The real individual has no ego, hence he need not depend on the society. The society gives you the ego, and if you want to be on an ego trip you have to depend on people; only they can nourish your ego. The individual knows his real self, hence he needs no ego.
But, the individual will not go to a psychoanalyst; there is no need for him. To be an individual is to be whole and healthy.
The problem arises…psychoanalysis has become very important and significant because we have taken away people’s individuality. We have given them phony egos which don’t satisfy. They are like unnourishing food – colorful, appealing, but not giving you any nourishment.
And the man who lives with the ego is always missing himself; he is always feeling empty, meaningless. He wants to fill his being with something; he may become obsessed with food just as a way to feel full; he can eat too much, he can become obsessed with food. Or he can become obsessed with money, with gold, with power. These are all ways to somehow feel significant. But nothing succeeds, everything fails. You can hope only while things are far away; when you achieve them, suddenly you see you have been chasing shadows.
You are not feeling empty because you don’t have much money. You are feeling empty because you have not yet encountered your real self, you have not come to your authentic individuality. Meditation is the way to individuality. It makes you a light unto yourself.
No, an individual is not a part; an individual is a universe in himself. But no society wants individuals, hence for centuries individuality has been destroyed and a plastic thing has replaced it. That plastic thing is called “personality.”
People are very much confused about personality and individuality. They think personality is individuality. It is not – in fact it is the barrier. You will never attain to individuality if you are not ready to drop your personality. Here the group therapies, meditations, work, this communion…all is devised in such a way that it destroys your personality, the plastic self, and throws you back to your real individuality.
Individuality is born with you, it is your being. Personality is a social phenomenon, it is given to you. When you are sitting in a cave in the Himalayas you don’t have any personality, but you have individuality. Personality can exist only in reference to others. The more people know you, the more personality you have – hence the desire to have name and fame. The more people respect you, the more you enjoy the personality; it becomes strengthened.