Beyond the “I”: Modern Paths to the Experience of Ego Death
Introduction.
What has to happen for you to forget your “I” completely? In our age—far removed from monasteries and deserts—people find many different routes to this paradoxical state. Some sit in meditation for hours; others plunge into extreme adventures; still others travel to distant lands for shamanic ceremonies. All share a single aim: to step beyond the boundaries of the ego, even if only briefly, and feel their personal borders dissolve. Once the privilege of hermits and mystics, the ego-death experience has now become almost mainstream among truth-seekers, biohackers, and even ordinary people in crisis. Let’s look at contemporary practices and methods that lead to this state—from meditation and breathing techniques to psychedelic retreats and life-on-the-edge trials.
Meditation and the Loss of Self
One of the most “ecological” ways to touch ego death remains meditation. In Zen, enlightenment is described as the “death” of the small ego, and today hundreds of thousands in the West undertake long retreats hoping for something similar. Intense concentration or sustained contemplation really can switch off the sense of individuality for a time. Many recall moments on retreat when time and self vanish, leaving only pure presence. Scientists call this state ego dissolution, and it is familiar in everyday life too: losing yourself in a great book or piece of music, you stop feeling your body or the passing of time.
Seasoned meditators—whether in vipassana or transcendental meditation—speak of moments when the inner dialogue falls silent and personal boundaries melt into space. In such instants one may feel unity with all that is—which is why Buddhist monks train for years to “die while remaining alive.” Of course, it doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger: meditators often confront fears, subconscious “demons,” and an inner crisis before the ego steps aside. Ultimately, mindfulness teaches the art of letting go of self-attachment. No wonder Zen masters say, “The true practice is to learn how to die every day.”
Breath on the Edge: Holotropic Work and Wim Hof Cold
After LSD was banned in the 1960s, Stanislav Grof proposed an alternative route to altered states: holotropic breathing. This intense technique—rapid, deep breathing in set rhythms to music—can induce a trance as deep as a psychedelic session. Participants may see vivid imagery and sometimes feel complete out-of-body detachment and ego dissolution. Grof described a “therapeutic crisis” at the peak: a surge of repressed emotions, followed by release and wholeness. Holotropic literally means “moving toward wholeness,” and the aim is to break inner blocks and ultimately step beyond the narrow “I.”
A similar dynamic drives the famous Wim Hof Method, which blends hyperventilation with extreme cold. Followers of the “Iceman” report that after several breathing rounds and an ice bath, they enter an unusual state—a mix of euphoria, calm, and mental “reset.” Wim Hof maintains that his method helps people “let go of the ego” and return to a more natural, clear mind. Trainees say that in the cold and special breathing rhythm habitual fears disappear; the personality recedes, opening access to deep emotions. The science points to floods of endorphins and adrenaline, yet subjectively many liken it to mystical states. Conscious breath truly holds a master key to the nervous system: by changing inhalation and exhalation rhythms, we can shut down the brain’s default mode and step outside the ego—if only for a while.
Ecstasy and the Limits of Experience
Beyond meditation and breathwork, people have always sought peak experiences at the edge of life and death to transcend themselves. Various extreme practices can momentarily blur the ego. Mountaineers or skydivers, for instance, sometimes report an out-of-body calm when faced with mortal danger, as if the persona “switches off” before infinity. Just as the body may block pain under threat, the psyche can mute ego-centeredness.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are often described this way: the person stops identifying with the body, “sees themselves from outside,” and feels oneness with light or space. Researchers note that childbirth can trigger a similar effect for some women—the intensity of pain and emotion can produce a brief trance in which the familiar self vanishes, replaced by a sense of profound unity with life.
Traditional cultures designed controlled ordeals—initiation rites with pain, isolation, or frenzied dance—so that youths would “die” to the old ego and return reborn. Modern society now offers safer simulations of extremity: sensory-deprivation tanks can, within an hour, dissolve body boundaries and evoke hallucinations akin to ego dissolution. Others reach similar states through long fasting or isolation—such as “dark retreats,” spending several days in total darkness. After two days without light, the brain may release endogenous psychedelics (e.g., DMT), leading to vivid visions and a sense of leaving the self behind. From breathwork to deprivation, these are simply different doorways into the same realm where the familiar ego melts away.
