False self, true self. A person's true self
False ego
There are 2 main manifestations of selfishness:
- A. live for yourself
B. live for those who are connected with me
Selfishness means that a person values himself more than others. This is the feeling of "I". If he appropriates everything, that is, he connects everything to himself, this means living for himself. We often consider our city better than another. This is also egoism, which means “mine”: my country, my city, my family, my friends. We value and respect all this more than: a foreign country, a foreign city, a strange family, foreign friends.
A person’s selfishness affects his vital energy, feelings, mind and spreads very deeply, right down to the mind. Therefore, it is very, very difficult to understand selfish tendencies in yourself. Only a truly humble person can do this.
Reluctance to work selflessly is a sign of the penetration of selfishness into life energy. A strong desire for acquisitions is a sign of the penetration of egoism into feelings. The constant desire to justify oneself and one’s views on life is a sign of the penetration of egoism into the mind. Pride in one's knowledge is a sign of the penetration of egoism into the mind.
True Self
According to the Vedas, the true Self means living for others, doing everything without possessive motives, that is, not wanting anything for yourself, serving the people around you and God. This is the true Self. It manifests itself only in a state when we have developed good qualities character who are able to defeat selfishness in all areas of our lives. The Vedas say that having conquered egoism in ourselves and become humble servants of God and His laws, in this case we are in pure consciousness. By the way, without developing Love for God, this state cannot be achieved. In other words, the true Self, when a person becomes selfless and spontaneously wants to do something useful, he naturally lives for the benefit of everyone according to divine laws. Only if he does this, then he has the right to consider himself a worthy person and his true self from such an understanding of things becomes completely satisfied. Now this is rare. Mostly everyone is just (unreasonably) happy with themselves, which is the most characteristic feature the influence of false egoism on the mind.
How to recognize the activity of false egoism in yourself?
We very often emphasize what is connected with us. What is connected to me personally, I emphasize more than if it concerned someone else. Often this happens subconsciously. If, for example, someone complains about their problems, we often do not care as much about this as about our own. I always say something very important to myself, but when others say similar things I don’t always want to listen - this is how false egoism works.
It should be noted that the strength of pain perception depends on the strength of false egoism. The more selfish a person is, the more painfully he reacts to everything. If, for example, a person is very offended, he feels pain, he cries, he hurts in his mind - it means that the energy of the false ego is affecting the mind at this time.
Let's say 2 children are playing with cars. One plays with his own, and the other with someone else’s. If a child breaks someone else's car, he is not tied to it with his egoism and therefore is not very upset. If he breaks his own, or someone breaks his typewriter, then the child begins to cry. This means that the false ego is also of a subtle nature, it comes into contact with the toy, suddenly after it breaks, pain arises in the mind, and therefore the child cries in pain.
All types of pain that exist in this world arise as a result of the fact that some action occurs that the false ego does not like. Let’s say if someone pinches us, pain will appear. This pain arises from the fact that the false ego (permeating the body) arouses in it a reaction to foreign interference. Anything that prevents the body from enjoying causes pain in it. In the same way, depending on what type of our consciousness the false ego comes into contact with, this type of pain arises. Therefore, pain can be classified according to the structure of our body:
- 1.
Bodily pain.
2. Pranic pain.
3. Sensual pain.
4. Mental pain.
5. Pain in the mind.
1. Bodily pain.
It always occurs when the body stops enjoying. Let's say some microbe invades our body and begins to use it as an object of its pleasure. As a result, our senses of cognition (in this case, tactile sensitivity) are activated to alert the mind to what has happened. This is how our body turns on a mechanism that attracts consciousness to protect the body from the microbe. All this is accompanied by unpleasant sensations that are associated with the bodily activities of the false ego.
Painful sensations, when they arise, immediately spread to prana, feelings, mind, and sometimes to the mind. Therefore, in a selfish person, a small insect bite can cause hysterics. When a person reaches high degree renunciation and completely conquers one’s selfishness, then in this case the body’s defense mechanisms against germs and other damage continue to work, but pain as such does not occur. Therefore, a holy person calmly perceives both heat and cold, thirst and hunger.
