Vivekachudamani 343

आरूढशक्तेरहमो विनाशः 

कर्तुन्न शक्य सहसापि पण्डितैः । 

ये निर्विकल्पाख्यसमाधिनिश्चलाः 

तानन्तरानन्तभवा हि वासनाः ॥ ३४३ ॥

ārūḍhaśakterahamo vināśaḥ 

kartunna śakya sahasāpi paṇḍitaiḥ | 

ye nirvikalpākhyasamādhiniścalāḥ 

tānantarānantabhavā hi vāsanāḥ || 

(Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 343) 

Even the wise find it impossible to suddenly destroy the ego, once it has become strong, except by those who have become perfectly calm through non-dual absorption (nirvikalpa samadhi). Indeed desires* are the effects of innumerable births. 

*Desires (vasanas) here specifically refer to the residual, subtle impressions that are the effects of countless previous lives. 

False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is a spirit soul, that is the real ego. The ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature, it is said: ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am Brahman, I am spirit. This "I am," the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of "I am" is ego, but when the sense of "I am" is applied to this false body, it is a false ego. When the sense of self is applied to reality, that is real ego. There are some philosophers who say we should give up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego because ego means identity. We ought, of course, to give up the false identification with the body. 

One should try to understand the distress of accepting birth, death, old age, and disease. There are descriptions in various Vedic literature of birth. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the world of the unborn, the child's stay in the womb of the mother, it's suffering, etc., are all very graphically described. It should be thoroughly understood that birth is distressful. Because we forget how much distress we have suffered within the womb of the mother, we do not make any solution to the repetition of birth and death. Similarly, at the time of death, there are all kinds of sufferings, and they are also mentioned in the authoritative scriptures. These should be discussed. And as far as disease and old age are concerned, everyone gets practical experience. No one wants to be diseased, and no one wants to become old, but there is no avoiding these. Unless we have a pessimistic view of this material life, considering the distresses of birth, death, old age and disease, there is no impetus for our making advancement in spiritual life.