Dear Friends,
Namaste!
Our ego – wrong notion of our “self” – is the root cause of all misery. Therefore, we must annihilate it in the fire of knowledge to get permanent happiness and achieve our ultimate aim in life.
Let’s start by getting some knowledge about our ego.
Different levels at which our ego exists:
We saw that Jeeva starts associating it”self” with what it is not. That’s how ego or ignorance is born. Jeeva has three faculties, viz., body, mind and intellect. It starts identifying itself with one or any combination of these. So when a person performs a lot of physical work, he or she says, “I am tired”. Actually, the body is tired but this is an indication that the person thinks (sub-consciously) that he or she is the body and hence the statement, “I am tired.” Sometimes, someone hears a bad news and exclaims, “I am unhappy.” Here the person is associating with the mind. Similarly, when you hear someone say, “I don’t know”, it is just that that person’s intellect does not have certain information!
Now, we can start identifying ego-laden statements – “I am handsome!”, “I am the cleverest person around!”, “No-one is as calm as I am!” and so on and so forth!
However, a statement does not have to be gross to be egoistic. Ego can/does exist at a very subtle level also.
The deadliest of all is the disease called ‘ego’
All noble things in life it makes the victim forgo
Therefore it is essential to examine it closely
So we can protect ourselves from its attack grisly
Notwithstanding all our caution as well as prayers
Ego shrouds our true identity in multiple layers
Ruthlessly striking us at levels gross and subtle
It effectively coerces us to our happiness throttle
When the ego assaults us at the level gross
Over achievements and assets it does make us gloss
In the process rendering us vulnerable against loss
To eliminate this gross ego we must our swords cross
And the subtle variety is far more dangerous
For, unlike gross, we find its possession glorious
Ever so often false identity it tends to breed
On race, nationality, religion, caste and creed
And then comes the level of ego most acute
That can be overcome by only the most astute
At this level we think that we are human beings
Different from each other and one of earthlings
On all fronts to defeat this most terrible foe
Apart from knowing ‘self’ we have no other go
This knowledge establishes that universal spirit is single
With our surroundings enabling us to seamlessly mingle
How our ‘ego’ evolves:
How does ego progress from one level to the other? At the most preliminary level, it associates itself with the most ‘gross’, the most tangible of all faculties, viz., our body. As Jeeva evolves, the ego goes to the next level – from gross to subtle. That’s when Jeeva starts to understand that he or she is not (merely) the body but the mind as well as the intellect.
The evolution continues and Jeeva starts identifying “self” with one of his kind. A human being for example. In this state, Jeeva feels that he or she is still separate from other (human) beings.
Gradually, this layer of ignorance also peels off, ego vanishes completely and what remains is the true identity – the universal soul – Brahman the energy - who orchestrated this whole drama in the first place. The character has completed the performance of its role and it’s time to go off-stage!
Why ‘gross’ precedes ‘subtle’ in evolution:
A master and a student were sitting below a tree and discussing evolution. The student asked, “Why does this journey have to be from gross to subtle?”
In response the master said, “Tell me what you can see around you.”
“Well,” the student mused, “I can see you, the tree, this river flowing by, the mountains, the big rocks around, the clouds in the sky...”
“What else can you see?”
“Umm, I can see the birds, flowers and fruits...”
“What else?”
The student screwed his eyes, “The bees on flowers, ants, little pebbles and dust on the ground...”
“What else is present here?” the master pressed on.
The student was thinking hard, “Air, sunlight...”
“So you see the big things first and then the smaller things!” exclaimed the master. “That’s how our attention behaves. Big things first. Small later. Evolution is nothing but how our attention evolves, progresses, purifies. From gross to subtle and beyond!”
Thus we have seen that “ego” is essentially the premise for each character in this drama to make its entry and exit. ‘Ego’ is what keeps the show going.
Let’s see in the next articles what else God does, besides design of ‘ego’, to keep this show going.
Alvida...
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