The Concept of 'Ego' is a mentally constructed Catastrophe!
The blessed Buddha once pointed out:
Bhikkhus, these ideas: 'I am...', 'I am this...', 'I will be...', 'I shall not be...',
'I shall be of such form', 'I shall be formless...', 'I will experience such...',
'I will not experience...', 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient...',
are all self-deceptions, are all conceited fantasies, are all whimsy illusions,
are all agitated excitations, are escalated proliferations and are all inflated,
vain & narcissistic self-love, leading to egotism, puffed pride & arrogance...
Such self-deceptions are all diseases, such ego-conceits are all tumours, such
egocentric phantasms are all internal, agonizing and nailing hooks in the mind!!!
Therefore, bhikkhus & friends, you should train yourselves in this very way:
We will dwell with a mind unperturbed by any 'I exists...' conceiving...
We will dwell with a mind purified of any 'I am this or that ...' self-deception...
We will dwell with a mind uninvolved in any 'I will be this or that...' illusion...
We will dwell with a mind without any 'I shall not be this/that...' agitation...
We will dwell with a mind devoid of any 'I shall have such a form' fantasy...
We will dwell with a mind cleaned of any 'I shall be formless...' escalation...
We will dwell with a mind empty of 'I will experience such...' proliferation...
We will dwell with a mind cleared of any 'I will not experience...' excitation...
We will be freed of 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient...' dreams...
Since these ideas are all self-deceptions, are all conceited fantasies, are all
whimsy illusions, are all agitated excitations, are escalated proliferations and
are all inflated, vain & narcissistic self-centered ego-love, leading to egotism,
pride & arrogance... Self-deceptions are all mental diseases; ego-conceits are
all expansions; egocentric phantasms are all internally agonizing & painful hooks
nailing any mind to inestimable future suffering!!! The cure is understanding the
fundamental selflessness of all things, whether they are internal or external...
Thus should you train yourselves...
Comment: This inherent and somewhat hidden 'ego-idea', which seems innocent,
is the core cause of all egoism, asocial behaviour, crime, conflicts & even wars!!!
Therefore is it advantageous to repeatedly try to understand this absolute truth:
Sabbe Dhamma Anatta: All Phenomena are without any Self!
However counter-intuitive, puzzling, paradoxical & strange it may seem initially...
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya. Book IV 202-3
The 6 senses section 35: Thread on The sheaf of barley. (248)
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
More on Anti-Egoism:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Pride.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Conceit_I_Am.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/I-dentification.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Prison_of_Pride.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anti-EGO-Tool.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anatta_No_Self.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/No_Agent_is_Inside.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Solo_Self-Deception.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Mistaken_Reference.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Selfless_and_Harmless.htm