Sometimes consciousness cannot fully contact the body, for example, nerve tissue is damaged (the sense of touch does not function), then pain is not felt in the body. In this case, we receive into our consciousness the pain of the damaged body through the perception of the stimulus by other senses of cognition. For example, if such a person accidentally gets burned, he will not immediately react to the burn, but will feel pain only after he sees the damage. However, the feeling of pain in this case will no longer arise in the body, but in prana, feelings and mind.
It helps to reduce bodily egoism: dousing, one-day fasting, as well as exercises such as vibration massage. As a result, you can help yourself cope with diseases that arise as a result of excessive bodily egoism. Here is a short list of these diseases:
— excessive reaction to an irritant (microbes, chemicals) resulting in a violent, uncontrolled inflammatory process;
- allergic reactions of all types;
— autoimmune processes in the body (when altered immunity destroys its own tissues and organs);
- increased excitability of the skin, intestines, stomach, liver, etc.
2. Pranic pain.
Not everyone immediately understands what pain in prana is. If we are forced to do something not of our own free will, then certain psychic sensations such as weakness, fatigue, soreness. This is pain in prana or a person’s egoistic reaction to the use of his prana. In all cases, when a selfish person is not allowed to enjoy his own vital energy independently, then immediately some changes appear in the movement of vital energy in his body.
Sometimes, if someone suddenly asks you to do it, with high selfishness in prana, a person immediately feels bouts of nausea, headaches, weakness, and loss of appetite. In special cases with such a request, a person may even faint. On the other hand, he can happily do something for himself in a cheerful state of mind. Excessive selfishness of human prana activity leads to the following diseases:
- decreased performance;
- dizziness, weakness, nausea;
- headache;
— pressure drops;
- fainting.
To reduce pranic egoism, it is good to practice Hatha Yoga, dousing, group hikes, and socially useful selfless work.
3. Sensual pain.
I think there is no point in commenting heavily on this type of pain; it is understandable to everyone. If something we love is taken away from us, then resentment, despair, anger, irritability, and anxiety arise. It is especially dangerous if selfish feelings excited by someone else's success cause envy. The main cause of excessive pain in the senses is greed, which makes sensory pain almost unbearable.
Sometimes sensory pain is so strong that a person can die from a broken heart. Selfishness that overwhelms feelings can activate feelings to such an extent that hysterics and stressful conditions arise. Uncontrolled feelings can easily lead a person to illness or prison. Sensual pain causes many different diseases such as:
- neuroses;
- hysteria;
- neurasthenia;
- hormonal disorders.
To treat diseases associated with increased sensory egoism, you need to: make donations, make gifts, ask for forgiveness from everyone you have disturbed and also forgive everyone who has disturbed you.
4. Mental pain.
With excessive mental egoism, a person experiences a constant desire to discuss the shortcomings of other people. Pain in the mind is also expressed in despair, negativism towards other people and, as a result, the following arise: isolation, suspiciousness, embitterment. Pain in the mind forces us to build various hypotheses about what bad people we are surrounded. Regular gossiping is an activity aimed at satisfying mental egoism. As a result of the strong influence of egoism, the following appear on the mind: inertia of thinking (severe difficulties in understanding another person), a decrease in memory for good things and an increase in memory for bad things. The consequence of such processes in the mind is a decrease in mental activity, which in turn leads to numerous chronic diseases, as well as to:
- dementia;
- memory loss;
- obsessive ideas;
- schizophrenia;
- psychopathy.
To reduce mental egoism and get rid of the diseases that it causes, it is recommended to: cultivate communication on spiritual topics, try to look for good character traits in the people around you and be condescending towards their shortcomings. To work with a selfish mind, it is good to practice repeating “I wish everyone happiness!”, or “I wish you happiness!”, if this applies to a specific person. It is good if a person so inclined begins to study the law of karma and it is even better for him to begin to engage in spiritual practice.
