Ego and harmony

"When ego is out of the way, it is very easy to create an atmosphere of harmony"

Whenever we hear the word "ego", our mind starts working on all possible explanations and knowledge associated with the word ego. It's like as if we search a term on Google and it returns all possible relevant options we may be interested in. Now since most of us, either through upbringing or through our own life experiences have associated ego with a negative feeling which is a pre-cursor for unwanted emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred, self obsession and so on. However, is that really the case? Etymologically all it means is a sense of being. Simply put, identity. What we think "i-ness" really means. When we refer to ourself, we are thinking of ourself as the body, the mind, the emotions, the knowledge we have, our achievements, our understanding of life, our associations with our loved ones/family, our position in the society we live in, our identity in terms of the name given to us and so forth. But that which knows something cannot be the thing it knows. If I can sense an object with my six senses, then I cannot be that object. Subject cannot be the object. That which perceives cannot be what is being perceived! Therefore, obviously that which perceives has to be beyond both perception and the object being perceived. Who is it then who actually perceives? If I say, I see my hand, that doesn't mean I am that hand. It is an instrument which I use. The only value my hand has is of utility. If I perceive my body, then I am not the body, I perceive it as a subject from a third person point of view.

Considering this, we can quite simply break this whole dilemma in three things - the one who perceives (subject), the actual process of perception and what is being perceived (the object). That being perceived on a primary level is the body. That which performs the process of perception is our mind. Then who is the one who perceives, the subject, who is beyond the duality of subject and object? That's for each of us to find. This may just be all there is to be realized.

When one knows this, there will certainly be harmony. Life shall be blissful. Unfortunately though, its easier said than done. It doesn't take much to know, but it takes everything to realize and experience what we may know.