Questioner: Sir, is having an Ego positive or negative?
Shri Prashant: I write a quantity ‘A’ over here (pointing towards the white board) and I ask you, ‘Is it positive or negative?’ Can you answer me? I just write a unknown quantity and I ask you, ‘Is it positive or negative?’, can you answer me?
Listener 1: No, Sir.
Speaker: To know whether something is ‘this’ or ‘that’, you first have to understand it. Without understanding, you will only impose a belief on it. So I believe that all ‘A’s are positive. Someone will get up and say that all ‘B’s are positive and ‘A’s are negative. All of these would be just worthless statements.
So what is the Ego, before we declare it positive or negative?
Listener 2: Sir, Ego is something that is developed at a very small age. The people around you develop Ego in you by praising you. When other people comment, which is against that praise, then the Ego gets hurt.
SP: This development may start at a very tender age. To that extent you are spot on. But what if the development keeps taking place all your life. What if you are never mature enough to understand what Ego is? See, till the age of twelve-thirteen, the brain is not yet fully ripe, not yet fully developed. Brain is the seat of intelligence. An under-developed brain cannot give you the faculty of discrimination. So, it is understandable that you are fed with Ego, identities and you keep on absorbing them. It is understandable because you are helpless. You cannot do much, you are a kid.