Pain in the mind
A mind filled with selfishness cannot tolerate a single word that contradicts the views of a selfish person. A wise person also has his own unshakable point of view. However, he does not experience discomfort, much less suffering, when listening to someone else's opinion. His only desire is to better understand his opponent’s concept and, having understood it well, humbly and compassionately try to explain his point of view on this matter. Thus, humble sages have no disputes. They talk with deep respect for each other. If a person is not ready to change his ideas about life, then a wise man won't bother him.
People whose minds are saturated with selfishness behave completely differently. They listen to other people's opinions with great suffering and try to prove their own with irritability in their voices. Therefore, in the Vedas, the discussions of wise men are called a gathering of swans, and the disputes of fools are called a gathering of crows. When crows gather together, if something is wrong, a loud noise arises. Thus, by the ability to listen to other people's opinions without irritation, we can determine how humble, unselfish mind we have. An overly selfish mind is a very big danger. As a result of such mental tendencies, the following diseases arise:
- alcoholism;
- drug addiction;
- sexual perversions;
- insanity.
The worst thing is if a person, as a result of a very selfish mind, at some point in his life began to consider himself God or a mission.
The mind is treated by those activities that strengthen it (keeping a daily routine, communicating with holy people, studying spiritual literature under their guidance, regularly repeating prayers and the Holy Names of God).
False ego is our only enemy in this world. It gives us all the bad character traits, it leads us to illness and degradation. Therefore, with the help of cultivating the true Self, a person can find himself and be happy, healthy and successful!
Monday, 13 Aug. 2012In order to be able to live for oneself, the most subtle material element exists in the material world; it cannot be finer than it. This material element is called the false ego, or the sense of oneself as an individual who wants to live for himself. False ego permeates the mind, intellect, and feelings of a person. All spiritual attributes, all attributes of the soul, except the soul itself, all its activities are permeated by this element, this subtle material structure.
False ego
False ego (AHANKARA) is a substance (not physical) that envelops our “true Self” - the soul, so that we can perceive the material world and act in it.
You can give the following example: you sleep and see a dream in which you associate yourself with another person, perhaps even of the opposite sex, or maybe biological species- a bird for example. The events of the dream captivate you, you rejoice or suffer, experiencing the plot of the dream and completely identifying yourself with the hero. Until the moment of awakening, you and the hero are one whole.
You consider yourself to be him, and you believe in everything that happens in a dream as if it were objective reality. But awakening puts everything in its place, you are you again, and not the hero of the dream. The hero of the dream was simply a personality superimposed on top of you with his own memories and experiences.
Attention question! And what woke up is really you? Have you finally woken up or have you again been given a false understanding of yourself?
“Deceived by the false ego, the conditioned soul considers himself to be performing actions that are actually performed by the three modes of material nature.”
/BG 3.27 /
True peace is achieved only by those who have completely eliminated the desire for sensual pleasures, are free from desires, do not consider themselves the owner of anything, and have gotten rid of the false ego.
/BG 2.71 /
A living entity under the influence of false ego identifies himself with the body and the material world and thus becomes trapped by maya, but as soon as he realizes his qualitative spiritual identity with the Supreme Lord and understands that he is an eternal servant of the Supreme, he will achieve atma-darsanam and hrdaya granthi-bhedanam - stages of self-realization.
/SB 3.26.2 /
When the soul comes under the spell of material nature and the false ego, it identifies itself with the body, gives itself entirely to material activities and, under the influence of the false ego, begins to believe that all the fruits of its labor belong to it.
/SB 3.27.2 /
Under the influence of false ego Living being Until the end of his days, he retains the desire to enjoy the material world, and when he is deprived of this opportunity, he is overcome by melancholy.
/SB 4.28.17 /
“Pride born of education, pride born of wealth, pride born of austerity comes from the false ego, which is the source of everything inauspicious.
/Chaitanya-Bhagavata, 6.168-170/
Similarly, when a person identifies himself with the changing material world, his true spiritual effulgence is hidden behind the clouds of illusion, and changes in his material activities appear to him as shifts in different spheres of life. This is the result of the influence of the false ego, which forms the boundary between spiritual and material existence, just as a moving cloud forms the boundary between moonlight and darkness.
