Ego is the biggest obstruction in spiritual path!

The big culprit in human affairs is his big ‘ego’. If we are aware of greatness of the all-pervading Self, we won’t bother about the little ego which is founded on body consciousness or body attachment! The ego manifests all times embarrassing our good self. Once the ego leads our affairs, we start feeling extremely guilty. Hence everyone must subdue their ego and become penitent and surrender everything at the altar of the Self. The ego always raise its ugly head and start prattling as “I, I” many times during the day. A small story was told by Saibaba long ago, ‘how the ego claims good things while distancing it from all wrong deeds. Whenever we criticize others, instantly they tell an excuse for doing some wrong. This is the act of ego. When someone abuses us on the face, we retaliate instantly. Instead if we keep quiet without any inner repulsion, then we are heading on spiritual path.

Once a hermit was tending a beautiful garden from which he plucked many colorful flowers for worship of Lord. God wanted to test him. Hence he came into the garden in the guise of a wanderer and praised the beauty of the garden and extolled the owner for his careful tending of the green garden with nice flowers. The hermit heard this and came in front of the wanderer and said, I have ploughed the garden, sprayed the seeds, watered and manured it with care. Because of my labor, to day you are witnessing the blooming flowers. The wanderer left the place and in the afternoon, a cow stealthily entered the garden and ate many plants. The hermit took a stick and beaten the cow to death1 Soon the owner of the cow was searching for his animal and on the way he heard someone talking about a dead cow in a garden near. The owner rushed there and picked up quarrel with the hermit. The hermit said, your cow has eaten most of my plants nurtured for years. In a fit of anger I threw a stick and the stick dealt a minor one but I don’t know how your cow is killed with a minor blow? It may be the destiny of the cow! The owner said, you could have driven the dumb animal out. Moreover you have not closed the gate properly. The hermit replied it is only the hand which has beaten the cow and the deity of the hand is Lord Indra. Hence if at all you find fault, it is Lord Indra who is responsible! Instantly Lord Indra manifested before the hermit and said, you are a fake hermit. When I came here as a wanderer and praised you, you accepted the same without any murmur. Now you claim that you are not responsible for the death of the cow! To prove your hypocrisy, I came here earlier and praised you and I have seen your double talk. The hermit was ashamed and begged pardon at the feet of Indra!

This is how ego acts on any individual. From time immemorial, sages’ saints and prophets warned ordinary householder about the pitfalls of following ego route. Hence, they advise the common man to detach himself from worldly relations and things. Not everyone is capable of relinquishing the monster ego! It is not possible for everyone to renounce the family ties and head for the forests for penance. The easy remedy is ‘living with the family but not to get involved too much”. Slowly one can withdraw their mind from sensual entanglements and paltry pleasures. One can practice ‘ceiling on desires as advocated by Saibaba to his devotees. It is simple. One need not starve but use the excess to cater to the needs of poor in society! First fulfill the genuine needs of the family and make them comfortable. Then engage in service activities to the society’s deprived one! In fact, service to the poor is service to god!

The ego is self-seeking and it won’t care for the needs of others. The ego is the main reason for people claiming, ‘my house, my family, my property and my money”. But the householder can practice small amounts of sacrifice by tending the elders in the family, taking care of their small needs etc. The world has become problematic to lead a peaceful life anywhere. Whether one is rich or poor, all have their own problems. If the poor clamor for a piece of bread and basic clothing, the rich strives to earn and hoard more and more. In fact, the rich people are confronted with many problems. Thieves and relatives hound the rich. Next the Income tax people try to harass the rich in many ways. The business partners always haunt the rich trying to loot the shares. It is the common scene that the rich have many enemies both in society and within close relatives! Hence life is never pleasant for any be him rich or poor!

But highly evolved sages, saints and prophets are fully egoless and hence they love all equally. Ego less people really remain in peace and their presence will promote peace and harmony! We have to ponder whether the ego helps us in any manner. In fact, ego is the greatest obstruction for the journey towards god. Hence remain as a silent witness to all that happens around remembering god. If we practice the witness state, the ego will subside on its own!