Letting go of our ego is one of the most challenging and also one of the most important tasks facing human beings, says Sant Rajinder Singh
It is said that of all the blockages to the soul, the last to be removed is the ego. Ego is both blatant and subtle. It causes us to forget our true self and God. As it is said in the Hindu scriptures: Shun all pride and jealousy. Give up all idea of “me and mine”. As long as there is consciousness of diversity and not of unity in the Self, a man ignorantly thinks of himself as a separate being, as the “doer” of actions and the “experiencer” of effects. He remains subject to birth and death, knows happiness and misery, and is bound by his own deeds, good or bad. (Srimad Bhagavatam)
In the Buddhist tradition, it is said:
Travelling powerless, like a bucket travelling in a well
First with the thought “I,” misconceiving the self,
Then, arising attachment to things with the thought “mine.” (Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara)
Rooting out the ego takes understanding and a firm grip of the mind. We may suffer from the ego of wealth in which we are proud of how much money or expensive things we have. The ego may cause us to look down upon those who do not have as much as we have. Ego may even lead us to hurt the feelings of those who are not financially endowed.
We may have ego of knowledge in which we become proud of how much we know. We are full of vanity over the number of educational degrees we have. We may think we know more than anyone else at our job. We lack humility and think that we are the source of all knowledge and look down upon others who know less than we do. Little do we realise that the source of all wisdom is within everyone. When we think we are more intelligent and knowledgeable than others, we may hurt those who are simpler in their thinking or who lack the amount of training we have.
There is also the ego of beauty. We may think we are the most beautiful of creatures. We may flaunt our looks to such a degree that we make others who are not as beautiful feel inferior. We may use our looks to assume power over others or to entice others into doing what we want them to do. We may act and pose and try to charm others into giving us what we want. This type of ego leads to a form of deception and hypocrisy. Through our looks, we may give the appearance of being something we are not. This may cause harm to others, but most especially harm to ourselves.
We can become an egotist when we talk too much about ourselves or think too much of ourselves. If our attention is on our outer being, our personality, looks, mind, or possessions, then we are certainly not going to be focusing on our soul. The soul is the source of all beauty, wisdom, and wealth, but we remain bereft of these gifts as long as we are filled with thoughts of our body and mind. The outer gifts will leave us one day and we will go empty-handed from this world.
The Bible says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.
Outer beauty fades with age. If we do not have beauty of spirit, few will be attracted to our outer beauty as wrinkles appear on our face. Knowledge is also temporary for it changes every year. What we learned in elementary school may be obsolete today. The findings of scientists today will be outdated tomorrow. Knowledge is not a permanent foundation upon which to place our ego. Wealth can disappear with changes in the economy. Stocks and bonds may lose value, or a serious illness may drain our finances. There is no stability in wealth, which means that pride based on wealth stands on flimsy ground.
Our soul is free of ego. Thus, it is free from fear of the vicissitudes of life. Empowering our soul means we free ourselves from reliance on outer sources of pride to make us happy. Rather, we live in a state of eternal happiness with the state of our soul because it is one with the Lord.
Ego takes many forms. It is said that among the ascetics and monks, the last enemy they must conquer is ego. They may give up desire for material possessions, they may give up lust, anger, greed, and attachment. But if they pride themselves on giving up these things, they are still subtly caught in the net of ego. That is how ego imperceptibly rears its ugly head.
It is said by the mystics, “Where I am, God is not. Where God is, I am not.”
In the Sikh scriptures it is written:
Where ego exists, Thou are not experienced,
Where thou art, is not egoism.
You who are learned, expound in your mind
If God and the soul are one, there is no question of I and Thou. Both are Thou. When we eliminate ego — I-ness, as it is called — we are then one with God and there is no separation between the soul and God. Sant Kirpal Singh used to say that God plus mind is man (the term man in his day encompassed all human beings); man minus mind is God. It is the ego that creates the illusion that we are separate from God. It creates the blockage that keeps us from empowering our soul. We have forgotten that we are love, truth, peace, bliss, humility, purity, non-violence, and selflessness. We have forgotten God and have forgotten who we are as a soul. It is said in the Muslim scriptures, “Be not like those who forgot God, therefore He made them forget their own souls”. (Quran)
By following the teachings of the saints, mystics, and spiritual teachers, we will discover an instruction manual for removing the coverings that keep us from our soul and God.
The writer is a spiritual leade