he said, but the look in his eyes that was positive proof for me. I could see his ego in action, calculating and manipulating. Once you see something that clearly no rationalizations can cover up the basic truth. Rajneesh was magnificently enlightened, but he was also profoundly egotistical.

For ordinary humans the ego is the center of awareness and the Void is perceived only at the periphery. People look at a picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and they see the Void as an outside object, not as a personal identity. When you become enlightened, either temporarily in a satori or permanently as a Buddha, the situation is reversed. Now the Void is your center of awareness and the ego is at the periphery. Ego does not die, it just no longer takes the center stage of your attention.

Enlightenment is a functional disassociation of identity. The human brain is a biologically created thinking machine that has evolved for both personal self-preservation and the survival of the species. The ego, which is a selfish motivating force, is needed to protect our colony of living cells (the physical body) from danger and to keep our cells replenished with food and water. If you did not have an ego you would not be able to think, speak, or find food, shelter, and clothing. The ego function is so vital for survival that the human brain evolved with two potential ego mechanisms, one a centralized ego and the second a larger and more diffuse backup system utilizing less central portions of the brain.

If the body and brain becomes physically ill with high fever and the centralized ego center is damaged, the backup ego mechanism may temporarily take over its function. This is ego displacement without enlightenment. The backup self-maintenance system keeps sleep walkers out of danger and helps enlightened human animals find food and the basics of life, so they do not physically die as a result of their own deep meditation.

Enlightened humans do not feel their more diffuse ego and thus they feel as free as space itself. In actuality ego is still present and working, just as our autonomic nervous system keeps on working whether we are aware of its function or not. You do not have to consciously tell your heart to beat 70 times a minute because it will keep on beating regardless of your awareness. The brain function that controls heart rate is automatic (autonomic) and does not need our consciousness to make it work.

Some enlightened human animals have become fooled by the phenomena of ego displacement and thought they no longer had any personal selfishness that could cause trouble. Meher Baba spent much of his life bragging about how great he was, yet at his center he felt perfectly egoless. He once even proclaimed that "No one loves me as much as I deserve to be loved." In truth Meher Baba was very egocentric and should have realized that even enlightenment is no excuse for bragging.

The same fundamental misjudgment plagued Acharya Rajneesh. He became fooled into thinking that he was above arrogance and greed, but that was simply not the case. The ego is an integral part of the structure of the human brain. It is not simply psychological, but neurological and hard wired into our neural pathways (see the scientific study of 'self''). The self-survival, self-defense mechanism we call 'ego' cannot be destroyed unless the physical body dies.

Even enlightened humans have to mind their manners and realize that the Atman is the wondrous phenomena they should promote, not their own fallible and temporary personalities. Ramana Maharshi had the right approach in this regard, and that is one reason he is still beloved by all. Ramana Maharshi promoted the Atman, the universal cosmic consciousness, but never his own mortal body and mind. ....
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.....hmmm..interesting..don't you think so?