MORE ON
ASMITA
AHAMKARA or egoism is the
self-arrogating principle in man. Patanjali Maharshi calls this by the name
'Asmita'. The same mind assumes the form of egoism when man self-arrogates
himself. Ahamkara manifests first and then comes 'Mamata'.
It is taught in all the
classes in yoga sutras and also in vedanta that “AVIDYA” or Spiritual ignorance
is the main breeding factor for all other 4 subsequent coloring/ ego- Asmita,
Raga, Dvesha and Abhinivesha.
It is correct, no doubt.
But imagine, even after Avidya, even after one gets this Asmita or “I” ness or “Mine”
ness, if one is blessed to immediately raise an alarm to himself and straight
away gets into contemplation that “oo., this “I” ness is taking me away from
God/ divinity that I am, which my master has told me. Let me work on this, let
me get into the depth of meditation”, then, believe me, there is a possibility
that he may not get to the other 3 ego at all.
Thus, with this knowledge, can we confirm that ASMITA is the
breeding factor at a grosser level than AVIDYA, to the other 3 ego?
We say, 'This body is
mine.' The vultures, jackals and fishes also say, 'this body is mine.' If you
peel off the layers of the onion one by one, the onion dwindles into an airy
nothing. So is the 'I'.
Just as the motion of the
train or the boat is apparently transferred to the trees, so also 'I' is
transferred, through the jugglery of Maya, to the body, mind, Prana, and
senses. When you say, 'I am stout, I am lean', the 'I' is transferred to the
body and you identify with the body; when you say, 'I am hungry, I am thirsty,'
the 'I' is transferred to the Prana, you identify yourself with the Prana; when
you say, 'I an angry, I am lustful', 'I' is transferred to the mind. If you
identify with the Supreme Self, all false identifications will vanish.
If you kill the commander
of an army, you can very easily subdue the soldiers. Even so, if you kill the
commander - egoism in the Adhyatmic (SPIRITUAL) battlefield, you can very
easily subdue the soldiers, viz., lust, anger, pride, jealousy, greed,
delusion, hypocrisy, who fight for their master - egoism.
Does our Sai not take a
handkerchief and explains the divine principle by explaining it to be a matter
joined by threads, then going to the origin of threads and thus, by enquiring
into the origin of each previous cause to the present effect, Sai so easily
explains that ultimately, only the ONE CAUSE WITHOUT ANY PRIOR CAUSE, THE UNMANIFEST GOD WHO IS THE CAUSE FOR THIS APPARENTLY
MANIFEST CREATION EXISTS?
An aspirant who treads
the path of devotion destroys his egoism through self-surrender or
Atma-Nivedana to the Lord.
A Karma Yogin destroys
his egoism through self-sacrifice.
A Jnana Yogin kills his
egoism through self-denial or self-abnegation, through Vichara and the practice
of Neti-Neti - I am not this body, I am not the mind, I am not Prana, I am not
the senses, and through identification with the Supreme Self by meditating on
the formula, 'I am all-pervading Self or Brahman. (Chidananda Roopam Shivoham Shivoham)
Hari Aum Tatsat
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