AHAMKARA
AHAMKARA or egoism is the self-arrogating principle in man.
There are three kinds of egoism in the three worlds.
The first is the supreme and undivided ego which is eternal
and which pervades through the world. It is the supreme soul (Paramatman),
besides which there is nothing in nature.
Meditating on Brahman, one Identifies himself with
Brahman. It is Sattvic Ahamkara. This is the second kind of
Ahamkara.
The two kinds of egoism are found in liberated sages. They lead
to the liberation of men. They will not cause bondage. Hence they are of
beneficial and superior nature.
The third kind of Ahamkara is the knowledge which identifies
the 'I' with the body composed of the hands, feet, etc., which takes the body
for the soul or the Self. This is the worst or basest form of egoism. This is
found in all worldly persons. This is the cause for the growth of the poisonous
tree of rebirths.
Those who possess this kind of egoism can never come to their
right senses. Countless persons have been deluded by this form of Ahamkara.
They have lost their intelligence, power of discrimination and power of
enquiry. This kind of egoism produces baneful results.
Witnessing ahamkara in action is to directly observe this function of mind
while you are performing an action. This means that in the midst of an action,
if you pay close attention, you can see what ahamkara is doing ‘live’ in this
moment. Ahamkara is the function of the mind that can label the sensory
expression with aversion or attraction.
Thus, during any sensory experience you can consider the
following: Do you enjoy it? Do you find it tasty or pleasant? Or do you find
yourself saying to a friend “I like this”? Or do you not enjoy it? Do you
dislike the taste? Or it is not pleasant and the sentence “I don’t like this”
arises? Not only has this sensory experience now been labeled by ahamkara with
like or not like, but it is also immediately a part of ‘me’, as it is the I who
likes or doesn’t like it.
Therefore if you can witness ahamkara ‘live’ in
action, you can discover that it both can label an incoming sensory experience,
as well that it expands the false identity called ‘me’.
Two
houses: Imagine two houses that are exactly the same, except for the paint and
the decorations.
· If we like the color of the paint on the
house and the nature of the decorations, we say the house is pretty.
· If we do not like the color of the paint
and the nature of the decorations, then we say the house is ugly.
Both
are the same: However, both houses are actually the same as one another,
underneath all of the surface appearances of paint and decorations.
· The paint and the decorations: In our common language and in
the field of modern psychology, the word Ego generally refers
to our personality structure. Thus, in our house metaphor, the Ego of
psychology refers to the paint and decorations, with less regard for the
existence of the house itself.
· The underlying house itself: In Yoga psychology, the word Ahamkara means
the I-maker and refers to the powerful wave of individuated
existence that declares "I am!" When the word Ahamkara is
translated into English, we use the word Ego. Thus, in our house
metaphor, the Ego of Yoga psychology, or Ahamkara,
refers to the house itself, not to the paint and decorations, which are
considered to be false identities.
Till now, when one speaks about EGO, what comes to our mind is just ahamkara, i.e., pride/ thinking high about one self.
For the first time, most of us are going to learn that EGO of AHAMKARA is just not thinking high of one self but EGO has 5 coloring or 5 dimensions.
Patanjali’s youga sutra elaborates Ahamkara and explains the
paint and the decorations as 5 kinds of coloring.
Verse 2.3 of the yoga sutra: “Avidya Asmita Raga Dvesha
Abhinivesha Pancha Klesha”
Translation: There
are five kinds of coloring (kleshas): 1) forgetting, or ignorance about the
true nature of things (avidya), 2) I-ness, individuality, or egoism (asmita),
3) attachment or addiction to mental impressions or objects (raga), 4) aversion
to thought patterns or objects (dvesha), and 5) love of these as being life
itself, as well as fear of their loss as being death.
1) Avidya = spiritual forgetting, ignorance,
veiling.
2) Asmita = associated with I-ness, follows immediately with avidya.
3) Raga = attraction or drawing to,
addiction
4) Dvesha = aversion or pushing away,
hatred
5) Abhinivesha = resistance to loss, fear of
death of identity, desire for continuity, clinging to the life.
Pancha
= five
Klesha
= colored, painful, afflicted, impure; the root klish means to
cause trouble; (klesha is the noun form of the adjective klishta)
In
the next few posts, we will learn in detail about these 5 colorings or Kleshas
which superimpose themselves over the pure AHAM of a jiva and prevent him from
having the vision of the divine SELF.
