Sorrow:
certitude of self centeredness
Ego-centeredness is the root of all evils.
Ego-sense alone gives rise to the sense of mineness as well as to attachment
and aversion. When the feeling of ‘I’ is present, the sense of ‘mine’ is also
there is ‘mine’, it naturally follows that what is ‘mine’ should not only
remain intact but should also flourish and grow. And a man naturally feels attracted
towards that which is his and is repelled by that which does not belong to him.
Nay, our likes and dislikes alone are the main factors giving rise to lust,
anger, greed and infatuation.
If there is no sense of
identification with the body and the name by which one is called, why should
one feel happy or miserable over the survival or death of the body or over
one’s being extolled or maligned? It is the name alone which is extolled or
maligned. When a man looks upon praise as his gain and censure as his loss and
feels happy or miserable over them, it should be taken for granted that he is
dominated by the ego-sense and is not in touch with his real self.
It is due to this
ego-centeredness that even the so-called wise—those who expound the true nature
of the Self through their speech—lapse into ignorance and begin to wrangle with
one another to exalt their own doctrine. It is through ignorance born of this
ego-sense that they seek adoration for their physical body and the exaltation
of their name. There can be no such hankering in the spirit that people should
keep its photo or statue and offer homage and worship to it or that its name
should be immortalized in history. Such ignorance is brought into play only
through the ego-sense. Even wise men feel inclined to write or make others
write their biography in terms of praise. Even wise men receive addresses
dwelling on their excellences and lavishing praise on them. Even wise men
propagate their ideas in the name of public good and even wise men long to make
money and earn reputation and bodily comfort through it under cover of
beneficence. This no index of real wisdom. This is only a picture of perverted
intellect clouded with Tamas. He who is endowed with such an intellect is not
wise in the real sense of the term. This is really ignorance pure and simple
form the point of view of Self-Realization. All this is an inevitable
consequence of self-centredness.
Until this self-centredness
is curbed there can be no renunciation nor will it be possible to attain peace
or to root out ignorance. The following are the three principal ways if
eradicating the ego-sense:-
(1) Pondering on the same nature
of the self as well as of the world one should obtain insight into one’s own
wretched state, powerlessness and helplessness and acknowledge them and, taking
refuge in the omnipotent, all-powerful, all-knowing and unaccountably
kind-hearted Lord, get united with Him once for all. Genuine humility on one’s
part is the only remedy capable of eradicating the ego-sense, and it is through
this humility that one is enabled to throw himself at the mercy of the Lord.
(2) Withdrawing one’s
identification with the body and the name by which it is called, one should
fasten it upon the all-perceiving Self. A man should feel that he is neither
the body nor the name by which he is called, that he is the unconcerned Self
that ever witnesses all the activities of the body and all other objective
existences during the waking and dream states as well as in deep slumber, that
the gains and losses of the body and its appellation are not his gains and
losses; that the all-witnessing Self is a mere concept and that in reality
there is nothing else than one divine entity.
(3) It is God Himself who stands
manifested for the sake of His sport and by His own will in the form of the
cosmos and all sport and by His own will in the form of the cosmos and all
cosmic activities. He alone is eternally sporting by Himself and within
Himself. Creation and destruction, genesis and dissolution—all constitute the
sport of that all-sportful Lord. There are only two entities here—the
all-sportful Lord himself is manifest as the Divine Play. You are a plaything
brought into existence by alone. In reality He alone exists.
Effort should be made to
eradicate the ego-sense by adopting any one of these three methods. The
ego-sense alone is bondage and Mukti consists in eradicating it.
- Self Centeredness
- Sorrow certitude of self centeredness