/ Source of Eternal Delight, Chapter 20, Description of Autumn /
In Madhurya Kadambini, Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur lists the five kleshas and examines the anatomy of the causes that give rise to our suffering, the anatomy of karma. He begins his explanation by saying that the root of all suffering is ignorance, the cause of which is the lack of desire to serve Krishna and, accordingly, the thirst for material pleasures. So that the living entity can identify himself with matter, Krishna gave him false ego, because the spirit cannot enjoy matter. By identifying itself with the false ego, the soul projects its consciousness onto matter. After receiving a material body, she immediately develops attachment to it and desires that she can realize.
/Nectar of Devotion, chapter DEVOTIONAL SERVICE/
Avidya, man's misunderstanding of his spiritual nature, forms the basis of ahankara, the false ego in his heart. Real illness is rooted in the heart. However, if a person’s mind, his consciousness is pure, he is not afraid of material illness. To clear the mind of all kinds of delusions, one must chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. It is as easy as it is beneficial. Chanting the holy name of the Lord instantly extinguishes the raging fire of material existence.
/Nectar of instructions/
The word ahankara itself means: I do this, I do that. When we think this way, we begin to imagine ourselves as great.
/ONE MORE CHANCE, Blinded by Lust/
Lord Ananta controls the material mode of ignorance and also the false ego of all conditioned souls. When a conditioned living entity thinks, “I am an enjoyer, this world exists only for my pleasure,” Sankarsana instills this idea in him. Thus the fallen, conditioned soul thinks of himself as the Supreme Lord.
/SB 5.25.1 /
Living beings are slaves of material nature, but each of them smugly imagines himself as its master, or husband.
/SB 6.5.15 /
Hiranyakasipu was angry with Lord Vishnu until his death. Others, holding the bodily concept of life, become angry only due to false ego and the strong influence of ignorance.
/SB 8.19.13 /
I am the king of the demigods, who are always in goodness, and yet I have become proud of my paltry wealth and become defiled by false ego.
/SB 6.7.12 /
O my Lord, just like the sun, You dispel the darkness of conditional life that has engulfed the living entities. The eye of their wisdom is closed, and therefore they eternally sleep in the darkness of ignorance, deprived of shelter under the shadow of Your lotus feet. Ignorant and deluded, they are mired in illusory material activities and their consequences, and therefore appear so exhausted.
/SB 3.29.5 /
The main function of the false ego is to establish godlessness. The activities of a person who has forgotten that by nature he is an eternally subordinate part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and tries to achieve happiness independently of the Lord, develops mainly in two directions. At first he tries to achieve success in fruitive activities in the hope of gaining personal well-being or sense pleasures, but after spending a lot of time on these activities and despairing of finding happiness, a person begins to philosophize and comes to the conclusion that he is equal to God.
This false idea of the oneness of the living being with God is the last trap of illusory energy, and the living being caught in it, under the hypnosis of the false ego, becomes entangled in the net of oblivion.
The best way to free yourself from the shackles of false ego is to overcome the tendency to speculate about the Absolute and Truth. It is necessary to understand that with the help of philosophical reflections, a far from perfect egoist will never be able to comprehend the Absolute Truth.
The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can only be understood by one who listens with humility and love to the narrations about Him from a knowledgeable person who is a representative of the twelve great authorities, the list of which is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only such a person can overcome the illusory energy of the Lord; no one else, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, can overcome it.
/SB 3.5.31 /
Then, having separated, the material ego of the universal form arose, into which Rudra, the lord of the false ego, entered along with the capacity for activity. Thus, living beings acquired the ability to act purposefully.
