Rumi and the Ego

How do the Rumi quotes meet our the Western, contemporary self-understanding?

Rumi was a 13c Sufi-cum-poet-cum-Jesus-figure, who wrote (or, was transcribed to speak) extensively on god, and the human relationship to god.

I.e., quotes like ‘run from what’s comfortable’, ‘be melting snow, wash yourself of yourself’, and my personal favourite ‘there is a field beyond right doing and wrong doing, I’ll meet you there’.

How do these match with understandings of the ego?

In believing in the concept of the ego, have we made ourselves vulnerable?

The ego feels like a small concept, a mass of tiny dots that are complex and rigid and boundaried. Easy to divide and conquer. Is it as simple as that?

If we thought differently, would we be, as a nation and as a species, more resilient to attacks and divisive overlords?

(Should I not be praising Shams-e Tabriz?)