Ego


I was a nobody till I met my Ego;

Then I became even bigger than God.

This is what ego does to all of us. It makes us bigger than what we are. We start thinking that we are better than others, that we are right while others are wrong, that we know and others don’t, that we are superior while others aren’t, that we and only we matter and no one else.

Ego is a drug that gives us a high. In reality though, it affects our soul and weakens our etiquette. We  wait for others to greet us. But if someone is at a higher pedestal than us, we will be the first to greet them. We consider it beneath our dignity to greet those who are (supposedly) lower than us in matters of status, position, wealth and whatever.

We don’t tire saying God is one and all are equal. But preaching is something else and practicing something else. We go on lying to ourselves that our actions are correct. We don’t acknowledge that we are egoistic. But we don’t waste even a second in labelling someone else egoistic. We are convinced that everybody else has an ego while we are the only ones without it.

I read somewhere that ‘humility is a strange thing, the moment you think you have it, you have lost it.’ Never a truer statement than this was ever made. I mean how can someone say that I am a humble person, that I have no ego, I am modest.’ This affirmation itself confirms that he is egoistic.  

The great Imam Ali says, ‘Every statement in which God is not mentioned is a vanity.’ He also says, ‘If you see someone smaller than you, then either you are seeing him from a distance or with arrogance.’

Research has proven that ego is responsible for many negative human traits; thus, to become better human beings, we should restrain our egos. Conquering the Mount Everest and the moon are child’s play in comparison to conquering the ego.

Buddha says drop the I because that is ego and drop the want because that is desire. If you do this, you’ll be left with only happiness.

-          NZ

4.10.2019

BN: 147

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