This excerpt I came across in the book I'm currently reading was too great not to share. Mama Ayahuasca is known as "the ego killer." However, depending on how long you've allowed your ego to run rampant, it is not easily killed. A good place to start is by being mindful of whether it is your true self reacting or the ego. The below is from Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth.
"Positive emotions generated by the ego already contain within themselves their opposite into which they can quickly turn. Here are some examples: What the ego calls love is possessiveness and addictive clinging that can turn into hate within a second. Anticipation about an upcoming event, which is the ego's overvaluation of future, easily turns into its opposite--letdown or disappointment--when the event is over or doesn't fulfill the ego's expectations. Praise and recognition make you feel alive and happy one day; being criticized or ignored make you dejected and unhappy the next. The pleasure of a wild party turns into bleakness and a hangover the next morning. There is not good without bad, no high without low.
Ego-generated emotions are derived from the mind's identification with external factors which are, of course, all unstable and liable to change at any moment. The deeper emotions are not really emotions at all but the states of Being. Emotions exist within the realm of opposites. States of Being can be obscured, but they have no opposite. They emanate from within you as the love, joy, and peace that are aspects of your true nature."
Great books like these have been one of my most useful tools in keeping the ego in check after my ceremonies. Mama Ayahuasca has allowed me to purge all my blockages so that the ego cannot consume me. I can now catch it when it tries to creep up whereas before I had ceremonies with Mama Ayahuasca I would easily feed into the ego's drama.
Do not be fooled into thinking that you will be perfect after your ceremonies with Mama Ayahuasca. That does not happen. It may seem that way because everyone talks about the amazing changes they experience afterwards but no one talks about the continued work that is required after your ceremonies so I will. I am constantly working on distinguishing when my ego is reacting or if it is my true self. Mindfulness is key. Put up a sign. Write in your journal. Get little decorative reminders. This pillow case is great! Click the image or quote below to find out where to get it. Like Albert Einstein says,
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
This is a practice and is in no way an overnight thing. I hope this helps you in containing your ego. With repeated practice we will all be free of our destructive egos keeping us from discovering our true selves and inner peace.