Poised between inner and outer, the ego is like a membrane. When it becomes permeable, our boundaries are temporarily lifted. When we prevent this permeability and instead inflate the ego’s “reality,” we are in effect erecting impermeable walls and creating our own isolation. When we learn to leave the ego alone, however, we discover that it does not have any ongoing durability. Released from our self-imposed walling off, we find ourselves connecting more deeply with whatever surrounds us.
