Ways To Get Rid Of The Ego

 

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Ways To Get Rid Of Ego

With the passage of time, we manage to rid ourselves of almost all our faults while treading the spiritual path, but getting rid of the ever-changing ego is the most difficult task. It is the biggest stumbling block in our spiritual journey. This is because, in spiritual terms it is the ego which always keeps us from merging with God, experiencing the Divine within us. Swamiji says, “The ego keeps changing, and we keep thinking that we have become egoless without realising that the ego has taken on another form.”

The ego restricts us to the myopic vision of life – a life that is predominated by the five senses, mind and intellect. When we observe our practical life, we will notice that we have thoughts such as - my name, my body, my son, my mother, my wife, my looks, my car, my education, my achievements etc. It appears that these ‘my thoughts’ are the be-all and end-all of our existence. One does not even begin to think beyond this limited view of life. This thought process keeps us entrenched in our lower selves and for spiritual growth we have to transcend this lower view of our selves so that we can experience the Soul or the God principle that is within us all.

Ego stops us from experiencing the God Principle within us. While all personality defects arise out of one’s ego, the ego is more subtle in nature. Ego manifests in a myriad of ways. Commonly and not so commonly known manifestations of ego include – pride, superiority, inferiority, teaching attitude, I am right, speaking authoritatively, speaking loudly often, having expectations, seeking praise, doer-ship, thinking about one’s looks, selfishness, constantly talking about oneself and one’s family, my wish should be given priority, etc. This gives us an idea about the many facets of the ego of a person. Regardless of the path one follows, if one has a high ego, spiritual progress cannot take place.

There are ways to get of the ego, namely – selfless prayers rendered with humility and faith, thinking selflessly about others, doing physical chores which one may feel are demeaning to one’s stature in society (good example is kar seva at the Golden Temple), thinking about the vastness of the Universe and how small and insignificant one is in comparison, maintaining the perspective of spiritual emotion that whatever is happening is because of God’s will, offering gratitude to God and Guru.

All the above help one in getting rid of the ego. Once we feel we are rid of the ego, it becomes really critical to live our lives with complete awareness and sensitivity to all forms of life around us. We should then become the beacons of light that propagate our Guru’s mission.