Just imagine you’re a movie director. In a movie, there are all different characters. There’s a hero. There’s a villain. There are the assistants. There’s the heroine and whatever other roles.
You don’t hate the villain. The villain is as important to you as the hero is when you’re making a movie. Isn’t that so? In fact, villains get more money than heroes. They have to play all the tough parts and use tough expressions.
Arrogant and egotistical people
A movie director doesn’t hate the villain and fall in love with the hero or the heroine. He just treats them all the same, like participants.
In the same way, some people are with ego, and some people are without ego. Some people like vegetables. Some people are stiff. Enjoy all of these faces. They all add charm and color to the world. They all bring contrast to each other.
Suppose there is nobody with arrogance or stiffness. How would you even value those people who are humble, who have humility?
People with humility are glorified by those who are arrogant. In fact, arrogant people bring to your attention how foolish they are. They exhibit foolishness. And an exhibition of foolishness is essential in order to recognize wisdom, in order to honor humility. So, take them all.
Don’t make an effort to see the divinity in someone. The divine contains all qualities. You have a concept of divinity in your mind as someone very nice, gentle, and beautiful. Then, someone who isn’t gentle, you don’t see them as divine.
Divinity consists of all the opposites because divinity is totality. So, see the whole world as a play, as a drama. Then, you’ll be able to give yourself a big laugh.
How to treat your own ego
You just give a big hug to your ego. Let it be there. Why do you worry about the ego? Why do you want to get rid of it? The first lesson in Art of Living is acceptance. Whatever you don’t accept will be around your neck, bothering you. Accept it and it will stop bothering you.
Wake up and look at the whole universe. Wake up to the fact that time is enormous. Time is infinite. Then see that in contrast to your life. 60, 70, 80 years of your life are so insignificant in this vast ocean of time.
What is ego? Where is ego? You’re nothing! You’re nobody! You’re so insignificant on this planet. This planet will go on with 7 and a half billion people like ants, dying and again being born. So what? Who cares whether you live or die? It’s all finished. It’s going to be finished in a few years, anyway.
Now the environmentalists are warning that the world will end in a few years. There may be only another five years for the planet. Scientists are saying sea levels are rising. Many countries in the world are in danger. Where’s your ego? What’s your ego?
Wake up and see that it has no existence. If you can’t wake up, and you’re a little sleepy or drowsy, then just keep it and make friends with it. Keep saying, “Oh, I want to have a big ego. Let it be there.” Grow your ego as much as you can. Don’t fight with it.
When you wake up, it dissolves. If you don’t want to wake up, sleep with your ego. Keep it. Hold it tight to your heart. There’s no trouble, no problem. In between, when you feel you have an ego and you want to get rid of it, that’s when all the problems come.
Be natural and foolish
Just be natural. Being natural is the antidote for an ego. Or agree to be foolish. Why can’t you be foolish for some time? You’re foolish, anyway. And you need not get upset when somebody definitely calls you a fool because there are some people who are more intelligent than you. In your eyes, you’re foolish, anyway.
If you consciously agree to be a fool, this trouble with your ego will simply disappear. I think it’s an important role that everyone should play during their lifetime. Act like you’re foolish for a little while. Then you won’t be afraid of someone calling you a fool. The biggest armor for ego is that it doesn’t want to be called a fool by anybody.
If, in your eyes, you’re a fool, the ego has evaporated. That’s it. Or it has expanded and become limitless. I think that’s the best thing. In your own heart, in your own eyes, you should know that you can be a fool much of the time. But you don’t accept or agree with it, you don’t want to show it, and you don’t want to exhibit your foolishness.
One day, act like a thorough fool. You’ll see. You’ll be free from this ego that is troubling you day and night. Be a buffoon, just for a day. Then, you’ll be so natural.
There’s no point in being a buffoon behind closed doors. Out in the street, you’ve got to be a buffoon. There should be hundreds of people seeing you, yelling, “Hey, buffoon.”
Be a laughingstock for people even for a day and you’ll find yourself at peace.
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