“If you know ego, only then can you remove that ego.”
~ Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan
So let us first understand what exactly is ego….
What is ego?
In common parlance, when we see someone boasting about himself that, “I am great or I am the smartest man in the world”, we consider it as his ego.
However, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the Enlightened being, clarifies:
“To boast is called pride, which is an extension of ego; whereas to impose ‘I’ where ‘I’ does not belong, is actually ego (ahamkar). ‘I am John (please insert your name here)’ is called ego. Thereafter, to believe that, ‘I am a lawyer, I am a father, I am clever, etc. are also ego.
There is no harm in saying, “I am John” in your worldly interactions, but the belief of, “I am John” that is ingrained within you is the ego. Ego is when you do not know who you are and you identify yourself with that which you are not.”
Thus, Ego is a wrong belief that has emerged from the ignorance of the Self.
Pure Soul is the real Self. So, when one says ‘I am pure Soul’, the ‘I am’ is in its right place. Identifying ‘I’ with the real Self is not called ego. But not understanding ‘who am I?’, when the ‘I am’ gets falsely located at another place i.e. in ‘I am John’, that is when the ego (ahamkar) arises.
What is the characteristic of ego? No one has the power to do anything. Only when numerous circumstances come together can an event take place. However, it’s the inherent characteristic of the ego to claim that, ‘I did it.’ Things actually occur and materialize as per Nature’s law of cause and effect, and to claim in there that, ‘I thought, I earned money, I saved my patient, I woke up early’ is all ego!
What are the benefits of removing our ego?
1. Desires no more arise
Desires arise in the realm of ego. Ego is in a constant hunt for happiness. Hence, it keeps running helter-skelter in an attempt to find happiness in one object after another, and as a result continues to wander life after life, taking different kinds of experiences but not finding real happiness anywhere. This is the root cause of its suffering. When the ego is removed, the Self (Soul) manifests, which is an abode of infinite bliss!
2. Worries get eliminated
Due to ignorance, egoism is there, and that egoism is live egoism. So when one wants to do something, but is not able to finish it, he is neither getting success nor any solution for it, at that time, he starts worrying for his problem. Ego is worrying for his problem. So due to egoism, worry generates. When the ego is removed, all worry is gone. This is another biggest benefit of removing our ego.
3. Pain and suffering ends
All our worldly interactions are based on the foundation of our belief that ‘I am John, I did this’. As long as these beliefs exist, our ego exists; and therefore, respect tastes very sweet and insult tastes too bitter to us. Respect - insult, sweet – bitter, kindness - arrogance, joy - grief are dualities, due to which the vicious cycle of pleasure and pain never ends. Effect from causes and causes from effect, this is how the worldly life continues. When the ego is removed, the causes end; and eventually the effects of pain and suffering also come to an end.
4. No conflicts or clashes with anyone
One sees fault in others only until one’s own vision is faulty. When ego leaves, our vision becomes impartial and pure. With such flawless vision of the Self (Soul), we would not see faults in anyone nor blame someone for anything. And hence, we wouldn’t have conflicts or clashes with anyone regarding anything whatsoever in this world.
5. Fear of failure goes away
Fear is a product of our ego and not our real Self. Fear generally arises due to certain wrong beliefs that have taken hold over us since a very long time. It creates a psychological effect that makes us nervous and feel depressed. When the ego is removed, the psychological effects also begin to leave forever. Once you understand who am I, you gradually stop fearing all that is transitory and get established in the state of fearlessness.
When the benefits of removing our ego so many, must we not find a way such that new causes do not form and thus new effects too stop therefrom?
How do you get rid of ego?
When one attains the awareness of, 'I am pure Soul', the ego i.e. the wrong belief of 'I am John' is broken. Without this awareness, all efforts to remove the ego will only perpetuate it. Hence, this is the first and most important step for removing our ego.
In books, we find a lot of theories on how to go about removing our ego. However, practically only a Gnani, One who has become egoless, can elevate us to this state of awareness!
On the path of Akram Vignan, with the grace of Gnani, it is possible to attain Self-Realization in just two hours’ time, via a scientific process called Gnan-Vidhi. Thereafter, the awareness of, ‘I am a pure Soul, separate from John’ sets in. Also, Gnani brings us in the awareness of, ‘who is the Doer?’ When we understand who is the real doer, our egoism automatically leaves.
And then, as we remain in the satsang of Gnani and follow his instructions, it helps us get rid of our ego (the discharge ego) completely, such that we are able to conduct our remaining worldly activities in the awareness of the Self, with complete peace and harmony!
To know more, visit here... https://www.dadabhagwan.org/
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.