The Higher Path by John Lister

Three characteristics of the ‘Evil Wolf’ within each of us are false pride, arrogance and superiority. These three are often signs that a person (including ourself) is acting out of ego, rather than from their authentic self. Ego is filled with pride. False pride says, ‘I should know, I’ve been doing this my whole life’ and it says it in an arrogant and superior tone. The authentic self might say, “I thought I knew, but perhaps I was mistaken’. The authentic self can accept fault and being in the wrong, but the ego cannot. The ego must be right, and will try to convince others it is in the right.

How about the person who donates much time to charitable works, but feels they have to brag about it a little. The bragging is evidence of false pride, and it may be disguised. For example, someone saying, ‘I don’t have much this month, because I gave so much to help others’ is probably disguising the ego’s declaration of ‘Look how great I am for sacrificing so much!’ So even when someone comes across as humble and giving, their motivation may be just the opposite. But our job isn’t to judge other’s motives, but to look at our own.

When we observe that we are acting in ego, we don’t really need to do very much about it. By simply observing our own ego at work, we are seeing through the eyes of our authentic self, and immediately transformed to a less-egoic state. Our need to be in the right may vanish, our insistence of being the better or stronger mind or person will fade, and so will any other attributes of the ‘Evil Wolf’. But the ego is a cunning thing. It will try to convince us we are missing out on something if we let it go too easily.

Perhaps we have low self-esteem and like to voice our woeful tale on social media or to close friends. Once we recognize that it is only our ego speaking untruths, and that we are actually eternal, all powerful beings, the ego will try to throw us a prize. Usually it is an emotional kick that we truly are being wronged, and ought to be treated better, and that is why our self-esteem is low. We enjoy whining and crying to our friends, because our ego gets a thrill out of it, and gets fed at the same time. This is where we must be strong and tell our ego to just let it go.

So we are then faced with a choice, to enjoy that sick sense of satisfaction that comes from agreeing with the ego’s decree that we are not worth much, or to choose to believe the deeper realization that our very essence is a magical thing, the stuff the universe is made of. the energy of gods. We probably have years of practice feeding the wrong wolf, but it’s a simple step to begin feeding the right one. This business of sharing love with the world begins within. Love yourself enough to begin to listen to your authentic self, and let your ego go.