The worst enemy of man is his ego. Many have been able to overcome the six weaknesses; anger, pride, lust, greed, hatred and attachment, but rare indeed is the hero who demolished his ego, which has jealousy as its companion trying to dominate the mind continuously. More than ordinary men, the scholars, sages, teachers and even devout spiritual aspirants are victims of ego. It is their ego which makes them declare that they are nearest to God and the most enlightened. The ego brings wave after wave of wants and wishes. When egoism enters man, envy follows fast. Sorrow is the shadow that haunts the ego.
How does the egoism get into our system? Where was the ego in the beginning? Is it a weed cultivated by us for our destruction? Where were we before we were born? Where will we be after death?
All our ideas and inferences are but products of the period between birth and death. When the girl you married was seriously ill as a child, you did not worry since she was not "yours". We ourselves grow this attachment. This "mine" and "yours" attitude adopts colossal importance in our lives.
Egoism is a thorny bush, which when planted and fostered, makes us suffer. It makes enemies even of close friends and does not allow men to work together. Grief follows ego like a shadow.
(SS March 1996, pg 81)
