An egoist will only suffer his whole life

What is the difference between ego and taking pride in oneself? Taking pride in oneself is not ego. Not only is there a difference between them, they are opposites. Ego is the feeling of being superior to others.

Ego is a disease. How many people can you believe yourself to be superior to? Someone is more beautiful, someone is healthier, someone is more talented, someone is a genius. An egoist will only suffer his whole life; his life will be full of wounds and yet more wounds.

Ego is comparing yourself to others. Ego is ideas such as ‘I am superior to others’. Taking pride in oneself is altogether a different thing.
To take pride in oneself is to be very humble.

There is not even a question of being superior to others everyone is unique in his own right. This is the understanding that goes with taking pride in oneself: that nobody is higher than anyone else, nor is anyone lower than anyone else.

In this existence, a small grass flower and the greatest star in the sky, both have the same value. If even this small grass flower were missing, something would be missing in the whole existence that even the greatest star could not make up for.

Taking pride in yourself is accepting the reality that everyone is unique and there is no race, no competition, no ambition. Yes, if someone is aggressive towards you, because taking pride in yourself has no aggression in it, it will give you the capacity to fight back but not to belittle the other, only to prove that the aggression of the other was wrong, that all aggression is wrong.

Taking pride in yourself has no conceit: it is simple and plain. But even the greatest power in the world cannot defeat a person who takes pride in himself. This is a very unique mystery. Such a person is humble, so humble that by his own choice, he will stand last in the queue. And so where else can he be pushed? The disease of ego is commonplace.

The health of taking pride in oneself is rare, and when it is born in someone, it is difficult to recognise it, because it makes no claim. But the miracle is that this very ‘no claim’ of pride in oneself becomes its very claim.

A man who takes pride in himself never wants to hold himself above anyone, and he will never allow anyone else to impose any slavery upon him. Hence, it can seem a little complex, and misinterpretations can happen. Because of this misunderstanding, there have been tremendously adverse effects upon India.

For 2,000 years, we have remained slaves. India is the only country in the history of the whole world that has never attacked anybody, because for centuries the enlightened ones of this country taught people only one thing: non-aggression, nonviolence, compassion, and love. But this teaching remained somewhat incomplete. India completely forgot that violence towards itself should also not be allowed.

And so is the case with taking pride in oneself: neither does a person leave the impression of his ego on someone else nor does he give that person the right to leave the impression of their ego on him. Abridged from The Diamond Sword, Osho Times International, courtesy: Osho International Foundation