Quotes About Ego

Nothing's worse than a bad person who thinks he's good.

I keep what I know about Sarah Lynn and Lawrence to myself. I also remind myself that even if Sarah Lynn does have a scary strict father, that doesn't release her from the responsibility of treating others with respect. Abuse of power is wrong, no matter the context, no matter the history. What is "power" anyway? Power is an ego trip. Power is a way to rise yourself up by lowering others, and I want nothing of it.

The true Sufi cannot utter any prayer beginning with the word 'I,' for example: 'I want to know Thee better.' For to do this presupposes that there are two beings: the Sufi and Allah. This is the greatest sin. Iblis cried, 'Ana khayrun minhu! (I am better than he is!') The personal pronoun 'I' is the classic Sufi symbol for pride in its extreme form.

The Dragon is the gatekeeper to the Divine Court who lets pass only those who have stripped off all the garments of religiosity and custom, and who are ready and willing to give up their very lives. For beyond this desert, the Sufi loses him or herself and gains Allah. That is why they call it a dessert. That is why it is such a frightening place, for the ego cannot pass by the Gatekeeper!

The Dragon is the gatekeeper to the Divine Court who lets pass only those who have stripped off all the garments of religiosity and custom, and who are ready and willing to give up their very lives. For beyond this desert, the Sufi loses him or herself and gains Allah. That is why they call it a desert. That is why it is such a frightening place, for the ego cannot pass by the Gatekeeper!

Dive right into the Heart of Blame and leave your titles, your imagined "position" in the tekke, your sense of being "special," and other subtle ways that try to communicate to people that you are 'spiritual'.

Through stories and tales, we can bypass the egoistic conscious mind and see through the veil of our Limited Selves to a larger view of reality.

There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it, and the rest of us.

You don't need to take a persons advice to make him feel good, just ask him for it.

Humility is the embarrassment you feel when you tell people how wonderful you are.

Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.

Most people were raised to believe they are just as good as the next person. I was always told I was better.

The only reason why we are always thinking of our own ego is that we have to live with it more continuously than with anyone else's.

According to the Buddhist tradition, the spiritual path is the process of cutting through our confusion, of uncovering the awakened state of mind. When the awakened state of mind is crowded in by ego and its attendant paranoia, it takes on the character of an underlying instinct. So it is not a matter of building up the awakened state of mind, but rather of burning out the confusions which obstruct it. In the process of burning out these confusions, we discover enlightenment.

Our vast collections of knowledge and experience are just part of ego's display, part of the grandiose quality of ego. We display them to the world and, in so doing, reassure ourselves that we exist, safe and secure, as "spiritual" people.

Self-deception is a constant problem as we progress along a spiritual path. Ego is always trying to achieve spirituality. It is rather like wanting to witness your own funeral.

We need only drop the effort to secure and solidify ourselves and the awakened state is present. But we soon realize that just "letting go" is only possible for short periods. We need some discipline to bring us to "letting be." We must walk a spiritual path. Ego must wear itself out like an old shoe, journeying from suffering to liberation.

Usually our feelings of being exploited and other complaints of that nature are merely the squealing of ego and nothing more.

We have to relate with our mental gossip and our emotions simply and directly, without philosophy. We have to use the existing material, which is ego's hang-ups and credentials and deceptions, as a starting point. Then we begin to realize that in order to do this we must actually use some kind of feeble credentials. Token credentials are necessary. Without them we cannot begin. So we practice meditation using simple techniques; the breath is our feeble credential.

It is important to see that the main point of any spiritual practice is to step out of the bureaucracy of ego.

starting point, the nature of ego.

The skandhas present a complete picture of ego. According to Buddhist psychology, the ego is simply a collection of skandhas or heaps—but actually there is no such thing as ego. It is a brilliant work of art, a product of the intellect, which says, "Let's give all this a name. Let's call it 'I.

Timely Rain In the jungles of flaming ego, May there be cool iceberg of bodhicitta. On the racetrack of bureaucracy, May there be the walk of the elephant. May the sumptuous castle of arrogance Be destroyed by vajra confidence. In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.

Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.