All about Ego

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 1 February 2025 'Ego is when you think that you can never be wrong. Righteous ego is when you realise that despite your great knowledge and wisdom, you can also be wrong occasionally.' Hinyana Buddhism 'Karne Ko Zindagi Mein Bahut Kuchh Tha/Hai, Main Apni Ana Mein Maara Gaya' (There was so much to do in life/Alas, I failed because of my ego). Of all human emotions, one's ego is the biggest stumbling block. I read somewhere, ' What can never go is called ego.' It's because of ego, we hesitate to reciprocate and step forward to demolishing all walls and barriers of hatred, misunderstandings, bitterness and rancour. The question is: What's ego? Psychologists define ego as 'One's inflated and wrongly perceived opinion about oneself that prevents a person to relent, reciprocate and stoop occasionally for a greater and nobler cause.' We all have ego. It only differs in intensity and degrees. Some have pronounced ego, some have mild ego and a few of us have remnants of it. But human existence sans all vestiges of ego is unthinkable. ' To be human is to be an egoist and also an egotist! ' "Your very existence has a seed of ego," (Saarbik Britha Aham Anim Pradyante) the Buddha said in Pali. Human ego can be positive as well as negative. The righteous ego or Saatvik Aham is a quality rather than a vice. In one of the verses in Bhagwad Gita, Krishna urges Arjun to shed his quotidian ego and replace it with righteous ego. ' Saatvik Aham Parivednam', says Krishna. It means, when ego has a positive streak, it can have an all-encompassing ambit. Interestingly, 'Aham' has the clear sense of 'I' and oneself, the knowledge of the self. Aham Brahmasmi (I'm the god or ultimate Truth) is the manifestation of that realization. So, human ego can be a mere drop and ocean in the same breath. It was Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose's righteous ego as a professor at Presidency College, Calcutta to decline to accept the 40 rupees lower salary than his white European colleagues. He fought relentlessly for that and finally won. It was Armenian Sufi Shaikh Sarmad's righteous ego that egged him on to refuse to call Mughal emperor Aurangzeb the emperor or Alampanah. 'Choon Mustaveez An 'Ina Mee Shahnshah Khudaya Ast' (I've learned to call only the Almighty as the Alampanah, not a human being). He was decapitated for his audaciously righteous ego. When Tagore returned the Knighthood following Jallianwala massacre in 1919, his friend and fellow Irish poet William Butler Yeats said, 'It was Tagore's self-respecting ego to return the Knighthood to the power that bestowed it upon him.' Allama Iqbal evinced his righteous ego when he addressed the Almighty with this couplet: 'Baagh-e-Bahisht Se Mujhe Hukm-E-Safar Diya Tha Kyon/Kaar-E-Jahaan Daraaz Hai Ab Mera Intezaar Kar' (Why did you give me the marching order from the heaven?/ There're many unfinished tasks in the world, now you wait for me!) Mahabharata’s grand patriarch Bhishma told his mother Ganga with a scintilla of righteous ego and a streak of justifiable ire that henceforth, he'll never come to her with his 'trivial' problems, one day she'll have to come to him. She did indeed come to see her great son lying on the bed of arrows! Mirza Ghalib declined the post of a Persian teacher when the English officer didn't come to receive him! He was living in abject penury at that time but refused to genuflect before a British officer because he had a healthy sense of self-respect. In other words, it was his righteous ego that didn't learn to compromise or concede. He rightly showed his ego even when he addressed (or challenged?) god with this couplet, "Bandagi Mein Bhi Woh Aazaad-O-Khudbeen Hain Ke Hum/ Ulte Phir Aayein Dar-E-Kaba Agar Waa Na Hua" ( Even in my worship, I retain my freedom and self-respect/ I'll return from Kaaba if the doors are not open for me). Healthy ego is often mistaken for impudence which is an erroneous perception. "Mere Ek Sajde Ne Khuda Banaya Hai Tujh Ko/ Tujhe Kaun Poochhta Tha Meri Dosti Se Pahle" ( My one act of Sajda or genuflection has made you Almighty/ Otherwise who cared for you?). Extreme submissiveness is not an abnegation or a negation of ego. It's a sign of absolute helplessness. "Khuda Ko Bhi Nahin Gavara Tera Yoon Gidgidana/ Jab Dee Hai Ana Toh Kyonkar Na Ise Dikhana" ( Even god dislikes your cringe worthy begging/ Show a glimpse of your ego that has been bestowed upon you), wrote Hashra ' Kashmiri'. To quote Mahir-ul-Qadri, "Kyon Mashvara-E-Tark-e-Ana Dete Ho/ Sach Kaho Kya Tum Iss Se Bach Paaye Ho? " (Why do you advise to abnegate ego/ Have you been able to get rid of it?). "Hai Ana Ka Bhi Hissa Tere Irfaan Mein/ Ise Be-Sabab Khuda Ne Diya Nahin Tujhe" (Your ego also contributes to your self-realization/ Not for nothing has it been given to you by god). So, don't try to eliminate your ego. Rather, sublimate it. You cannot negate, what's innate. It, therefore, becomes a tad delicate at times to discern between plain human ego and righteous ego. Most of us suffer from plain, pathological and vindictive ego that makes us fallaciously feel ensconced in our own world of faux self-importance. P B Shelly described it so beautifully in his magnificent poem 'Mutability', ' Virtue, how frail it's/Friendship, how rare/Love, how it sells poor bliss/For proud despair.' It's because of our inflated ego that we fail to step out of our self-determined boundaries and embrace all and sundry as our own extensions and alter egos. Because of this self-conscious ego, the world is still compartmentalised into different nations and nations are divided into divisions and sub-divisions. The moment we realise that this self-conscious ego is the main culprit, a new world order can be expected to emerge like the Phoenix from the ashes. In Zen Buddhism, ego is of two types, self-conscious or aware ego and unaware ego. We all are endowed with unaware ego, even those who're called evolved. When this unaware ego degenerates into aware ego, it becomes negative, even dangerous. So, this conscious ego must be dispensed with. Remember the words of Pakistani poet Abdul Hameed Adam, 'Raakh Kar De Iss Ana Ko, Mita De Ise/ Iske Mitne Se Teri Hasti Nahin Mitne Waali' (Turn your ego into ashes, delete it/By expunging it, you don't cease to exist). Yes, you get a brand new existence when you become free of your conscious and aware ego. A new and noble you burgeons on the horizon of life. Lastly, to quote Tirlok Chand 'Mahroom', "Ye Meri Ana Hi Thi Ke Jis Ne/ Iss Ke Nuqsaan Ke Saath Favayad Bhi Ginaye" ( It was my ego that described the merits and demerits of it). By the way, Tirlok Chand ' Mahroom' was the father of Professor and famous Urdu poet Dr Jagan Nath ' Azad', who was an authority on Dr Muhammad Iqbal's oeuvre. ----- The abridged version of this article appeared in TOI and a philosophical journal in Bengali a few years ago. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/sumit-paul-new-age-islam/d/134498 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism