Well said. In a way, the "aspirational self" is another manifestation of the ego. Just a more virtuous seeming ego.

I really like what Alan Watts says about the aspirational self. (I paraphrase him because his lectures really helped me but I don't see him as a guru or source of unquestionable wisdom in case you're wondering). Basically it boils down to: there's nothing that you can do to become better than what you are. And this goes for everyone who is seeking enlightenment, the "you" that is seeking enlightenment (your ego) is doing so for reasons that elevate the ego. And as such so long as this is the case you can never be enlightened. And as long as you are attached to "your self" this will be the case. Because "you" don't exist. It's an illusion. And so liberation is only to be found outside of the ego, the aspirational "self as an individual".

However, he also points out that people who seek liberation tend to believe that they can only be liberated once they've suffered enough or worked hard enough for it. So there is an inherent tendency in the individual to fall prey to predatory teachers or dogmas that tell them "do X many steps and rigorous practice and then you will be enlightened" because it provides a sense of certainty that they crave. Surely enlightenment can't be easy, because if it was, then they feel shame for not having already achieved it. But actually enlightenment can happen at any time, and doesn't require any particular practice or pathway or guru or twenty years on a mountain top etc.

But so long as one is on the hamster wheel of "striving for enlightenment" the more they are in the trap of the aspirational self, and thus stuck in ego.

I'm not saying I'm immune to such things myself btw, I've had moments of realising that my ego is an illusion but it's hard to keep this realisation in day to day life. Even now I intellectually "know it" but I don't have the feeling of realisation that I've had when I've had moments of mystical enlightenment.