The Ego as the Illusionist

> "The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention. It’s a trick of the spotlight that makes you think you are running the show." — Alan Watts

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The Magician in the Mind

Somewhere inside you there’s a small voice that says: “I’m in charge.”

It plans, worries, compares, and comments on everything.

It believes it owns your life — as if you were the puppeteer and the world your stage.

This voice is the ego, the magician of control.

It creates the illusion that there’s a solid “someone” steering the ship.

But look closely — the ship sails on its own.

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A Temporary Center

The ego isn’t an enemy; it’s a useful tool.

It helps you navigate, make choices, survive.

But it’s not the driver — it’s a temporary center of awareness in a field far larger than itself.

Like a spotlight on a stage, it illuminates one actor at a time, forgetting the rest of the play.

The problem begins when the light forgets it’s part of the theatre.

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The Need to Be in Control

The ego’s greatest fear is uncertainty.

It wants to label, define, predict, and command.

When things fall apart, it panics — not because the world ends, but because its story about the world collapses.

And so it builds tighter routines, stricter rules, louder opinions.

It confuses knowing with being.

It doesn’t realise that life was flowing perfectly well before “you” arrived to manage it.

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Seeing the Trick

Have you ever noticed how thoughts appear on their own?

You don’t choose them; they arise.

The heartbeat, the breath, the impulse to move — all happen spontaneously.

The ego claims credit afterward, saying, “I decided that.”

But that’s like a child running in front of a parade, pretending to lead it.

The show goes on, with or without the announcer.

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The Moment of Seeing

When you catch the ego in its act, something beautiful happens: you laugh.

Not cruelly — tenderly.

Because you realise the magician was never real.

Just a shimmer on the surface of awareness.

And in that laughter, control softens.

Life returns to being what it always was — effortless movement.

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> "You don’t control life.

You are life, pretending for a while to be the one in control."