Acharya Prashant explains that ego and self-respect are quite different concepts. The ego is simply the statement "I exist, I am." Because one cannot just be without being something, the ego completes the statement by adding an identity, such as "I am a male," "I am a student," "I am a professional," "I am wise," "I am smart," "I am handsome," "I am distressed," "I am suffering," or "I am happy." All these statements of "I am X, I am Y, I am Z" constitute the ego. Self-respect, on the other hand, is a very hazy concept. If respect means to value something highly, then the process of respect involves two things: one must know what to value, and the object must deserve that value. When we ask, "Do I really know what is important?" the "I" we are referring to is the ego. The ego, however, does not really know what is important. A central, defining characteristic of the ego is that to the ego, only the ego is important. Because the ego is false, little, and insecure, it lacks the courage to give much importance to anything beyond itself. In some way, directly or obliquely, the ego accords importance only to itself. The foundational statement of the ego is, "I alone am important." The ego just cannot see beyond itself. Therefore, whenever the ego gives respect to something, it is respecting nothing but itself, as it lacks the capacity, courage, and clarity to truly appreciate anything beyond itself. Real self-respect is nothing but self-awareness. There can be no self-respect without self-knowledge. The ego survives only in the lack of self-knowledge. The less you know yourself, the more crystallized your ego is. Self-respect is a prerequisite that needs self-knowledge. When you say, "I respect myself," you must be asked, "Who respects what?" To know the other, you must first know yourself. The deepest disrespect towards the self is to not know oneself, and this is called the ego. Humility is about knowing that your default identity is the ego and recognizing how vulnerable you are to mistakes. It is the ability to recognize your own weaknesses with detachment. Humility does not lie in surrendering to others but in the ability to call an illusion an illusion.
