Knowing ego is freedom from ego || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)

Questioner: Sir, I have two questions. Firstly, do you agree that there is no ego-free person, and secondly, was it easier in earlier times to be less egoistic?

Acharya Prashant: Every time has its own challenges. If in those times there were less distractions, there also was less knowledge. So, forget about those times. We are living in these times and let’s talk about these only.

He has asked whether everybody has ego. Yes, all of us have ego.

As long as you are living, as long as there is this body, ego is there. That sense of ‘I am something’, is there. No doubt about it.

Why was that session on Ego conducted then? That session was not conducted to say that you must get rid of all ego. That session was conducted so that we may understand the ego. When you understand ego, then you are free from ego even when ego is there.

When you understand the ego, what do you understand? You understand that the ego is not your essential nature, that it has come from outside.

(Suddenly the speaker stands and picks up a water bottle in his hand. From now onwards, he uses this bottle as a metaphor for ego.)