Eckhart tolle on Ego

We've all felt upset, angered or offended -- but what is really behind these negative emotions? Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth and The Power of Now, says this is the ego at work. To illustrate what the ego is, Tolle tells a story in the above preview clip from "Oprah and Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth."
"A high government official went to see a Zen master," Tolle says. "And he asks the Zen master, 'Can you explain to me what the self is?'"
Tolle says the Zen master responded, "'What a stupid question is that. Why do you ask me such stupid questions?'"
"Immediately, the government official says, 'How dare you talk to me like that. Don't you know who I am?"
"And the master said, 'That's the ego,'" Tolle says.
Boiling it down, Oprah asks, "So anytime you have hurt feelings, that is your ego?"
"Yes," Tolle says.

“The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, person and family history, belief systems, and often nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.”