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So, what exactly is this ego?

Ego is that state of awareness which thinks of you as separate from the other. Ego thinks in terms of guiltiness and shames and glories of the past, and it thinks in terms of fears and hopes about the future. It never thinks about what ‘is’, but always thinks about ‘what was’ and ‘what could be’. Ego thinks in terms of many as opposed to the One, the one pure intelligence.

What is pure intelligence?

It’s commonly called ‘common sense’, or the ‘presence of mind’. At any moment, when you do the most appropriate thing in the most appropriate way without any influence of the stored up memories of your past and without any regards to fears of failure or hopes of future rewards, you let the pure intelligence act through you. This pure intelligence may be called the Soul or super-ego or God or universal consciousness. The term ‘pure intelligence’ is used here in preference for others because ‘intelligence’ is one term you can easily identify with compared to the other terms.

So, how is the ego different from pure intelligence?

Ego is self identity. It’s labeling yourself, painting the ‘pure you’ with distinct qualities. And this ego labels others too. The ego cannot but think in terms of these qualities and it always defines yourself as somebody distinct from others. But these qualities and definitions are not fixed or constant. The paint wears off in time and as it wears off, the ego freshly paints the worn off patches of with new qualities and new definitions, and gives an illusion of continuity. This illusion of continuity of qualities strengthen self identity. Now, completely strip off these qualities and definitions, and you will find that the ‘pure you’ and the ‘pure other’ are one and the same, there has always been only one existence, call it the One, or the Soul, or God. The consciousness of this God is pure intelligence itself.

The foremost quality of ego is self preservation. It always tries to impose it’s definition of yourself onto others around you and into your own future. That’s where the problem comes and conflict comes. You define yourself as somebody now, and you want to preserve this definition of yourself into the future until you get a better definition. You are afraid that if you lose this definition of yourself, you will fall. You will become lesser. This fear is the hallmark of the ego. So, when you actually get to the future, your ‘new’ ego tries to define itself anew and comes into conflict with your older definition of yourself that tries to preserve itself. Similarly, when you try to impose your definition to others, the ‘other’ ego resists it and there comes a conflict. So you see, there is a conflict both in terms time and space. Remove this illusion of time and space and there is no more conflict. But pure intelligence doesn’t need any preservation, because it knows itself to be only existence.

So, how do I identify whether I’m acting egoistic or with God consciousness?

This ‘attempt’ to identify is itself ego. Don’t ‘try’ to identify, but just be. Pure intelligence doesn’t ‘try’ or ‘attempt’, it just IS.

Pure intelligence works in harmony. In reality, there is is only one, the pure existence, consciousness, bliss absolute. It’s not ‘my’ existence or ‘my’ consciousness or ‘your’ consciousness, but it’s THE consciousness, THE existence and bliss. It’s not that I am intelligent or I was intelligent or you are intelligent, but it’s THE pure intelligence. This intelligence acts harmoniously. That is, the intelligence acts through you now in a certain way and it may act through you in a different way in some point of time in the future, but there is no conflict between both the ways. There is harmony. So, when pure intelligence acts through you now and does something, it’s helpful for you in the future, and you’ll never regret. Similarly, the intelligence may work differently through you and somebody else (a different point in space), but there is no conflict between both of you. There is only harmony. All of us complement and complete each other and don’t conflict each other when there is only intelligence and not egos acting.

But the ego is always intent on conflict. The ego says “I’m right and he is wrong”, or, ” I was wrong”, or “I made a mistake”, or “I’m afraid that I will fail”, or “I should be like this in the future”. Note that pure intelligence at times uses idea of future as a guidance for present action, as in reserving a ticket now for your future travel. But, pure intelligence is all about the present. Ego, on the other hand, lives in the past or in the future. When you imagine unreal things, like a future dialogue between you and somebody else, know that it’s the ego. You may imagine your future now, but you can never live your future, sure it may become real when it happens eventually, but it’s unreal as of now, it’s just imagination. When you feel guilty about your past mistake, or relive your past glory, know that it’s the ego.

Pure intelligence is about reality. Ego is about imagination. Note that pure intelligence visualises, but never imagines. Visualisation is creativity, imagination is speculation. Through visualisation, you create your own world for yourself. Through imagination, you lose yourselves in the mires of time.

Ego always needs and craves for something. But pure intelligence is rich by itself and doesn’t need anything from outside, because, it knows that there is no outside.

Pure intelligence fulfills. Ego imitates. When you are in the state of ego, you try to imitate your own past success or you imitate somebody else. Pure intelligence is ever original, ever creative.

