It is my personal opinion that there is no event- matter or thing in the world can be completely good or bad. Every coin has two sides. Even every matter has two aspects, good or bad and right or wrong which is considered as personal perception or approach towards the matter and an individual perception is nothing but a reflection of his ego. E.g. Whatever we think good or bad (since a third result is not possible) is actually subject to ego because personally when we say “ethics is this only” or “this is the religion” or “this is the truth” we present our own perception, it means rejecting the views of others. This rejection is actually subject to personal ego because we all consider ourselves too good as well as perfectly right and excellent so automatically we begin to feel others wrong, unworthy and inferior. Wherever we experience happiness, sorrow, defeat or victory in daily life is actually the result of ego. The experience of happiness or sorrow is due to personal defeat or victory means if we succeed we feel happy and if we fail, we feel low. This psychological experience of good or bad is due to the ego. E.g. A king feels low or sad when he loses a battle and happy when he wins. Here defeat hurts his ego and victory nurtures his ego. There is always pain when our ego is hurt and happiness is felt when ego is nourished. A friend of mine always says that I have no interest in living at a place where our opinion does not matter. Where person’s opinion is heard, accepted or praised, his ego is nurtured and he feels happy similarly when person’s opinion is rejected, ego is hurt, feels sad and starts thinking that no one understands me and gradually person built a opinion that this world is bad where there is no value of good or nice people. All these feelings or statements are nothing but a sign of ego. Why do we only love those who accept our perception or view? Because we always keep ego at the center.
How right is it if a king wins a battle and ego boost of a sword? Or what if the king loses the war and the sword gets depressed? In the same way, everything that happens in the world from time to time happens under the direction of God and according to His will. In this, your desire does not come anywhere. The king decides how to use the sword. The sword cannot decide that the king will do as I wish, but we always try in vain to be king because of personal ego, even though we all are just the sword, that is, the instrument of God’s hand. We actually feel sad and frustrated due to wrong thinking and ego. If we try only to be an excellent tool of God means work as per the will of the Lord with proper understanding, happiness and joy will always be achieved. It often happens that when an individual leave a task after a little progress, people start saying that it is beyond his power to do. Such statements are actually tricks to stimulate a person’s ego. The one who is subdued gets into a lot of trouble because after hearing this, the person tries to work and win with full vigor. This is also the result of ego. A person’s ego is aroused by the fact that people consider him a coward and then he does many wrong acts in the sense of ego fulfillment and lives a conflicted life. In short, “everything should be done as per my instructions”, “People are all wrong and I am right”, “The whole world is hopeless”, “I never do any bad things”, “I am very cultured never practiced unethically” such Emotions or statements indicate ego. But we instinctively keep saying this and believe that “I don’t have ego at all.” Thus, to understand that we are egoless is also a sign of subtle ego. But we fail in the battle with ego as our enemy because we cannot identify it properly. How can we fight or win against the enemy without recognizing it?
Sometimes the question arise that if ego is the reason for many problems, conflict, or pain in human life then why did God create ego? Because just as our physical body is made up of PANCHMAHABHUTAS, our subtle-body is a mixture of mind, intellect and ego. Moreover, the strength of the subtle-body is many times greater than the physical body. The first two (mind and intellect) of the three elements of the subtle body (mind, intellect and ego) are actually inspired by ego. That is, ego is the driving force of both. Ego is what drives the mind and intellect and we work or act accordingly and as a result we continue to get happiness or sorrow. Thus the most important of the eight elements of nature is ego. That is why the question arises, what is the use of God giving such a dangerous element to human beings? Through which his life became full of sorrow, pain and struggle. In fact, there are two sides to every coin, not just the bad side of the ego, but the good side as well. Ego is actually the driving force of life i.e. life gets its momentum only from ego. If there is no ego then there would be complete stability, rigidity, inertia and lifelessness in human life. The only important factor behind human activism is ego. As we all know that the driving force of our mind and intellect is ego. Without ego the mind cannot think and the intellect cannot make decisions. Thinking of options available and firmness of the decision is the work of the mind and decision-making is the work of the intellect but these all are being possible only in a way that satisfies our ego Even a simple decision like “I will do this and I will not do this” is ego driven. Liking or disliking is again a sign of ego. The thing that nurtures our ego that can be person or event we always like and the rest we don’t like. In the same way, if someone challenges us that it is beyond your power to do this work then we got some invisible energy or power from inside, we prove our-self and make impossible task possible. This is nothing but the sign of ego. Freedom from incurable diseases or a fiery victory in any matter becomes possible only when the ego is hurt. In the past, the feelings of the DALITS (schedule caste) were hurt, their ego was hurt, so they had an incredible momentum and they changed their situation. GANDHIJI was thrown from a train compartment by British officer, his ego was wounded and a revolution took place. There are some cases where a person got first prize in a competition like swimming after having his leg amputated or a blind person has achieved incredible success only because of the statement made by people that “you can do nothing” these all happened because of ego only. In short, God must have created ego with the good intention of speeding up the life of a living being. Moreover we all know that ego is the basic responsible factor for the success of an individual as well as behind all the security measures or efforts that a person makes throughout his life. If ego does not exist then there is no movement in life as well as no security or success. This means that in the absence of ego, one has to live a life without speed, security or success. We try to get money, personality, knowledge, prestige, etc. only because of our lifelong efforts to look different and special from others. If thoughts are not full of ego then all these races will stop and a kind of stability or lifelessness will come. Thus God created the ego with a very good intention so that the living being would be constantly moving and active, striving for security and success, recognizing his own power and creating the world of his own choice. In which happiness and all kinds of success are enjoyed because we want everything means our desires are unlimited that is very well known to God. That is why He has given us body, mind, intellect and ego as the best means to achieve all. He (God) has sent his child (us) to a world where he can build the paradise he wants. But unfortunately we have started destroying the world of others for creating our own world so the pains and problems are raised.
In short, ego is not good or bad, our way of understanding and using it may be inappropriate. Yes, there is no need of ego for one who does not want success in life, money, prestige, position, power, relationships etc. Achieving all this is not possible in the absence of ego. Freedom from ego is indispensable only for the attainment of God so the one who desires attainment of God or salvation (i.e. desire to be liberated from worldly desires) must renounce ego. The rest who have many dreams, desires to get position-money-power for them ego is a blessing. All these attainments are possible through the proper use of ego. Moreover, God believes in principle of freedom, that is, the unlimited right of living beings to live with complete freedom according to His will is given by God to all. The body (mind, intellect, ego) is also provided as the necessary tool. Now if we do not understand our purpose, our means, our life, or if we cannot use our God-given oath or tools properly, then it is called our misfortune. The tool can never be good or bad, its use can be good or bad which is entirely based on our discretion. That is why if you want to achieve success in life, happiness, peace, security, etc., you have to cultivate discretion.
In short, for those who have a desire for material happiness in life, ego is an excellent tool as it is the driving force of all attainments which gives impetus to life and helps in all kinds of attainment. But for those who do not fall into the trap of such material bliss and seek real power and existence, ego is useless and hopeless for them. Thus ego itself is not good or bad its use can be good or bad which depends on the individual’s own will and discretion. But for the welfare and wellbeing of all we should utilize this powerful tool of ego judiciously and constructively.
