Spirituality and Ego

Ramakrishna

Dear All,

" When a flower develops into a fruit, the petals drop off on its own"

" When one becomes spiritual, the ego vanishes gradually on its own".

A sincere spiritual seeker MUST introspect and re visit his entire spiritual journey and validate the above lines of this Master.

All spiritual activities, all sadhana, no matter what is the chosen path- Karma or Bhakti or Jnana, ARE meant to result only in one single thing- "THE BLOSSOMING OF FLOWER / FRUIT , I.E., THE EXPANSION OF LOVE WITHIN YOU AND WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND DELIBERATION, THIS EXPANSION AUTOMATICALLY RESULTING IN DROPPING OFF PETALS, I.E. LOVE THAT HAS EXPANDED, AUTOMATICALLY, DEFINITELY, OBVIOUSLY REMOVING THE LITTLE EGO IN YOU".

We have gone through the MBCA posts and are now well versed with the 5 kleshas- Ignorance, I/My ness, Attachment, Hatred and Fear of change.

Also, we have learnt that actions undertaken in the form of these 5 colorings result in storage of impressions of such actions in chitta. This impressions manifest as Vasanas and then the vasana directly pushes us to act with such impressions stored earlier.

Now, what MUST happen when we grow spiritually?

The 2 monsters- Ahamkara, Chitta MUST get  dissolved / diluted / erased / wiped away in the tsunami of Love that flows in our heart. 

Then only one thing that remains, which can be used to act through our mind / manas is Pure Intellect / Buddhi.

At this juncture, do we need to know more convincingly that our spiritual growth has resulted in REMOVAL / WIPING OUT / ANNIHILATION OF OUR EGO?

Alternatively and conclusively, let us be very clear about one fact at the end of this post.

"If, after years of spiritual practice/ rituals/sadhana, by what ever name we call, if we find within our heart, in silence, that our ego, namely- 5 kleshas- Ignorance, I/My ness, Attachment, Hatred and fear of change and the resultant impressions of actions with these colorings- Vasanas, have not reduced in all these years, then, we  have not taken up spiritual sadhana with conviction and with sincerity".

This fact is signed, sealed and closed.

We need to re visit all those things which we think form part of our spiritual sadhana and they all need to be thoroughly introspected, modified and taken up with a newer zeal, newer conviction with a prayer "Mujhe Shakti do mere Sai Shiva".

My dear ones, whether our ego has reduced or increased in all these years of our spiritual practice, only we would know and we will definitely know if we sit in front of the shrine of our Lord and think truthfully and ..... LET US DO IT THIS THURSDAY / SUNDAY, when we attend  Bhajan!

Love.

Creation of the Universe - Part 28

Dear All,

In the later posts, few important aspects of our life with respect to creation were learnt. 

1) Non-apprehension is not realization, to apprehend and still not mis-apprehend is real achievement.

A mirage example in desert was explained to drive home the above truth. Whether it is a saint or a normal folk, to each one’s eyes, mirage is bound to appear as mirage only.

A saint sees mirage but knows that it is unreal and hence never takes it to be water. An ignorant person may rush towards mirage thinking it to be water in the hot desert.

Similarly, a man of wisdom sees this creation but knows it to be unreal whereas a man of ignorance sees the world and believes all the objective pleasures in the world to be real.

Also, just saying that I don’t perceive world, by closing the eyes, is not liberation. 

We learnt the importance of mental nudity which Sage Sivananda often quotes. 

It is nakedness (emptiness / clear / without impressions / without attachment / hatred / fear inside) of the mind which is more important than physical restraints.

Seeing all, sensing all, hearing all and still convinced that all that are seen / felt / heard are unreal is real wisdom.

2)  You cognize all drawings in canvas only if you are away from the canvas. Upon merging in canvas, you can’t perceive other drawings.

A visual picture / scene was given to the readers to imagine that in the first scene, they are seated a little away from canvas / movie screen and are seeing all the objects on the canvas / all the characters on the movie screen.

In the second scene, they were asked to imagine of proceeding towards the screen and occupying their position on the screen itself. 

Similar comparison was then drawn to human life when we are away (within our heart / mind) from God. We perceive the world with all its fallacies / apparent beauty.

Once we go and merge with Lord, how can we then perceive the world? Like, if we ourselves are seated on the canvas, then how can we see ourselves or all other objects on the canvass?? 

3)  The  Grand truth that follows the above example.

The pure canvas = Supreme God beyond manifest (cosmic mind of Lord) and unmanifest (Lord who WILLED to create) = Paramatman.

We who are away from the Lord = Jivas affected by ignorance or avidya.

When we occupy the pure canvas, we occupy a portion of pure canvas. The portion occupied by us = Part of the Supreme God = Jivatman.

When we occupy the canvas, we cannot perceive ourselves. 

Similarly, when we attain realization, we lose cognizance of our body and mind and intellect and vasanas. It is as though we have gone and sat on the canvas and then we have erased our picture ourselves on the drawing.

Once we erase our image on the canvas, the hitherto portion of the canvas occupied by our image gets free and it is now the same pure canvas portion only.

Similarly, when we go beyond our ego, then the Divinity within us = Jivatman, is free and it merges and exits as the Supreme Divinity = Paramatman.

SO, DON’T BE AWAY FROM THE SCREEN AND PERCEIVE THE CREATION OF DRAWINGS / OBJECTS ON THE SCREEN, GO, MERGE AND LOSE YOUR IDENTITY. WHEN THE PERCEIVER IN YOU IS GONE, THEN THERE IS NO OBJECT TO BE PERCEIVED. 

DON’T BE AWAY FROM THE LORD AND KEEP PERCEIVING / IMAGINING ABOUT GOD!!

GO, MERGE WITH THE LORD AND LOSE YOUR EGO AND BE FREE FOREVER. ONCE THE DEVOTEE MERGES WITH GOD, THEN THERE IS NEITHER DEVOTEE NOR GOD, JUST LOVE EXISTS AND LOVE IS GOD, SAID OUR LORD OF LORDS!!!

Love.

Ramakrishna