What is Ego?

The lower self?  The animal side?  The qualities that cause disunity and dissension in the world like hate, envy, jealousy, deceit, rage, etc etc... It's the side of you that thinks only about itself and what things will benefit or relieve itself from immediate discomfort and what things will bring immediate personal pleasure.  Now I've gone through life thinking that I need to throw out my ego.  Trash it because most of the stuff I've mentioned above has no real use towards creating peace and harmony in this life... or so I thought.  A friend brought up an interesting point the other day.  On how the ego just aint all that bad.  It IS what I mentioned above but it's also something else.  My friend mentioned it could also be the desire to eat, to sleep, to find shelter, to survive, to protect oneself, to set boundaries... The ego is not be thrown away but rather balanced and controlled by our Higher Self.  It's funny how our understanding constantly evolves, and scary how easy it is to believe we know.  A few hours ago I knew the ego was bad, that some part of me was bad.  We're not bad though, we're perfectly designed to grow, to reflect on our actions, and to grow from them.  The ego can take control of our lives and that would be very bad, but it also can be our grindstone, sharpening our dullness to a fine edge, a beautiful edge.  I wonder what happens to the ego when we die?

People of Passion #2

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/is-organic-better-ask-a-fruit-fly/?smid=fb-share

If it works for fruit flies, it works for me =)

ego check 1, 2

Are all expectations useless?

Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten

This is certainly not the story you remember from the walt disney movie.  This is the original, written to awaken our compassion towards animals, written for a new race of men.  

"Do you see, Bambi," the old stag went on, "do you see how He's (the hunter) lying dead, like one of us? Listen, Bambi. He isn't all-powerful as they say. Everything that lives and grows doesn't come from Him. He isn't above us. He's just the same as we are. He has the same fears, the same needs, and suffers in the same way. He can be killed like us, and then He lies helpless on the ground like all the rest of us, as you see Him now."
    There was a silence. 

    "Do you understand me, Bambi?" asked the old stag. 

    "I think so," Bambi said in a whisper. 

    "Then speak," the old stag commanded.

Bambi was inspired, and said trembling, "There is Another who is over us all, over us and over Him."