The ego likes suffering

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question (Q): Acharya Ji, Ramana Maharshi talks about ‘transcending and turning inwards.’ Who is transcending and who is turning inwards?

Acharya Prashant (AP): The ego, the I tendency. Whatever advice is given, is always given to the “I” tendency. Because at the center of everything lies this “I” tendency that takes itself as a sufferer, that takes itself as a loner. No advice is ever given to anybody else. The ‘Atman’ does not need any advice neither do the materialistic elements.

Does the wall need your advice? You keep on preaching to the wall, of what use it is? And you keep preaching to the heart, of what use it is? The heart will not listen to you, the wall cannot listen to you. So, all advice is useful only to the ego.

The ego transcends. What does the ego transcend? The ego transcends its own inherent belief in its incompleteness.

What is the defining statement of ego? I am suffering. There is no other statement that characterizes ego so sharply.

The one statement that ego has is, “I am suffering, I need something.” Of course, you can translate it in various ways.

You could say, “I am incomplete, I need something.” You could say, “I am lonely, I need…