Shamanic Rituals and Psychedelic Journeys
Psychedelics and their rituals deserve special mention. We are living a second psychedelic renaissance: substances such as psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline are not only being studied by scientists but are used by thousands in retreats, therapies, and ceremonies. Ego death is one of the hottest topics in this field. Ayahuasca, the Amazonian brew, is famous for inducing a feeling of “dying”—often literal terror of physical death—before a phase of bliss and insight. A shaman might reassure a frightened participant: “Do not fear; only your ego is dying.” After passing through panic at the loss of control, people re-emerge feeling reborn and connected to something vast.
In clinical settings, psilocybin mushrooms frequently bring a state psychiatrists term “complete ego dissolution”: volunteers report losing the sense of being a separate person and merging with the world or a “divine presence.” High doses of LSD likewise almost guarantee ego loss—the temporary disappearance of ego-feel. The unique feature of psychedelics is that they can grant this experience even to an untrained person, forcibly “hacking” perception filters. As Leary and colleagues wrote, a well-prepared trip can give the seeker a first ego-death glimpse that becomes a springboard for growth.
Today there are psychedelic retreats—mushroom sessions in the Netherlands, ayahuasca lodges in Peru—where facilitators purposely guide people toward ego-death experiences. Yet psychedelics are only tools; the depth of the experience hinges on context (set and setting). Researchers note that some during dissolution feel supreme mystical unity (the “unity” component), while others fall into overwhelming dread, nihilistic void, and loss of reality (the “ego-loss” component). Popularly these are called “good” and “bad” trips. To tilt toward the former, modern guides emphasize thorough integration of what was experienced—a subject we’ll explore later.
Conclusion
A modern seeker may reach ego death by many roads—from a quiet meditation cushion to a thundering trance festival or a shaman’s hut in the jungle. Yet all these practices share one principle: stepping beyond habitual self-perception. Whether meditating at dawn, holding our breath in icy water, or swallowing a bitter vine brew, we aim to knock down the walls of the ego cell and see the world without them. Each path carries its own risks and revelations, but all agree that ego death is not an ending—only the beginning of major inner work. One must return from non-being to everyday life renewed and able to weave what was seen into one’s lived reality. That will be the focus of the next parts of this exploration.
Introduction.
What has to happen for you to forget your “I” completely? In our age—far removed from monasteries and deserts—people find many different routes to this paradoxical state. Some sit in meditation for hours; others plunge into extreme adventures; still others travel to distant lands for shamanic ceremonies. All share a single aim: to step beyond the boundaries of the ego, even if only briefly, and feel their personal borders dissolve. Once the privilege of hermits and mystics, the ego-death experience has now become almost mainstream among truth-seekers, biohackers, and even ordinary people in crisis. Let’s look at contemporary practices and methods that lead to this state—from meditation and breathing techniques to psychedelic retreats and life-on-the-edge trials.
Meditation and the Loss of Self
One of the most “ecological” ways to touch ego death remains meditation. In Zen, enlightenment is described as the “death” of the small ego, and today hundreds of thousands in the West undertake long retreats hoping for something similar. Intense concentration or sustained contemplation really can switch off the sense of individuality for a time. Many recall moments on retreat when time and self vanish, leaving only pure presence. Scientists call this state ego dissolution, and it is familiar in everyday life too: losing yourself in a great book or piece of music, you stop feeling your body or the passing of time.
Seasoned meditators—whether in vipassana or transcendental meditation—speak of moments when the inner dialogue falls silent and personal boundaries melt into space. In such instants one may feel unity with all that is—which is why Buddhist monks train for years to “die while remaining alive.” Of course, it doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger: meditators often confront fears, subconscious “demons,” and an inner crisis before the ego steps aside. Ultimately, mindfulness teaches the art of letting go of self-attachment. No wonder Zen masters say, “The true practice is to learn how to die every day.”
Breath on the Edge: Holotropic Work and Wim Hof Cold
After LSD was banned in the 1960s, Stanislav Grof proposed an alternative route to altered states: holotropic breathing. This intense technique—rapid, deep breathing in set rhythms to music—can induce a trance as deep as a psychedelic session. Participants may see vivid imagery and sometimes feel complete out-of-body detachment and ego dissolution. Grof described a “therapeutic crisis” at the peak: a surge of repressed emotions, followed by release and wholeness. Holotropic literally means “moving toward wholeness,” and the aim is to break inner blocks and ultimately step beyond the narrow “I.”
