Ego, an enemy of Peace
Ego is a very dangerous disease with us. When this ego is inflated, a person feels as if he is on top of the world. One actually floats with this inflation of ego and never feels the pangs of unreal existence. This ego is very happy to hurt others and to say things that will make others absolutely miserable. It makes you do things that are very, very inhuman. Unless people introspect, they cannot see the villainous character of this ego. If somebody suddenly gets rich, his ego gets inflated further. Any kind of achievement or recognition can blow up this balloon. ... ... If one has some property, one thinks no end of oneself. We used to have many landlords, who were known to be great shouters. They would shout and raise their voices so much that one would feel that the world was coming to an end. ... ... Speed is another way for people to develop a very, very big ego, like Grand Prix. They have accepted that Grand Prix is a very good sport and people enjoy it very much but to be frank, it is very bad for the ego, which then bloats up. The person who wins becomes egoistical and those who support him also become the same. When a participant crashes, the viewers get the thrill or sensation of a lifetime. One can see that this fellow who is burnt in the Grand Prix could not have been specially chosen by the divine to be burnt like this but to shock the people who are enjoying this Grand Prix. Another example of this kind of lurid excitement is the bull-fighting in Spain. The Spaniards are very fond of bull-fighting. Six times a year bull-fights are arranged and a large stadium is completely filled with people. This art was introduced by the Turkish people, when they were ruling in Spain. The Turks were very harsh with the local people. Then came Franco. He too was a very harsh dictator and as a result people developed a resistance. This resistance ultimately evolved into an inhuman type of ego, which gave them sadistic pleasure when they saw a bull being killed by the Matador.