PURPORT False ego, which causes the living entity to identify with matter, is under the control of the demigod Rudra, who is an incarnation of Lord Siva. Rudra is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord, who is responsible for the mode of ignorance in the material world. The activities of the false ego are aimed at satisfying the needs of the body and mind. Most people who are guided in their lives by the false ego are subordinate to Lord Shiva. When a person's ignorance takes more subtle forms, he begins to think of himself as the Supreme Lord. This belief of the conditioned soul, also dictated by the false ego, is the last trap that the illusory energy, which holds the entire material world in its power, sets for it.
/SB 3.6.25 /
False ego, which causes the living entity to identify itself with its body and consider itself the owner of everything related to the body, is called maya. When a living entity forgets that he is an eternal servant of the Lord and, instead of serving Him, wants to enjoy by satisfying own feelings, it becomes captive of Maya. The Lord mercifully allows us to enjoy the material world, but sooner or later we become disillusioned and become disgusted with sense gratification. If such a disappointed person falls down at the lotus feet of the Supreme and surrenders himself to His will, the Lord mercifully liberates him from material bondage. Therefore in Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, “First surrender to Me, and then I will take care of you, freeing you from all the reactions of your sinful activities.” In the material world, even so-called pious activities are also sinful because people engage in them for sense gratification. (donations with the expectation of receiving more in the future).
/SB 3.25.10 /
This false ego manifests itself as the doer, the instrument of activity and its result. In this case, the false ego can be peaceful, active or passive, depending on which of the gunas - goodness, passion or ignorance - exerts its influence on it.
PURPORT Ahankara, or false ego, is transformed into the demigods who control the activities of the material universe.
As an instrument, the false ego manifests itself in the form of various senses and sense organs; The demigods and the senses combine with each other to produce material objects.
/SB 3.26.26 /
From the darkness of the false ego arises the first of the five elements, heaven. Its subtle form is sound, which is connected with it in the same way as the object of observation is with the observer.
PURPORT The five elements—sky, air, fire, water and earth—are nothing but various manifestations of the darkness of false ego. This means that the false ego in the mahat-tattva (total material energy) is a creation of the marginal energy of the Lord, and this false egoistic desire to dominate the material creation, in turn, gives rise to the material elements necessary for the illusory enjoyment of the living entity.
/SB 2.5.25 /
Any universe is covered with seven sheaths consisting of earth, water, fire, air, ether, total energy and false ego.
/SB 6.16.37 /
The mind, along with all material desires, must be immersed in the moon god. The mind and everything it deals with should be placed in Lord Brahma. The false ego, which is under the influence of the modes of material nature and makes us think, “I am the body and everything associated with this body belongs to me,” should be absorbed along with material activities in Rudra, the deity who controls the false ego. Material consciousness along with the subject of meditation should be merged into the individual soul, and the demigods, who act under the influence of the modes of nature, should be merged along with the contaminated living entity into the Supreme Being. The earth should be immersed in water, the water in Sun shine, sunshine - into the air, air - into the ether, ether - into the false ego ( materialistic ideas about life), the false ego into the total material energy, the total material energy into unmanifested matter [pradhana], and finally matter in its unmanifested state should be absorbed into the Supersoul.
/ShB 7.12.29-30 /
The gross body consists of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the subtle body includes the mind, intelligence and false ego. But the living entity is transcendental to these eight elements of the lower energy of God described in the Bhagavad-gita.
/Teachings of Queen Kunti/
The Bhagavad-gita explains that the five elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether - constitute the gross material energy of the Absolute Truth and that in addition to this there are three subtle energies: mind, intelligence and false ego, or false identification with matter. Thus, the material world consists of eight lower energies. It is further stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the lower energy, maya, is so powerful that the living entity (jiva-bhuta), although not a part of it, under its influence forgets his actual position and identifies himself with this lower energy. Krishna clearly says that in addition to the material energy, there is a higher energy - jiva-bhutas, living entities. In contact with material energy, this supreme energy sets in motion the entire manifested material world.
/ CC Adi 7.118 /
Matter and spirit are connected to each other by the knot of false ego. Identification of oneself with matter, which is called hrdaya-granthi, is inherent in all conditioned souls, and the more a living entity is attracted to sex life, the tighter the knot in his heart becomes.
