Ego is the Forbidden Fruit

From ego to divinity

- Devdutt Pattanaik

Adam and Eve ate the Fruit of and learnt how to Knowledge differentiate good from bad. They began 'judging' God's creation. They became conscious of their nakedness and covered themselves. They became mortals, destined to toil until the day they died. This story of the Original Sin has profoundly influenced Judeo-Christian traditions. Taken metaphorically, the ideas expressed are universal.

According to Indian philosophy, man's "Fall" from Divinity comes from Ego. Ego destroys our equanimity and makes us discriminate between what is right (that is beneficial to the Ego) and what is wrong (that is hurtful to the Ego). Ego makes us cover our true personalities (our nakedness) and hide behind make-up, fashion and snobbery. Ego makes us crave and hence suffer. Ego dooms us to the eternal fear of death. Ego is the Forbidden Fruit that has cast us out of Paradise.