Is EGO good have?

Ego or Ahankar historically has responsible for various wars and bad happenings. yes, thats negative ego...but

1. how you determine ego is good and bad?

2. Whats the impact of ego on self esteem?

3. Is ego same as self respect?

4. Is ego good to have? whats the limit?

related topic-
URL Not Available

I have copy pasted my reply from there. so quoting myself here below Andrew Cohen's quotation. I think it tackles the 4 questions raised here.

" Spiritual freedom is freedom from the ego. Freedom from things we are afraid of. We are afraid of vulnerability, transparency, spontaneity, authenticity, integrity. The ego is a defense mechanism that holds us back from things that we don't want to face up to anytime soon. "
Ref. The ego and the authentic self
Andrew Cohen

I have always considered EGO as sometimes miscontrued and mostly INFLATED self-esteem. While self-esteem is a necessary virtue, insecurities allow it to quickly transcend into EGO. Hence, I agree with the anlysis of Andrew Cohen that it is a defense mechanism.
Ego becomes bigger than us because in an increasingly competetive world, (career / life in general) we/ celebrities are always afraid to let go, to accept, to be judged and to lose. Sadly, we are defending very many times.

ego is not good.
ego generates from a hurt self esteem / insecure self esteem.
self esteem is essential.
Humility is one of the more under-rated virtues.

All keep diff type of emotions,Ego is part of that emotions....If anyone feel or used to think selfish then the Ego start works......But I think some +ve Ego good for life.... 😊

Originally posted by: raj5000

Ego or Ahankar historically has responsible for various wars and bad happenings. yes, thats negative ego...but

1. how you determine ego is good and bad?

2. Whats the impact of ego on self esteem?

3. Is ego same as self respect?

4. Is ego good to have? whats the limit?

A healthy ego is not a bad thing to have infact it is required to interact with others succesfully . Over inflation of sense of self-worth in eyes of others is the point where a good quality turns against oneself .

To me self-esteem and ego are two different facets may be related but can be at different level independent to each other. Self esteem is mainly a sense of self-satisfaction , a good feeling towards one ownself ..while ego involves some kind of interaction .. the position of oneself in a society or in eyes of others... A person with low self esteem may try to increase the level of satisfaction by proving himself\herself on others that he \she is better and try to get appreciation externally.

a person with high-self esteem may not have any ego issues at all ..A sadhu or a geniun darwaish main be the example of such character.

Originally posted by: #1EijazFan

good and bad ego?
the only ego i know is bad ego
i think the thing u call good ego is confidence?(sometimes over confidence?)
well thats my perception of it anyway 😊
and that confidence is needed to overcome fears in life/being strong in an interview
basically showing a great personality 😊
on the other hand, if u watch shows like indian idol, even though its a singing competition, if ppl see u have an ego and keep saying that i have no competition, i am superiror and i will win hands down.,
u may be the best singer the industry has ever seen but will be voted out because of that ego/ahankaar 😉
i hate people who carry an ego, simply cannot stand them
and hopefully if God is with me and grants me success in my life then I pray I never have an ego 😊 it destroys many things in life-from family to friends to career and what not....

Nice points!

How can a good ego be confidence? Ego is not about confidence, confidence more about believing in oneself to perform any task. Also EGO IMO is not a bad thing to have, but when ego crosses limit of being self centered or being purely selfish, is not good.

Originally posted by: Morning_Dew

A healthy ego is not a bad thing to have infact it is required to interact with others succesfully . Over inflation of sense of self-worth in eyes of others is the point where a good quality turns against oneself .

To me self-esteem and ego are two different facets may be related but can be at different level independent to each other. Self esteem is mainly a sense of self-satisfaction , a good feeling towards one ownself ..while ego involves some kind of interaction .. the position of oneself in a society or in eyes of others... A person with low self esteem may try to increase the level of satisfaction by proving himself\herself on others that he \she is better and try to get appreciation externally.

a person with high-self esteem may not have any ego issues at all ..A sadhu or a geniun darwaish main be the example of such character.

Well Said and nicely intrepretted the post, Dewey!! 👏

Originally posted by: mermaid_QT

related topic-
URL Not Available

I have copy pasted my reply from there. so quoting myself here below Andrew Cohen's quotation. I think it tackles the 4 questions raised here.

" Spiritual freedom is freedom from the ego. Freedom from things we are afraid of. We are afraid of vulnerability, transparency, spontaneity, authenticity, integrity. The ego is a defense mechanism that holds us back from things that we don't want to face up to anytime soon. "
Ref. The ego and the authentic self
Andrew Cohen

I have always considered EGO as sometimes miscontrued and mostly INFLATED self-esteem. While self-esteem is a necessary virtue, insecurities allow it to quickly transcend into EGO. Hence, I agree with the anlysis of Andrew Cohen that it is a defense mechanism.
Ego becomes bigger than us because in an increasingly competetive world, (career / life in general) we/ celebrities are always afraid to let go, to accept, to be judged and to lose. Sadly, we are defending very many times.

Negative ego is not good.
ego generates from a hurt self esteem / insecure self esteem.
self esteem is essential.
Humility is one of the more under-rated virtues.

Oh, read that post and tried to bing in a new dimension including self esteem/self respect. Agreed on your personal views(bold out).with minor additions in blue😊

Originally posted by: Believe

All keep diff type of emotions,Ego is part of that emotions....If anyone feel or used to think selfish then the Ego start works......But I think some +ve Ego good for life.... 😊

How can EGO be a emotion? Can you express it, how? One can only react on EGO but can it be expressed? Like if one is happy/sad can express it but EGO, perhaps by actions ... non expressive though.

Right +ve Ego is good for life, agreed.

I am not sure.. egg whites are good but yolk has unnecessary fat i think....

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

I am not sure.. egg whites are good but yolk has unnecessary fat i think....

fantastic post! 👏👏