Hi Glass Joe.
Do let us know what you think of the recent Tibetan Book of the Dead. It took ten years to write this complete version.
The idea of being able to distinguish between when you perceive with and without the ego would seem useful. When it comes to spirituality, mystical and eastern meditative traditions, humans are often seen as imagining their own existence as separate from other living things. This sense of individual existence is a part which believes it is human, and believes it must struggle to exist, is ultimately unaware of its unconscious side. The ego is often associated with a sense of measurable time, and supposedly thinks as a way to assure its continued existence, rather than simply seeking to understand itself and the present.
The spiritual goal of many traditions aims to dissolve or separate from the ego, allowing self-knowledge of ones own true nature to become experienced. This is known as Enlightenment, Nirvana, Presence, and the "Here and Now". Whether or not you're self-centred remains to be determined by yourself and others.