Question:

What is ego?

Answer:

When one is caught up in the duality of “I” and “You”, it is called Dwaita. This sense of separation between “I” and “You” is the root cause of anger, jealousy, hatred, etc. This sense of separation is Ego. Ego is simply when there is a lack of belongingness. The sense of superiority or inferiority, both is ego. When “I” separate myself from the other, it is Ego. And there is a subtle and most important aspect of Ego, let’s understand that.

Let’s start with the question “What is the opposite of Ego?” It is Love! Love is not an emotion. The feeling of wanting to be with somebody is not love, it is selfishness. It has nothing to do with the benefit of the other. It is all about “I”. Until the time you think “I“, it is not Love. “I want to be with you”, “I don’t want you to go away”, “I cannot see you get hurt”, “I want to see you happy”, in all these thoughts the subject is more important. Who is the subject?..”I“..

When “I” drops away totally, when there is just ‘ONE’, that is pure LOVE. That ONLY is LOVE. Love is not an emotion, it is our very existence. Everyone and everything is that ONE. What is that ONE? It is the consciousness that we all are. Once you see that that same consciousness is in your friend, in your own child, in your own parent, and in your enemy also, then you have understood Love. When you drop the distinction between friend, parent, child & enemy, then you have understood Love. Then you have understood ONE – That is called Adwaita!

Unless you understand Love as described above, it is all EGO!