Ego and humility

Monday, 11 June 2018

Ego and humility

 Spirituality | ET

By Parmarthi Raina

Ego gives us our identity: “I am an Indian. I am a businessman. I live in Delhi.” From ego stems pride and vanity: “I am learned in the shastras and so I am superior to others.” Such aperson is vain. A true spiritualist is humble.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said that a true spiritualist is as humble as a blade of grass—no matter how many people trample it, it remains unaffected. Cultivating humility is to see the Supreme residing in each and every living entity and to treat everyone equally.

Adi Shankara, the proponent of advait Vedanta, showed his greatness when he not only admitted his mistake in having chastised a sweeper but accepted him as his guru. One day, while making his way to the Sri Vishvanatha temple at Kashi, he saw a sweeper, broom under his arm, coming from the opposite direction along the same path. Succumbing to long-standing tradition, the Brahmin in Shankara spontaneously called out to the sweeper, “Move away. Move away.” The sweeper, however, stood his ground and gently asked Shankara, “Is there difference in the space in a golden pot and the space in a mud pot? Is there difference in the one Consciousness (God) that is in the hearts of each living entity?”

Shankara understood at once that the sweeper was reminding him that within the chaste Brahmin and the sweeper resides the same Brahmn and, therefore, Shankara was, in reality, the same as him, the difference being only in outer appearance.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Quote from the True Charm and Power of Vedanta

Who carries our karmas after death — atma, mind, chitta or buddhi? — Rajinder Singh, 78, Patiala

■ Chitragupta is said to be the accounts keeper of our karmas. The word ‘chitra’ means picture and ‘gupt’ means secretly. Hence, Chitragupta is like a hidden CCTV camera which keeps recording secretly all our good and bad deeds.

In reality, Chitragupta is not a person, but our own consciousness, which gathers impressions of all our samskaras. Not only bodily actions but even thoughts get stored in our consciousness.

Just as there is smoke in fire, every action has consequences, some of which we experience in this birth and some are carried forward to our next birth.

There are innumerable karmas,the consequences of which we never forbear and experience completely in just one birth. These get stored in our chitta, consciousness. Chitta is not a place in our body but it takes the form of impressions in our prana.

At the time of death, our prana gathers all the powers of the body, along with all the powers of the senses,mind,intellect and ego. The prana then exits the body of the deceased, and prepares for its onward journey into a new one. Since chitta stores impressions of all our actions, it takes these impressions along with it,when it departs from the body.

As long as the impressions of our samskaras are stored in our chitta, the birth-death cycle continues. But when the practitioner cleanses his mind and makes it shine with the pristine sparkle of a sphatika, crystal, he arrives at the state of mukti, liberation or freedom from the cycle of birth and death.

It’s our karmic impressions that are responsible for rebirth. So when these impressions cease to exist, there will be no births. This is the state of liberation.■

But, if He exists?

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7^th Heaven moment of the week In French open no 7 won runnerup,  in  football lagalxy no 9 scored two goals ,