The ego exists through comparison. When you introduce polarity, you bring opposition into being. That which is not is purely imagined and can be shaped and corrupted. That which is remains untouchable, indescribable and unfathomable, and is what exists beyond the mind.
Consider a man who shares his sense of identity. His ego grounds his judgment in what mind conceives and accepts. He speaks of what he thinks he is and what he believes he is not. He limits his scope of awareness to his familiar five senses.
Imagine one with no sense of self. As the ego disappears from view, one has no substance. One is only pure space. Hindrances are not perceived. Thought does not exist here. Insults have no effect when thrown at someone who is truly at peace in silence. Such sounds are not even heard. Notice if your focus of attention is not on a tree, you cannot hear it fall. So, you sense silence when not looking, listening or doing, but being. Silence is transparent by nature.