Eckhart TolleNYT Bestselling author of the Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle: The Ego Is Pretending to Be You

5 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief teaching, Eckhart Tolle explains that many violent conflicts arise because people identify their sense of self with their thoughts and opinions. When an opinion is taken as part of one's identity, it becomes incorporated into the ego, creating what he calls "egoic consciousness." In this state the ego operates as if it were the true self, leading individuals to act from a conditioned, spiritually asleep state. Tolle emphasizes that this identification with thought is the root of suffering and that recognizing the ego’s pretended nature is a step toward awakening.

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People sometimes kill each other because they can't agree on a subject. Why? Because you derive your sense of identity from thought. An opinion is a thought or a group of thoughts in your mind that you identify with. When you identify with it, it becomes part of the ego. So we're talking here, of course, I haven't used the word so far, We are talking about egoic consciousness. When you identify with thought completely, you are in egoic consciousness. The ego is operating in you and it pretends to be you. And so you are, spiritually speaking, asleep. You are a totally conditioned entity.