grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
How Important Are You?
by James Clark Rosshttps://www.thehumanfront.com/embracing-your-ego-part-i/
"It’s easy to conflate ego with some kind of big-headed obnoxiousness. But it’s a very real notion which is applicable to all kinds of people. Take Piers Morgan and the 14th Dalai Lama, who both have big egos. I don’t expect Piers Morgan’s bloated ego to be contested by anyone reading this. But you may deny my claim that the Dalai Lama presupposes his own importance. Allow me to contest this.
With self-entitlement which is characteristic of egotism, one preaches to the public in a manner that suggests he believes his voice is vastly more important than anyone else’s despite a lack of credentials. The other, while in a position of great power, exudes humility and values virtue highly. But the difference between the two isn’t the presence and absence of ego: it’s how they choose to answer to it, for it is definitely there in both cases.
It’s a necessary truth that the Dalai Lama holds onto a high sense of self-importance: he sees himself fit to speak for an entire religion (a hugely popular one at that). Being in a position of great influence like this requires a staunch belief in oneself, much like Morgan’s—a belief that one’s words carry significant importance (unless the person completely unaware of the power they possess, which seems wildly unlikely for the Dalai Lama). Both Morgan and the Dalai Lama, then, must have big egos; they just express them differently."
