Ego Tunnel

Definition:

• The perceptual filter that narrows consciousness into the experience of being a separate self.

• Built from beliefs, language, and conditioning that determine what enters awareness and what is excluded.

Ego Tunnel-1 (Psychological Filter):

• Made of unconscious beliefs and patterns.

• Filters which thoughts, perceptions, and memories are allowed into conscious awareness.

• Example: shame, guilt, or “I am not enough” beliefs suppress certain experiences.

Ego Tunnel-2 (Ontological / Cosmic Filter):

• The deeper perceptual filter that makes Brahman(Undivided consciousness) / Atman(Consciousness expressing itself as a divided individual) appear as a separate organism in a physical world.

• Narrows infinite Brahman into finite subject-object experience.

• Space, time, body, and individuality arise as outputs of this filtering.

• This is Māyā’s “operating system” — Brahman experiencing itself as divided.

Additional Detail

• Prism Metaphor:

  • Brahman (undivided light): absolute consciousness.

  • Ego tunnel (the prism): the filter that splits the light into distinct rays.

  • Atman (colored ray): the individualized self as experienced in the tunnel.

• Mechanics: Ego tunnels are made of beliefs at different levels. At the psychological level: conditioned beliefs shape perception. At the ultimate level: the very perception of being “a self in a world” is a tunnel.

• Awakening: To awaken is to recognize the tunnel as a filter, not as absolute reality. The prism is seen through; the rays are known to be the same light.