/SB 3.24.4 /
“By nature you are a pure living soul,” the Lord told Sanatana. “This material body cannot be identified with your true essence; neither your mind, nor your intelligence, nor your false ego is your true self. In essence, you are an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord Krsna. Your real position is transcendental. The higher energy of Krishna is spiritual in nature, and the lower, subordinate energy is material. Because you are between the spiritual and material energy, you occupy a borderline position. Belonging to the marginal potency of Krishna, you are at the same time one with Krishna and different from Him. Because you are spiritual, you are no different from Krsna, but because you are just a tiny fragment of Krsna, you are different from Him.”
/TEACHINGS OF SRI CHAITANYA, Instructions to Sanatana Goswami/
“My dear King, man’s false ego is so strong that it makes him drag out material existence as if he were tied to it with a strong rope. Only devotees engaged in activities in Krishna consciousness can easily cut this tight knot. This is not possible for those who are trying to become great mystics, nor for those who want to achieve success through the performance of rituals. Therefore, everyone should engage in Krsna conscious activities to get rid of the tight knot of false ego and stop material activities.”
/SB 4.22.39 /
Under the influence of false ego, a living being, firstly, identifies himself with the material body (ahanta) and, secondly, begins to consider himself the owner of everything connected with the body (mamata).
/SB 4.26.1-3 /
Professor Durkheim: You talked about the false ego. Didn’t you want to emphasize by this that the true ego is the soul?”
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, it is pure ego. For example, I have the body of a seventy-eight-year old Indian, and I have this false ego that is thinking, “I am an Indian,” “I am this body.” It's a delusion. Someday this temporary body will disappear and I will get another temporary body. It's just an illusion. The reality is that the soul, according to its desires and actions, migrates from one body to another.
/Back To Godhed, Body Change/
Srila Prabhupada. Matter is a combination of the five gross elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether - and the three subtle ones: mind, intellect and false ego.
Karandhara. According to Vedic science, material energy begins with the false ego, which is then transformed into intellect, then into mind, and then into the gross elements: ether, air, fire, and so on. It turns out that all matter consists of the same primary elements. Right?
Srila Prabhupada. Yes.
/Life comes from life, the Universe in the atom/
It is emphasized here that the mind must be trained to act in such a way that it can lift the conditioned soul out of the quagmire of ignorance. In the material world the living entity is under the control of his own mind and senses. In fact, the pure soul remains in this world only because his mind is under the influence of the false ego, which strives to dominate material nature.
/BG 6.5 /
17. Those (persons) who have no desire for personal gratification, whose minds are always attached to Me, who are peaceful, without false ego and merciful to all living beings, and whose consciousness is never affected by opportunistic occasions for sense gratification, - such persons enjoy in Me a happiness that cannot be known or achieved by those who are deprived of such renunciation of the material world.
/SB 11.14.17 /
Although it is not easy for conditioned souls to understand Me, you have succeeded in understanding Me today because you have realized that there is not a single grain of matter in Me, particularly the five gross and three subtle elements.
/SB 3.9.36 /
“To practice yoga, one must have unwavering determination and faith. Having got rid of material desires in all their manifestations generated by the false ego, he should gain complete control over the activities of the senses, bringing them under the control of the mind.”
/BG 6.24 /
The conditioned soul is as if shackled in iron shackles. She is shackled by the false ego, and the main force directing her actions in the material world is the mind. When the mind is in the mode of goodness, the actions of a living being are beneficial for him, the mind in the mode of passion causes him to act, causing anxiety, and the mind in the mode of ignorance leads to degradation in lower forms life.
/BG 15.7 /
Freedom. If we have a spiritual body that is not covered by a material body. We have a spiritual body in this material body, it is very small, this is our true face. But now I am covered by two material bodies. The first is the subtle body, and the second is the gross body. The subtle body is made of mind, intelligence and ego, false ego. And the gross body consists of earth, water, fire, air and ether mixed together. We have two types of body. We are changing these bodies.
