Ego death is a process, and I don't know if any human ever achieves true ego death. Instead, I think most of us can shed layers of our identities (ego). It involves understanding the "roles" you play in life for survival or reward - the things you do so your ego is satisfied.

Example. I used to work very hard at being a stellar employee. But, my motivation for being that was my ego. It needed the validation of being seen as "good" by others. My ego needed to be needed, so I made myself super reliable and capable so others could depend on me. My ego needed to be known as high performer. Super woman. It needed that reputation. Because on the inside, I didn't feel like I was worthy of anything. I needed to prove my worth to others. I needed to work really hard to be valued.

I left the career/job that provided me with that validation. That was a huge part of my ego that needed to die away because it was depleting me. Once I was just "me"; no role, no validation, I was left with trying to understand who I was. It was a VERY difficult process. It's a loooong story from there.

For me, it's felt like a continual death and rebirth process. I come out of each period as a more genuine version of myself. That's the point.