A similar dynamic drives the famous Wim Hof Method, which blends hyperventilation with extreme cold. Followers of the “Iceman” report that after several breathing rounds and an ice bath, they enter an unusual state—a mix of euphoria, calm, and mental “reset.” Wim Hof maintains that his method helps people “let go of the ego” and return to a more natural, clear mind. Trainees say that in the cold and special breathing rhythm habitual fears disappear; the personality recedes, opening access to deep emotions. The science points to floods of endorphins and adrenaline, yet subjectively many liken it to mystical states. Conscious breath truly holds a master key to the nervous system: by changing inhalation and exhalation rhythms, we can shut down the brain’s default mode and step outside the ego—if only for a while.
Ecstasy and the Limits of Experience
Beyond meditation and breathwork, people have always sought peak experiences at the edge of life and death to transcend themselves. Various extreme practices can momentarily blur the ego. Mountaineers or skydivers, for instance, sometimes report an out-of-body calm when faced with mortal danger, as if the persona “switches off” before infinity. Just as the body may block pain under threat, the psyche can mute ego-centeredness.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are often described this way: the person stops identifying with the body, “sees themselves from outside,” and feels oneness with light or space. Researchers note that childbirth can trigger a similar effect for some women—the intensity of pain and emotion can produce a brief trance in which the familiar self vanishes, replaced by a sense of profound unity with life.
Traditional cultures designed controlled ordeals—initiation rites with pain, isolation, or frenzied dance—so that youths would “die” to the old ego and return reborn. Modern society now offers safer simulations of extremity: sensory-deprivation tanks can, within an hour, dissolve body boundaries and evoke hallucinations akin to ego dissolution. Others reach similar states through long fasting or isolation—such as “dark retreats,” spending several days in total darkness. After two days without light, the brain may release endogenous psychedelics (e.g., DMT), leading to vivid visions and a sense of leaving the self behind. From breathwork to deprivation, these are simply different doorways into the same realm where the familiar ego melts away.
Shamanic Rituals and Psychedelic Journeys
Psychedelics and their rituals deserve special mention. We are living a second psychedelic renaissance: substances such as psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline are not only being studied by scientists but are used by thousands in retreats, therapies, and ceremonies. Ego death is one of the hottest topics in this field. Ayahuasca, the Amazonian brew, is famous for inducing a feeling of “dying”—often literal terror of physical death—before a phase of bliss and insight. A shaman might reassure a frightened participant: “Do not fear; only your ego is dying.” After passing through panic at the loss of control, people re-emerge feeling reborn and connected to something vast.
In clinical settings, psilocybin mushrooms frequently bring a state psychiatrists term “complete ego dissolution”: volunteers report losing the sense of being a separate person and merging with the world or a “divine presence.” High doses of LSD likewise almost guarantee ego loss—the temporary disappearance of ego-feel. The unique feature of psychedelics is that they can grant this experience even to an untrained person, forcibly “hacking” perception filters. As Leary and colleagues wrote, a well-prepared trip can give the seeker a first ego-death glimpse that becomes a springboard for growth.
Today there are psychedelic retreats—mushroom sessions in the Netherlands, ayahuasca lodges in Peru—where facilitators purposely guide people toward ego-death experiences. Yet psychedelics are only tools; the depth of the experience hinges on context (set and setting). Researchers note that some during dissolution feel supreme mystical unity (the “unity” component), while others fall into overwhelming dread, nihilistic void, and loss of reality (the “ego-loss” component). Popularly these are called “good” and “bad” trips. To tilt toward the former, modern guides emphasize thorough integration of what was experienced—a subject we’ll explore later.
Conclusion
A modern seeker may reach ego death by many roads—from a quiet meditation cushion to a thundering trance festival or a shaman’s hut in the jungle. Yet all these practices share one principle: stepping beyond habitual self-perception. Whether meditating at dawn, holding our breath in icy water, or swallowing a bitter vine brew, we aim to knock down the walls of the ego cell and see the world without them. Each path carries its own risks and revelations, but all agree that ego death is not an ending—only the beginning of major inner work. One must return from non-being to everyday life renewed and able to weave what was seen into one’s lived reality. That will be the focus of the next parts of this exploration.