Ego
Your individualised ego is created by your intellect which prescribes a pattern of behaviour related to a pattern of feelings flowing from underlying desires, at any given point of time, your entire life experiences are recorded m your brain, The way you perceived those experiences, your reactions to them with the stage of mental development you reached when they occur-red, your current perceptions. based on your present views all constitute the state of your ego currently.
In the course of your development, you received instructions from your parents when you were still a child and unable to understand the world or discriminate right from wrong. Later on you developed your own body of knowledge and exercised your own judgment. Based on your own decisions, you worked out a code of behaviour for yourself, integrating all the inputs during your life-time.
EGOCENTRIC DESIRES
Egocentric desires emanate from selfish motives. The basic orientation is self-gratification. “I” remain dominant in all actions, thoughts, or feelings. Such desires first manifest in early childhood from the basic and strongest of all instincts- that of survival. Birth itself is a traumatic experience of a sudden transition from the dark, warm, cosy and protected womb to the bright, noisy, uncomfortable world outside. Feeding is not automatic and continuous but occurs only at intervals. The warmth of touch and security of cuddling is only occasional. The baby quickly learns manipulative behavior from the experience that it gets attention and food only when it cries. In fact, it has to cry to survive. Thus, the desire for food and attention drives its crying behavior.
The Evolution of Desires
At the basic level, the desire for survival is all pervasive and fundamental to life. It is manifested in the search for food, water, clothing and shelter - the basic necessities of life.
Next comes the desire for security, for the assurance and means of continuing to be able to survive in future also. Having settled the concerns about survival and security, the individual looks for the greater safety and reassurance of belonging to a group - the herd instinct.
As an accepted part of a group, a person develops the ambition to be someone special - there is a fear of being a nonentity and getting lost in the group. The desire to be unique is to create and reinforce a special position in the group with the hope of permanent membership.
Only a permanent and secure member can begin to look beyond egocentric desires. If. at any time, there is a threat to his position or security. the survival instinct takes over and his behaviour reflects the desire to restore the status quo by any means.
THE EGO AND YOUR ACTIONS
Your ego is basically your self-image. Your actions are shaped by your attitudes and your attitudes are shaped by your intellect. The strength and character of your intellect depend on knowledge inputs. However, your ego can distort pure knowledge since it affects your perceptions. Egocentric and selfish bias result in filtering knowledge to produce self centered behaviour patterns.
An ego which is characterized by courage, self-sufficiency and humility. does not distort one's perceptions of the vast body of knowledge. What follows are actions performed with unselfish desires or motives.
THE ETHICS OF BEHAVIOUR
A mature adult develops a code of behaviour based on re-examining himself from time to time - his desires based on a value system, his opinions about himself based on an objective self-assessment undistorted by feelings.He may choose many paths to self-development and control of his desires:
- The path of work: Single minded concentration on the work at hand to the exclusion of all distractions born of desires.
- The path of devotion: Selfless devotion to he service of humanity at large
- The path of knowledge: The eternal quest for knowledge and truth.
But whichever path he chooses, the highly evolved person has succeeded in channeling his emotions and feelings to fulfil an all- consuming desire to use his abilities not just to serve himself but also to serve others