The ego and the mind are not the same thing, though they are closely related.
The mind is a tool for interfacing between the linear physical domain and the non-linear
spiritual domain.   The mind is used for speaking, writing, calculating.
Even enlightened people "have" a mind and use it when they need to speak
to another person, for example.
The ego is a self-created impersonal process that uses the mind - is dependent
on the mind.   The creation of the ego is shaped by the soul's energy level,
karma, and possibly other things.   Because the mind can sense only extremely
small part of Existence, a small part of the physical world, impersonal assumptions
spontaneously arise, based on the soul's energy level, karma, and possibly other
things.   These assumptions are those of separatness, duality, causality, etc;
that is the ego that takes on life of its own, aided by the attention of the localized
spiritual will.   These egotistic, separatist, assumptions then use the mind
for their purpose.   For enlightenment, the ego needs to be surrendered/dissolved.
In this world the birth of the ego is inevitable; it's an inherent part of the incarnation
process.   How the ego manifests and develops depends on the spiritual maturity
of the incarnated spirit.   Even Jesus Christ and Buddha had to deal with "their"
egos.   They were able to surrender the ego processes to God, and their egos dissolved
in the process called enlightenment.
To recap:   the mind is a tool essential for physical communication.
The ego is a collection of assumptions, based in large part on the inputs from the mind,
and is not necessary for life, and actually is detrimental to healthy life.
As Dr. Hawkins said, the life goes on and survives not because of the ego,
but despite of it.   For spiritual evolvement the ego has to be dropped/surrendered to God.