LOL... Floyd and where is the true center ?
Ego - The False CenterFrom Beyond the Frontier of the Mind by Osho The first thing to be understood is what ego is. A child is born. A
child
is born without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. And
when
a child is born the first thing he becomes aware of is not himself; the
first thing he becomes aware of is the other. It is natural, because the
eyes open outwards, the hands touch others, the ears listen to others,
the
tongue tastes food and the nose smells the outside. All these senses
open
outwards.
That is what birth means. Birth means coming into this world, the
world
of the outside. So when a child is born, he is born into this world. He
opens his eyes, sees others. 'Other' means the thou. He becomes aware of
the mother first. Then, by and by, he becomes aware of his own body.
That
too is the other, that too belongs to the world. He is hungry and he
feels
the body; his need is satisfied, he forgets the body.
This is how a child grows. First he becomes aware of you, thou, other,
and then by and by, in contrast to you, thou, he becomes aware of
himself.
This awareness is a reflected awareness. He is not aware of who he is.
He
is simply aware of the mother and what she thinks about him. If she
smiles,
if she appreciates the child, if she says, "You are beautiful," if she
hugs
and kisses him, the child feels good about himself. Now an ego is born.
Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is
valuable, he feels he has some significance.
A center is born.
But this center is a reflected center. It is not his real being. He
does
not know who he is; he simply knows what others think about him. And
this
is the ego: the reflection, what others think. If nobody thinks that he
is
of any use, nobody appreciates him, nobody smiles, then too an ego is
born:
an ill ego; sad, rejected, like a wound; feeling inferior, worthless.
This
too is the ego. This too is a reflection.
First the mother - and mother means the world in the beginning. Then
others will join the mother, and the world goes on growing. And the more
the world grows, the more complex the ego becomes, because many others'
opinions are reflected.
The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, a by-product of living with
others.
If a child lives totally alone, he will never come to grow an ego. But
that
is not going to help. He will remain like an animal. That doesn't mean
that
he will come to know the real self, no.
The real can be known only through the false, so the ego is a must.
One
has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only
through the illusion. You cannot know the truth directly. First you have
to
know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue.
Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the truth. If you
know
the false as the false, truth will dawn upon you.
Ego is a need; it is a social need, it is a social by-product. The
society
means all that is around you - not you, but all that is around you. All,
minus you, is the society. And everybody reflects. You will go to school
and
the teacher will reflect who you are. You will be in friendship with
other
children and they will reflect who you are. By and by, everybody is
adding
to your ego, and everybody is trying to modify it in such a way that you
don't become a problem to the society.
They are not concerned with you.
They are concerned with the society.
Society is concerned with itself, and that's how it should be.
They are not concerned that you should become a self-knower. They are
concerned that you should become an efficient part in the mechanism of
the
society. You should fit into the pattern. So they are trying to give you
an
ego that fits with the society. They teach you morality. Morality means
giving you an ego which will fit with the society. If you are immoral,
you
will always be a misfit somewhere or other. That's why we put criminals
in
the prisons - not that they have done something wrong, not that by
putting
them in the prisons we are going to improve them, no. They simply don't
fit. They are troublemakers. They have certain types of egos of which
the
society doesn't approve. If the society approves, everything is good.
One man kills somebody - he is a murderer.
And the same man in wartime kills thousands - he becomes a great hero.
The society is not bothered by a murder, but the murder should be
commited
for the society - then it is okay. The society doesn't bother about
morality.
Morality means only that you should fit with the society.
If the society is at war, then the morality changes.
If the society is at peace, then there is a different morality.
Morality is a social politics. It is diplomacy. And each child has to
be
brought up in such a way that he fits into the society, that's all.
Because
society is interested in efficient members. Society is not interested
that
you should attain to self-knowledge.
The society creates an ego because the ego can be controlled and
manipulated. The self can never be controlled or manipulated. Nobody has
ever heard of the society controlling a self - not possible.
And the child needs a center; the child is completely unaware of his
own
center. The society gives him a center and the child is by and by
convinced
that this is his center, the ego that society gives.
A child comes back to his home - if he has come first in his class,
the
whole family is happy. You hug and kiss him, and you take the child on
your
shoulders and dance and you say, "What a beautiful child! You are a
pride
to us." You are giving him an ego, a subtle ego. And if the child comes
home dejected, unsuccessful, a failure - he couldn't pass, or he has
just
been on the back bench - then nobody appreciates him and the child feels
rejected. He will try harder next time, because the center feels shaken.
Ego is always shaken, always in search of food, that somebody should
appreciate it. That's why you continuously ask for attention.
You get the idea of who you are from others.
It is not a direct experience.
It is from others that you get the idea of who you are. They shape
your
center. This center is false, because you carry your real center. That
is
nobody's business. Nobody shapes it.
You come with it.
You are born with it.
So you have two centers. One center you come with, which is given by
existence itself. That is the self. And the other center, which is
created
by the society, is the ego. It is a false thing - and it is a very great
trick. Through the ego the society is controlling you. You have to
behave
in a certain way, because only then does the society appreciate you. You
have to walk in a certain way; you have to laugh in a certain way; you
have
to follow certain manners, a morality, a code. Only then will the
society
appreciate you, and if it doesn't, you ego will be shaken. And when the
ego
is shaken, you don't know where you are, who you are.
The others have given you the idea.
That idea is the ego.
Try to understand it as deeply as possible, because this has to be
thrown.
And unless you throw it you will never be able to attain to the self.
Because you are addicted to the center, you cannot move, and you cannot
look at the self.
And remember, there is going to be an interim period, an interval,
when
the ego will be shattered, when you will not know who you are, when you
will not know where you are going, when all boundaries will melt.
You will simply be confused, a chaos.
Because of this chaos, you are afraid to lose the ego. But it has to
be
so. One has to pass through the chaos before one attains to the real
center.
And if you are daring, the period will be small.
If you are afraid, and you again fall back to the ego, and you again
start arranging it, then it can be very, very long; many lives can be
wasted.
There is a little more to read for the brave ones
http://deoxy.org/egofalse.htmLove Always
mudra
