How does the ego affect self-esteem?

Q: How does the ego affect self-esteem?

A: Self-esteem is a word that is wrongly translated. I have read maybe twelve books written by psychologists and psychiatrists who talk about self-esteem. But what are they talking about? They are talking about the self-esteem of the ego.

Self-esteem is very difficult. You must have the Self to esteem it. You do not have Self. You are ego yet. You are the ego devastated in the hands of maya, glamors, illusions; devastated in the live events, relationships. You do not know what you are doing.

Actually, ego is very automatic, mechanical. Ego is always mechanical and automatic, and I do not respect a man who is automatic and mechanical. He does good things; he does bad things. He is mixed up. His judgment, his evaluations have no standards, and so on. How can you esteem that?

We forcefully make that criminal to esteem himself. What are we doing? Eventually he is esteeming his glamors, his dreams, his wishes, his goals, which are not standard, pure goals. In this way we lead him on a false path to esteem his ego instead of esteeming his Self.


-Torkom Saraydarian
Self-Actualization & Self-Mastery