The Horse and The Ego

Sounds like a great name for a pub doesn't it?

I went horse riding today for the first time since we moved here. One of the reasons I wanted to move was to take the riding a bit more seriously but I found I never had time to go riding - today I forced myself out of the office for a half hour lesson. Anyway, I hated the lesson - the instructor was useless, we didn't hit it off, I got pissed off, she continued to be useless and I don't think I'll go to that riding school again.

Anyway, back to the title of the post. If you ever want to understand how the ego works then take up horse riding. Many people may be familiar with the term "jihad" but only in the sense of war or as "they" like to label it, "terrorism". This is jihad correct, but what many people don't realise is that the greatest jihad in Islam is against the self, i.e. the ego. The ego gets in the way of most things and until you learn to control its animal impulses you don't develop on a spiritual or wordly level. For example - the ego says I want that Lexus car worth so and so. If I have it I will be cool, a success, something to talk about. However, this is ego talking. If you thought outside of your ego you'd probably think, actually I just need to get from A to B so I'll buy a Fiesta and donate the rest of the money to a charity, to the poor, etc as that will give me more brownie points with Allah when judgement comes. In short, the ego puts the self above others. Islam teaches that others come first and foremost. So in order to be a good Muslim, it is necessary to fight your ego so that you control it and it does not control you.

What's this got to do with horses? Well ride one and you will see. A horse is a powerful animal - so is the ego. The horse is stubborn and lazy - so is the ego. The horse needs constant reminders in the form of nudges, kicks and an occasional smack with a whip - so does the ego. Like the ego a horse will just go off in any old direction if you are not in control. You need to be constantly aware, observant and in control otherwise the horse does it own thing. It perfectly sums up the experience of trying to bring you ego under control and reminds of that fact you need to be constant and harsh against it. As with the horse, if you bring it under control it can be an extremely powerful tool that can be used for good.