Ego always looks up to others for help. It looks for an authority, It wants a rulebook so that it can imitate. Pure intelligence is intelligence itself, so it doesn’t need somebody external to lay down rules for itself. But beware, pure intelligence doesn’t even lay down it’s own rules for itself. When you say you are sufficient by yourself and you will never accept others opinions, it’s still your ego. Pure intelligence, though it doesn’t need external rules, does appreciate the wisdom behind rules laid down by wise men, which is nothing but an expression of the same pure intelligence, though at different time through a different person. Pure intelligence is always intent on finding harmony.

But acting without rules doesn’t mean chaos. Pure intelligence not needing rules don’t mean it acts haphazardly, but it helps you do take the most appropriate action now in the most appropriate way.

This pure intelligence is God, it’s You, it’s Now. It’s the only reality. All else is stored up memory and imagination. All else is unreal.

(This is an account of some of the questions that arose in my mind and the answers that popped up in my awareness.)

Other posts that may interest you:

• Performing action without attachment to reaction
• Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight
• What is happiness?

Few days ago, I stumbled upon this very unique and interesting video. This is a talk by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor on her ‘Nirvana’ experience. In the morning of December 10 1996, Dr. Taylor had a brain stroke, a blood vessel in the left half of her brain exploded, and that’s when she experienced a great shift in awareness, she found Nirvana!

The way Dr. Taylor explains her experience is very similar to the way yogis and spiritualists explain their ‘enlightenment’ experience. Dr. Taylor says that we all can have such experience when we can switch off our ‘I and mine’ness, the sense of individuality, the thing more popularly called as ‘ego’. In almost all spiritual traditions, we are advised to renounce our selfish ego (or at least have conscious control over our ego) in order for our awareness to shift higher into more spiritual realms.

But it’s very unique to have a ‘brain scientist’ explain her ‘enlightenment’ experience. We know that there are two halves of the brain, left and the right. From what Dr. Taylor says, the left part of the brain is that which gives us the sense of individuality. The left part of the brain thinks sequentially, it’s the logical part of the brain, it’s that part of the brain which stores and analyses your past experiences and plans for the future. While the right side of the brain is what connects us to the universal consciousness, it’s the intuitive part of the brain, it’s all about the (present) moment, it’s all about Love, Peace and Joy. Dr. Taylor explains in the video how the dominant part of our brain controls our awareness.

Dr. Taylor says that we can willfully switch our awareness back and forth between the universal and individual consciousness when we can have control over the ego. She says that any of us can do this, and when when everyone living in the world can have this conscious control over themeselves, she pictures a “world filled with beautiful, peaceful, compassionate, loving people who knew that they could come to this space at any time.” A beautiful vision indeed!

Watch the video.

Visit Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s website

“As many faiths, so many paths.” It can be said that this one little sentence reflects the whole life and message of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Today, 9th March 2008, is the birth anniversary of Ramakrishna (according to Bengali calendar), a perfect day to ponder over the message of Ramakrishna. Here are some quotes from Sri Ramakrishna.

I had to practise each religion for a time — Hinduism, Islām, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Śāktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedāntists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.

Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it ‘jal’. From another ghat the Mussalmāns take water in leather bags and call it ‘pāni’. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it ‘water’. Suppose someone says that the thing is not ‘jal’ but ‘pāni’, or that it is not ‘pāni’ but ‘water’, or that it is not ‘water’ but ‘jal’, It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.

… Continue reading ‘It’s Ramakrishna Jayanti today.’ »

Great people are those who make the most out of any opportunity that comes up in life. Even greater are are those who transform seemingly harsh circumstances of their life into life’s greatest success. What do you think would be the best thing for you to do if you are to be shut up in a prison for 56 years? Willie B. Blackmon is, in fact, serving a 56 year term in a prison in Missourie, USA. And he is making use of his time as a prisoner in the best possible way, to practice spirituality, to find God, to realise that God is Love. But it’s not as simple as it sounds, read from Willie’s own words how life in prison has helped him grow spiritually and how spirituality has transformed him into a better human being. I am not aware of the kind of crime that got him into prison in the first place or the kind of life he is now living in prison, but from his article I see that he is a much better person than most living outside. They say “Salt of the earth”… Willie B. Blackmon is definitely one such salt of the earth.

Here is the link to the article: “The Blessings of Prison” by Willie B. Blackmon.

See also: Crime and punishment

“What is happiness?” When M. Sivaprakasam Pillai put this question to Ramana Maharshi, he came up with the following answer.

Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.

More such questions and wonderful answers in the book Who am I?. Great reading if you have an inclination for Self-enquiry and the path of Jnana.