Root out the Ego!

The toughest task of a spiritual aspirant is removal of body conscious or ego. As gravity affects all things in the world, attachment to the body is strong for all, since we consider the body as “I”. As per the scriptures, the identification of “I” with the body is false due to ignorance of the individual. When called by name, we quickly respond! If some one asks, “who is I here”, every one will be confused but the fact is every one is “I” since they always commence a conversation or by way of introduction, starts using this “I”. When everybody says “I” to represent them, can we say that all are ONE?

Though we all use this “I”, we inadvertently prove that all the “I” are really one! In Vedanta parlance, the “I” represents the Self within each. The fact is that the Self is common for all and each claims it as ‘myself and yourself’. As the sky is common to all, the Self which is the cause for all this is definitely common for all. Can we claim the sky as my sky or your sky? It is surely ridiculous.

However much we are deluded by the perception of the external world by way of vision, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting, the world is like a big film show projected on the pure white screen which is conscious. Our conscious acts as a big screen, for the pictures to fall. Bereft of the conscious, we won’t perceive the world! This is the Truth of the illusory world. We are deluded by the feelings associated with the mind. We think that our desires and hatred is real. We feel that lust, greed, jealousy and other things are real since we are agitated. These agitations are based on the false notion that one is the body/mind complex. If we are the owner of the body, then we should have an idea of the body and mind how it works etc. We eat when there is biting hunger. After eating, we are unaware how they are assimilated in the system. We have no control over our heart beat, functions of lungs and kidneys, circulation of blood etc. They are involuntary. We can move our limbs and respond to the stimuli from the brain/mind. Thus we eat, we extricate, we mate and we sleep. If you compare the life of an human being with that of other species in the world, the one main difference is ‘man has a thinking mind and he has a choice making ability. He can discriminate and choose or just follow the whims of the mind.

Secondly, we have no control over thoughts and feelings. We are infuriated quickly if we notice some wrongs by others, we are attracted by the opposite sex when we become youth. We work for the sake of fulfilling our desires. We earn to fill up our belly and to enjoy the comforts of life. We usually desire for more and we are not easily satisfied when one of our desires is fulfilled. One thing leads to other. We always compare the life styles of affluent people and we always want to enjoy those luxuries. Hence, everyone in the world is always moving, working and planning. Most of their aim is to create wealth. It is not a sin to earn but it is a sin to become greedy. We need sufficient money to cater for all our needs to live comfortably. We need not have more than that. People talk about savings for the future, home for living, car etc., I don’t say that we should not plan for the future. We have to make it secure for our children and family. But, there are many people who want to earn and save for their generation. Earn and keep your family secure and in comforts. But do not plan for grand children or great grand children. It is the responsibility of children to earn when they grow up and marry. We are not responsible for all. We need to plan and earn only for our immediate family. When the limit exceed, it comes into the border of greed. Greed is necessarily evil not only for oneself but for the society even. When you have extra fund, you can spend it for the sake of the poor and downtrodden. God has blessed us with money so that we take care of the poor in society!