In order to lead meaningful lives, human beings must understand that they don’t know everything; they must trust God, writes SANT RAJINDER SINGH
Ego manifests itself in different forms. We usually refer to ego as pride. Pride means that we think we are responsible for our attainments. We attribute all that we are and all that we have done to our own individual efforts. We think we are superior to others in many ways. If we could have a bird’s eye view of creation, we would discover the fallacy of this way of thinking.
Our pride of knowledge has several harmful effects of which we need to be aware. We not only forget God when we think we are the doer and the creator, but we often times injure others. Pride of knowledge expresses itself as thinking we are better than others. Someone in the grip of this kind of pride will think himself or herself to be always right. We not only think we are right, but often tell others this as well. We think the other person is wrong, incompetent, or stupid. We think our way is the best. The effect of this kind of thinking can range from mere annoyances and petty disputes to wars. How many lives have been lost because one ruler thought his or her way was right and wanted to do away with anyone who thought otherwiseij How many wars were fought because the leader of one nation felt his or her ideology was better than that of other countriesij
Most of the arguments echoing throughout countless homes and offices are based on pride of knowledge. Boss and employees argue, co-workers argue, parents and children argue, husbands and wives argue. And the contents of most of these arguments are ego battles over who is right or whose way is better. It is because of this that the mind keeps the world embroiled in useless conflict. It is in this way that the soul is kept from knowing itself. If we think of how long each argument takes, we will find how much time in our life is wasted. An argument can take hours and days, and sometimes continues repeating itself over months and years. Thus, the precious time allotted to us in this life to find God passes away. How much better if we could utilise that time to know ourselves and know God! How much better would it be if we could spend that time meditating and enjoy the bliss of God’s love. Think about how much more useful would it be if we could spend that time doing something to help others.
Pride of knowledge also keeps countless souls from realising God. We are brought up by our parents to believe in one religion or the other. We never think that we could have just as easily been born into another religion and would have been brought up believing as strongly in some other teachings. Thus, people in each religion become dogmatic about what they were taught in their places of worship. Few people have the discrimination to realize that there could not be a God for each religion. There is one God. Few people take the time and effort to make a comparative study of religions. If they did, they would find out that there are certain truths common to all religions. But instead, each believes his or her religion is the only way.
In every age, enlightened souls come to show humanity that there is one God, and that we are all His children. They come to unite humanity in a common love and brotherhood. They point out that each religion is basically the same and that they are each teaching the same path to God. In each religion, the customs may differ, the language used for the same concepts may vary, but the same basic truths are expressed. When we are caught up in the pride of our own knowledge, we are not prepared to listen to anyone. Thus, instead of finding out the basic truths underlying each religion, we close our ears. When the founders each religion came, they are taught a method whereby each of us can realise God. With the passage of time, the esoteric or inner side of the religion was lost, and the exoteric or outside remained. We find ourselves practicing the customs and rites but never finding God. We pride ourselves on the fact that we know the scriptures of our own religion, that we go to the places of worship regularly, and that we observe the outer customs. We think that what we are doing is enough. But when we open our minds and hearts to learn the basics of our religion, to see what the founders actually taught, and to compare the essence of each religion, we will realise there is a practical way to find God.
Even when we go to an enlightened person who can show us the way to find God, pride of knowledge may also stand in the way of our progressing. Oftentimes, our pride prevents us from following the instructions accurately. We judge everything by the touchstone of our intellect. Instead of trying the experiment and accurately practicing the method taught, we alter everything according to what we like and dislike. We take only the portion of the teachings that fits our preconceived ideas. We may practice the teachings only partially and then get only partial results. If we really want to find God, we need to go to a teacher with the openness of mind as students in a college. How far would a college student progress if he or she joined a chemistry class and, instead of learning what the teacher had to say, argued with the teacher and refused to listen, thinking that he or she already knew everythingij We at least need to have some experimental faith to try the method. Then, having performed it accurately, the student is in a better position to make a judgement about the method. But when we do not know anything ourselves and we go to a teacher with pride of knowledge, we will not gain anything. We become like an inverted cup. How can any water be poured into a cup that is turned upside downij
We have seen how pride of knowledge can cause dissensions ranging in scope from petty arguments to warfare, how it can keep us so engaged in the world that we do not spend any time in developing our spiritual side, and how it can keep us from finding a method of realising God. If we are sincerely interested in returning to our Creator, then we need to be aware of this impediment on the way.