Ego and its perils
What is the definition of "Ego"? Anything to deal with "me" and "myself"? What is egoism and what is egotism? Are they good or bad? "I am a great leader, I am highly placed, I have influences, I have money, muscle power, I have education, I have a good job, I earn a lot, I can teach you a lesson, how dare you crossed my path!" - these are all statements of egoism, which Sri Ramakrishna used to call "bajjat Ami", meaning the "Evil Self", or "Kancha Ami" meaning "the unripe self". On the other hand he classified "Bhakta Ami", 'Das Ami" (Devotee Me, Servant (of lord) me) etc. as the "Paka Ami" or the 'Ripe Self'. He gave an example of 'Evil Self' (vide Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna or the Ramakrishna Kathamrita) - suppose someone had stolen 10 bucks from you, you thought how dare he steals from "Me", and getting hold of that guy, gave him a good thrashing, to...