EGO – Edging God out

‘A
man wrapped up in himself makes a very
small bundle’

Benjamin
Franklin

The issues are: why is it said that if Ego is in, Ego edges God out and if so what
is Ego –what it does and how to manage it :

I believe that all success is based on Ego.
It is the one emotion which impels a person to achieve his goal. No one can
achieve anything in any field of operation without Ego. The conquerors of the
world – Alexander, Julius Ceaser, Napoleon, Ashoka and others had Ego. Ego is
the base of all activity – it is a great motivator. President Trump says:‘Show
me an individual without ego and I will show you a loser’. Let us not
forget that Gandhi’s ego was hurt when he was thrown out of the train in Africa
and it is this hurt that made him a leader. However, Gandhi knew how to manage
it and thereby became a Mahatma.

I also believe that both sinner and saint
have ego. Rishi Durvasa is known to have cursed Indra and Shakuntala
for having ignored him. Rishi Vishwamitra, giver of Gayatri,
created another heaven when his ego was hurt and hence remained a Rajarshi.
Vishwamitra became Brahmarshi only when he managed his ego. Let
us accept that a sinner commits murder because his ego is hurt. Nations
fight war when egos are hurt. No one is spared by Ego.

What does Ego do? Ego makes a person restless, capricious, dominating, self-centred,
selfish and above all, unconcerned about the impact his actions have on others.
An egoist is devoid of care and compassion and deprived of contentment despite
his success. In short, ego makes a person lonely and unhappy. An Egoist is a
seeker of success – to him `ends matter and means have no meaning’. He
deems trampling over others is his birthright. In short, Ego divides us –
breaks relationships, creates strife, destroys families and ruins businesses.
Divorces of every genre – whether in relationship or business – are based on
clash of egos.

Emerson says – ‘shadows of life are
caused by our standing in our own sunshine’. However, ego makes one a doer
and gives one an identity.

How does one
manage ego! Ashoka and
Gandhi have shown us the way. The way is : thoughts and action based on
and backed by principles, taken with care, concern and contemplation. Once an
egoist’s actions are based on these three ‘C’s the same are automatically based
on knowledge – the doer then becomes an instrument in the hands of God. Emperor
Ashoka is the finest example when after the battle of Kalinga he became an
instrument in the hands of God, developed humility and became a messenger of His
word.

The irony of Ego is that even when a person
is doing good, Ego raises its tetra head. The solution is : give up the concept
of doership–become an instrument in His hands. Do this, believe me, Ego stands
managed. This will bring peace, pleasure, happiness, success and above all
contentment which we all seek. In short :Befriend Ego.

I would conclude by quoting Dada Vaswani:

‘We
are restless until we find our rest in God’

Rest here means – surrender to God’s will.
Believe in and practice ‘let thy will be done’.