It’s all I, me & myself today

Ego, the feeling of 'I am something special' or 'I am doing a great job', is listed as one of the causes of klesha (unhappiness) in life by Patanjali. For people endowed with continuous success in life, it becomes natural to have a little bit of ego but one has to watch out. One has to see whether our success is only because of our efforts or other factors too.

In general, ego is counter-productive. It takes us away from reality of life and from good people. Ego is image consciousness. A person who is so conscious of his image is the one who suffers more. Every time his image is touched by someone in a negative way, he gets worked up. His ego gets bruised and anything can happen thereafter. If this happens again and again, a
person will be miserable always.

Ego makes us do things which may not be productive. It makes us do things only to look better. A person with larger ego is looking for praise everywhere. If he is ignored he feels depressed or subdued. Such a person is dependent on others for his moods.

He willingly gives the strings of his happiness in the hands of others.

That is why anahankar (not having ego) is one of the 20 spiritual values prescribed in Bhagwad Gita. Not having ego does not mean losing your self-esteem. You may have full confidence in your ability to do things but there may not be a need to project it.

That is real maturity. There are several ways of trying to reduce one's ego in life.

First of all, we have to remember that success in life is possible only with co-operation of others, availability of right factors, and also destiny. Can we always say that results are coming only
because of our intervention?

A person calls himself "I am a self-made man". This statement completely obliterates the role that his parents, teachers, friends and God must have played in his upbringing. Can we ever overlook this contribution?

A person who is involved in lot of donations may feel a little bit of ego that he is parting away something and sacrificing. However, he must remember that he could give only because God has given him so much wealth. Favourable opportunities were created in his life because of which he could amass wealth. Also, the intellect is given to him by God. Can he really have a reason
to feel ego?

One of the spiritual ways to remove ego is to think of self as an instrument of God. He has sent us with certain talent and favourable circumstances to do something beneficial to the world. We can act as nimmit (instrument) in his hands. "He makes me do all the positive things and that is why good results are seen" is the way we must think. This way false pride and assertiveness will not come.

For example, when a seed is planted and a tree grows to bear fruits, is it correct to claim that "I have produced the fruits"? Planting a seed has been done, but the tree grows on its own, flowers and fruits come on their own. Nature did it.

For an event to occur thousands of factors are involved. When all are put together, it is called Ishwara (God). Ishwara with his thousands of hands performs the action and we take credit for it. When we examine anything like this, ego melts. Continuous vigil of mind is necessary to check wrong thinking and avoid ego.
   
The author is an IAS officer of Gujarat cadre