Self Dignity vs. the Ego

Picture "Buddha in my Heart" kindly provided by h.koppdelaney

What is the difference between acting with dignity and acting with Ego? There is a lot actually...No-one can run away from Ego, it is a natural faculty that we need to survive, otherwise we would give the shirts off our backs to anyone who needs it! It is a basic survival instinct, if we look at it that way, and let it do its job, we can tame it to be a healthy ego, one that will work for us.

The trouble is when we identify with the Ego as a sole reason for our existence, as a substitute for our soul, then it is shallow, self serving, all consuming and quite frankly inconsiderate and obnoxious. We have to treat the ego as a means to an end, it needs to fulfill its purpose, to help us preserve the necessities in life, so that we have time for contemplation, time for meditation , time for service. Only if our house is in order, we can help others do so, only when we have peace of mind, we can offer it to others, only if we guard ourselves with humility, can the leadership of the spirit shine through...

Dignity on the other hand is knowing that one deserves to stand equal to any other human being because of a fundamental right, because we recognize all things are fundamentally not different but one, just like rays from the same sun.  Dignity as defined in Wikipedia: "Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment".  One should have the dignity to be able stand up to anyone, be it your boss, be it the president, be it the queen and speak in confidence, heartfully of whatever matters purely because one understands this as a basic right, and that all are truly created equal.

It is a powerful thing to act with conviction when you are driven by self dignity and guarded by humility. Look at Gandhi, he had self dignity, he was able to throw out an entire British empire because they could not take that away from him. Gandhi also said that that "he is is own worst enemy", referring to his own ego.  Jim Collins author of "Good To Great" identifies the best leaders as level 5 leaders that built companies that persevered and outperformed all others, had an interest common attribute, humility forged with a passion for doing what was right for their people and organisation (dignity), putting this in front of their own selfish interests many times.  How rare is this? compare this with today's corporate greed and ridiculous payouts when people have no jobs!  Look at Steve Job (God bless him) with his trademark turtle neck t-shirt and jeans, look at the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with their simple robes, their message and beliefs is more important then themselves.

When you are driven by a positive value, then it is not called an action, its called a movement! Movement of the consciousness materialized on the earthly plane, full of fruitful intention...it is powerful stuff, it is Matrix material :)!

Humility, self dignity, service is the perfume that evolved souls adorn themselves with. Please ponder this deeply in your mind as you go about your day to day life.