The ego is the mind, and the mind is the ego, the very nature of mind is thoughts. Without thoughts, there is no mind because the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thought of “I”(ego) is the root of every other thought, trace this thought back to where it came from and ask “who are you arising to?” … “to me!” … “who am I?” And bam! You cut the thoughts off at their source. Abide in this source by not allowing the mind(thoughts) to roam outwards onto any sense object, by allowing the grace of the source to take over keeping you focused on itself. Ask the same questions again if you find yourself following thoughts, until the phantom that the mind is, vanishes and you relax and float down the stream of the source that you are. This source is the real you, which is eternally here and now.