What is Ego and Egoism?

Do you know the real science behind the ego?

Scientifically, when two different elements come together, a third compound is formed. This is also how the ego arises, when the body and Soul come together.

So, what is ego? Ego means ‘I’. It refers to existence: 'I am'. All living beings are aware of their own existence – “I am”. However, they do not know who they are – “What I am”. This is why all of us mistakenly believe the body or name given to it as ourselves. For example, one would say, ‘I am John,' but that is a name given to identify the body. You are not 'John' and yet you believe you are ‘John’.

To say that which you are not in reality is called egoism. “I am this body”, “I am an engineer”, “I am her husband”, “I am of this age”, “I am fat”, etc. are all forms of egoism. Param Pujya Dadashri says, that one is not to remove the ego, one has to remove egoism.

The quick and easy way to get rid of your egoism is to attain Self Realization through the grace of the Gnani Purush. With this knowledge your egoism dissipates.

Read on to know more about what is ego and egoism.

What is Ego?

The belief that "I am John" is ego. In reality, you are pure Soul. To realize this, true knowledge is required. A Gnani(Self realized person) can grace you with this.

Spiritual Quotes

Ego (aham) is not to be removed; egoism (ahankar) is to be removed. 'I' (hoon; ego) is there anyway, but it is the egoism that has to be removed. "'I' without 'my' is God", which is why you need to get rid of the 'My'. It is because of the 'my' that it is considered as egoism. If there is no 'My', then to say aham ('I'); 'I am Atma', is perfectly acceptable. This is because that is your own thing. To say, 'I am this body', is egoism.
Egoism (ahankar) occurs first, and then the body is formed. The Gita is correct, when it clearly states that first the egoism arises, and then all this is a result. It is because of egoism that karmas are bound, and all this: the mind, speech and body is the result of that. Egoism is the 'cause', and the mind, speech and the body, are the 'effect'.
Acquisition and renunciation (grahan and tyaag) are qualities of egoism (ahankar), whereas discharge [of remaining karma; nikaal] is an attribute of non-egoism.
All fear stems from egoism. The one without egoism is free of fear!
In the language of God, the meaning of Gnani is, a person whose anger, pride, deceit, greed are completely gone! He is the one who has become free of egoism (nirahankari)!
What did Lord Krishna say about such a Gnani? "Such a Gnani is my Soul itself, the Gnani is my most beloved. Dear Arjun, see no difference between I and the Gnani." Lord Krishna gave the Gnani , the seat next to Him, as his equal!
Only where there is a Gnani, does egoism leave, otherwise egoism will never go.
Where there is egoism (ahankar), there will be demerit karma (paap) and merit karma (punya). If egoism is gone, it means merit and demerit karma are gone.
When will the Self be achieved? When the rule of egoism ends, Self will be achieved. The nature of Self is such that no pain can touch It. Can termites infest upon fire? Termites can infest upon wood. Nothing touches Self. Pain can't touch It at all. Therefore, if you become the form of Self you will remain in bliss only. There is pain as long as there is the form of egoism.
There is no egoism in a small boy and for that reason everything is supplied to him. Similarly, there is no egoism in Gnani so everything is supplied to him. It is your egoism that doesn't allow you to get the supplies.
As the egoism gets eradicated, as it gets less and less, all the things will start to fall in your lap. How far does the law of getting your desire fulfilled extend? On one side, the desire is created and on the other side, you get the thing on the moment! The law is that good!
Once this Gnan is given to you, you will no longer have any worries or anxiety. That's because egoism (ahankar) and my-ness (mamta) are gone.
The ego destroys the world as well it is the ego which grows the world.
If we break someone’s ego, then we can’t be happy. Egoism is his life!
The One whose ego has come to an end, He verily is the Parmatma (the absolute Self)! The ego itself is the maya (ignorance of One's Real form as the Self; wrong belief).
When the egoism becomes zero; that is indeed spirituality.
There are two things in the world: either feeding the ego or else, shattering it. In this world, everyone’s ego is either being fed or being shattered. Nothing else happens apart from these two.
Egoism [Ahamkar: Aham=I; kar=did] means ‘I did’. Where one is not the doer and he says, ‘I did’; that is egoism. To do egoism and to walk around with arrogance is pride; and then to go on telling others ‘I did it myself’, is known Abhimaan (excessive pride with due to material possession).
The worldly life has arisen through the ego. One is indeed free if the ego dissolves. What is the foundation on which the ego stands? It is the ignorance of the Self.
The One in whom, there is no trace of ego, is a 'Gnani Purush' (the enlightened One).
“This is not suitable for me”- to say this is indeed madness, it is nothing but egoism. To say ‘will not suit’ is an offense.
Where there is egoism, gnan (knowledge of the Self) cannot be there; and where there is gnan, egoism cannot be there.
What spreads the stench of a conduct? ‘Egoism’ and other flaws.
As long as the egoism is there, how can one attain the true religion?
Where there is ‘egoism’, there is no God. Where there is God, there is no ‘egoism’.
In all animals, egoism is in a seed-form. It bears effect as a tree in the human life form! If the egoism is destroyed, ‘one’ becomes the ‘Absolute Supreme Self’[parmatma]!
What is the nature of egoism? It spends away everything in its power!
The ‘egoism’ that is used to hurt others will hurt one’s own self. The ‘egoism’ that is used to give happiness to others becomes cause for his own happiness.
What is the greatest weakness? ‘Egoism’. No matter how virtuous one may be, as long as the egoism is present; it is all useless. A virtuous person is only of use if he is humble.
What kind of egoism should one have? It should be such that people accept it.
There is no problem if there is ‘egoism’. But, it should be ‘normal’. ‘Normal’ egoism means that it does not hurt anyone.
The ego is harmful; the moment one realizes that, everything becomes straightforward. It is not worth protecting the ego.
‘No one should be hurt in the slightest’ - such should be one’s egoism. That is a ‘positive’ ego.
The one who wants to endure the worldly life, he should carry the weapon of the ego, and the one who wants freedom from the worldly life, he should let go of the weapon of ego!
Sahajik (Spontaneous and natural) speech means there is not an iota of ego in it.
What is egoism? It is that which runs away from God. As egoism goes on increasing, then stubbornness (aadayee), pride (maan), pride of doership (garva), arrogance (gamand) words are used. Egoism arises the moment one slightly moves away from God.

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