If there is a common cause for our individual, social- cultural and global pathologies it is simply that we are not who we think we are. A wise Tibetan close to the Dalai Lama noted: ‘egos exploiting egos is the source of all our problems.’

We hear a lot about egos and egotism but I challenge anyone to actually identify and find his or her ego. You can’t. It is not an entity independent from our imagination. What we think of as our ego exists only as our personal virtual reality and yet it is the source of all our problems; very strange, indeed.

In our Featured Academy Interview I raised this question with Dr. Keith Buzzell, OD, a physician deeply interested in the evolution of the human brain and its capacity to create ‘resonate representations’ or mental images. What Keith shared changed my perception of what an ego or self-image really is. I have never met another who offered such a clear and transforming paradigm. The complete interview is available in the Keith Buzzell Library in The Academy.

Michael Mendizza