Our subject is once again Ego. A reader might ask, how is it connected to a man’s attempt to get to know himself and to walk the path of integration? And yet, it all starts with understanding what the word ‘Εgo’ means and how the concept of egotism follows.

Let’s start with its meaning and try to give an explanation by interpreting the letters that make it up. I will borrow the individual interpretations of each letter from the book of the thinker-scholar of the ancient Greek language, Elias Tsatsomiros. His book is called the History of the Birth of the Greek Language. I am trying to explain the word Ego as it appeared for the first time, at least in the Western Civilization, in the Greek language.

We are talking about three letters. Ε, G, and Omega (correct writing of O in the Greek language).

The letter ‘E’ denotes the arrival. That which is coming. Where does it come from? From the Omega, from the infinite and from the eternal space, from the beginning of all. The Omega, as opposed to the Ο, which denotes the finite, denotes the infinite. And how does this come from the eternal? The letter G gives us the answer. By the process of Genesis. So simple.

Ego means the coming of the eternal and of the infinite through the act of birth.

And one could, at this point, put a dot and a dash and say there is nothing more to add. But I will continue to move our thoughts forward and draw more conclusions.

So the man with his birth gains an ‘Ego’, and it is what characterizes him as existence.

Then came some scholars. I don’t know who and I don’t want to make any assumptions. They added in this so important word an ending (-ism), thus creating the word of egotism. But the principle of Ego differs from the property of Egotism.

The Ego characterizes, as I wrote, the existence. Egotism/Selfishness as a property characterizes the personality.

However, the characteristic of the properties is the measure. Cleobulus of Lindos, one of the seven wise men of ancient times, spoke of moderation. “Anything in moderation,” he said. 

Without Ego, there is no existence. The existence, however, is expressed as a personality that borrows various principles, transforms them to properties, and walks the path of integration. Man cannot help but have egotism. It will teach him to live, to survive. There is no such thing as zero Selfishness because that means denying the Ego. Don’t believe those who claim, that some monks or Eastern philosophers had no selfishness. They just had the right moderation in its expression.

Man has to put himself on the right step of estimation. Neither above nor below. Please spare me the lessons about humility. Humble is the one who does not advertise himself, not the one who does not know his value. We ought to listen to what others are saying and try to understand the intentions of those we acknowledge that are some steps above us. Their views, and not them, will be the hotspots from which we will derive the information we need to unravel the elements that make us up. They are the ones who will help us understand the concepts that concern us.

At that point, however, we must pay attention. We usually make mistakes by placing someone on the right step. Initially, we put ourselves two steps above our value. Those who are better from us, we place two steps below and those we consider inferior, many steps below. To avoid misunderstandings about the concept of ‘inferior’, there are no inferior or superior people. There are people who have used more or less the qualities that life has endowed them with.

The higher our guides are, the clearer are the concepts they emit. As I have already mentioned, all this is necessary to compose the measure by which we judge what is ours and what is not. That procedure must be executed without overestimating or underestimating ourselves.

Once we understand the Ego and its expression as a personality, we must begin the phase of distinguishing our and the foreign elements that comprise us.

Here we see the first inconsistency. Since we are all the same, why there are elements that are not ours? Shouldn’t we all have the same views?

Of course not. What we have in common is our personality traits, not their expressions. For example, the ability to live on the edge makes one an addicted card player and the other a sports champion. The way we use our personality traits is what will at the beginning determine our experiences, and from these, our expertise. Whether we like it, our experiences and expertise make up the environment in which we live and move.

These are the things we need to look at. Since that is difficult, we should begin by defining which expressions are ours and which belong to an imitation that we wrongfully believe helps us become better.

The first step is to clarify the expressions of our properties. Unless this phase is over, we cannot go further. The way we place people on the scale of existence has to do with the glasses we see ourselves. Let us cleanse them by realizing the function of the Self and the Selfishness that characterize us as people.

This is the way.