Shun the Ego
·
When we get
irritated or annoyed in the midst of work, for any reason, it is to be taken as
a caution that our personality has entered into it, and the ‘unselfishness’ of
the work has been adulterated with that undesirable and vitiating factor, the
ego. When the work is ‘not mine’, there is no reason for internal disturbance.
·
If the hydrogen and
oxygen that are in the entire atmosphere get mixed up in the proportion of H2o,
what will happen to us? And why should it not happen? Who controls the
atmosphere and prevents such a combination? What is this mystery and this
precariousness of life? Where then is the need for man to be proud of his
powers?
·
It is futile on the
part of a sadhaka to attempt at sense-control when he or
she is in the vicinity of objects of enjoyment. It is necessary that one should
be wary of this truth of sadhana, a truth which most people
do not recognise due to vanity and foolishness.
·
There are ups and
downs in spiritual life, even if one might have reached a high stage of
development. The prominent hurdles are lust and ego. There has not been one who
could overcome both these forces completely. Whatever caution we may exercise
in this regard, we will find, when the time comes, that it is insufficient.
·
“Man proposes; God
disposes,” says an old adage. It does not mean that God is perpetually opposing
whatever man does. What really happens is that when man exerts through his
egoism in a manner which violates the eternal law of God, he naturally feels
frustrated, being beaten back by the law of Truth.
·
It is difficult to
live in society with mental peace, because it is difficult to be charitable in
nature. Charity of things is of less consequence than possession of charitable
feelings, and resorting to charitable speech, charitable demeanour, and
charitable actions through a general charitable temperament. This is, in short,
what is called self-sacrifice, for it involves parting with some part of the
delights of the ego.
·
The notion of
oneself being identical with the body is the cause of egoism. It is this egoism
that entangles all judgments of value in the preconception that knowledge is
acquired through the senses and the mind or the intellect. This prejudice of
egoism is Samsara, the persistent idea that all knowledge is in terms of space,
time and externality.
·
What ‘happens’ is
done by God. What is ‘initiated’ is done by the jiva. We should
be able to distinguish between what happens without our interference and what
is done with it.
·
One’s life-span,
actions, wealth, education and death are all determined even while in the womb
of the mother. The Omniscience of God is proof enough of the predetermination
of everything. Human effort is a part of the way in which the universal plan
works. Any egoism of man is thus sheer vanity.
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