I think this may partially be a case of mis-diagnosis. As someone who was raised in Christianity, and who later participated in the US Army and social dance, I

I think this may partially be a case of mis-diagnosis. As someone who was raised in Christianity, and who later participated in the US Army and social dance, I think that a big part of ego modulation is: * Synchronized activities - especially physical movement * Shared suffering * Shared effort towards a common goal It just so happens[1] that most religions use both techniques heavily. Christian services typically involve the congregation speaking and singing in unison for an hour at a time. There is also a notion of universal suffering that is built into Christianity, that is typically emphasized through cultural activities and sermons. A big thing within Christianity is practical expressions. We used to host a men's shelter, did a variety of charity work, and supported missionaries. I've also done a buddhist meditation retreat. Everyone sat and meditated for an hour+ at a time, several times per day. I'm on the fence if that meets the criterion of "synchronized activities", since all of the action is entirely mental, but it definitely qualifies as "shared suffering". Same with not being able to speak for a week. And there was pretty strong encouragement to donate at the end, as well as participate in weekly "sits". Social dance is almost entirely "synchronized activity". And it leads to a very intimate, trusting community. Sort of. Depending on the dance, dancing through the night and being part of the "breakfast club" is also a right of passage for some, which, along with beat up feet, is a sort of "shared suffering". The military is pretty big on this stuff as well. Everyone thinks of basic training, but the experience is constantly repeated (although to a lesser level of discomfort) through training exercises. And marching is heavily emphasized during basic - not for any combat effectiveness reason - but because of its ability to engender trust and cohesion. I'm sure there's probably some mystery sauce in religion that I'm missing, but I think a lot of it is down to those 3 factors. --- 1. Maybe it's on purpose. Maybe it's convergent evolution. Heck - maybe it's divine will. I don't really care about the cause here.