One reason to be especially careful when it comes to examining and exposing ego-selves is that you can invariably “reify” them. Whatever framework you learn can, in fact, lead you to believe that the names it includes refer to real entities.

Take Internal Family Systems (IFS): suppose that you come to see that certain patterns conform to the role of “the firefighter,” the one tasked with putting out fires.

This is, for sure, an edifying insight–but with what unintended consequence? You may come to believe something clearly untrue: just because a name is given to an arising or to a group of arisings doesn’t mean that the arising (or group) is actually real. Call this “the seduction of language” or, indeed, “the seduction of naming”: if I name it, it must be real!

Labeling a certain thought “I am alone” or “I am an exile” should only be a first resort. But the label is not to be taken literally because what’s appearing is, in fact, not really real. There’s no ego there; the name doesn’t actually refer to an ego-entity.

The initial point of provisionally labeling some of this psychological baggage is really to grok viveka, or the discrimination teaching: you are that to which this labeled arising is appearing. This labeling, then, nothing but a thorn to remove a thorn; nothing but a helpmate to seeing that you are that.

Therefore, apply the label for a time in order to know what you aren’t, then jettison the whole thing as you see that you are the awareness that’s aware of all arisings.