/Speech read by His Divine Grace A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, August 31, 1972, in New Vrindavan/
O Keshava! O Lord, who has assumed the wonderful form of a dwarf brahmana! O Jagadisa! O Hara, who destroys the false ego of His devotees! Glory to You! Measuring three steps of the earth, You deceive Bali Maharaja with Your gigantic steps, and with the waters of the Ganges flowing from Your lotus feet, You purify all the inhabitants of this world.
/SHRI DASA-AVATARA-STOTRA, Sri Jayadeva Goswami/
A devotee who has achieved perfection through regular devotional service is described in the Third Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (15.25): a person freed from the false ego generated by material existence, a perfected mystic, is qualified to enter the kingdom of God called Vaikuntha.
/Nectar of Devotion, 8/
We also belong to the Samkhya school to some extent because we analyze the material elements: this is earth, this is water, this is fire, this is air, this is ether. You can also add your mind, intellect and ego to this list. But I can no longer count beyond my ego. However, Krishna says that there is something beyond the ego, namely life force
/Life comes from life, 4th morning walk/
Because the Supreme Lord controls the ten organs of the body, the five elements of gross matter, the five sense objects, the mind, intelligence, false ego and soul, He is called panca-vimsa, "the twenty-fifth element."
/SB 7.8.52 /
Following this, Mahat-tattva, as the source of all future beings, begins to split into many various forms. Mahat-tattva is dominated by the mode of ignorance and gives rise to false ego. She is the full expansion of the Personality of Godhead and is perfectly aware of the principles of creation and the timing of its ripening.
/SB 3.5.28 /
11. From the stimulation of the primordial gunas in the unmanifested material nature, mahat-tattva arises. From the mahat-tattva emanates the elementary false ego, which is divided into three aspects. This threefold false ego further manifests itself as subtle forms of perception, as feelings and as gross sense objects. The emergence of all this is called creation.
/SB 12.7.11 /
The element of ether will take away the quality of touch from the air, and the air will enter the ether.
Then, O King, the false ego in the mode of ignorance will master the sound, the quality of the ether, after which the ether itself will merge into the false ego. The false ego in the mode of passion will take away the faculties of the senses, and the false ego in the mode of goodness will consume the protectors of the body parts. Then the total mahat-tattva will absorb the false ego along with its various functions, and this mahat will merge with goodness, passion and ignorance.
/ShB 12.4.15-19 /
In the first of the nine stages of creation, the mahat-tattva is created - the totality of all material elements, in which, due to the presence of the Supreme Lord, the interaction of the modes of material nature occurs. In the second stage, the false ego arises and material elements, material knowledge and material activities are formed in it.
/SB 3.10.15 /
Set in motion by the destinies of the jivas, the mahat-tattva, in which rajas predominates, gave birth to the false ego, which exists in three forms. From the ego, in turn, arose several groups consisting of the five elements.
/SB 3.20.13 /
Bali Maharaja, along with all the priests, acaryas and other people, looked at the universal body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which was filled with six opulences. It contained everything in the universe, including all the elements, senses, sense objects, mind, intellect and false ego, all the diversity of living beings and different types interaction of the three gunas of material nature.
/SB 8.20.22 /
Bhagavad Gita says: aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah- space is a manifestation of the energy of the Supreme Lord. The material components of the universe (earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego) belong to His lower energy, and living beings - to the highest. The energy of the Lord is non-different from Himself, and therefore everything that exists is Krishna in His impersonal aspect.
/CHH Adi 1.53 /
The objects of material enjoyment [sound, form, taste, touch and smell], the activities of the sense organs, those who control these activities [demigods], the material body, eternal time and the ego are all products of Your material energy. Those who, having achieved perfection in the practice of mystical yoga, have strengthened their minds, understand this. They also see that You are behind all this in Your transcendental form as the Supersoul. Therefore, we offer our humble obeisances to You again and again.
/SB 5.18.37 /
The material body, immersed in the cycle of material activities, is like a wheel on the chariot of the mind. The ten senses [five for action and five for acquiring knowledge], as well as the five air currents in the body, form the fifteen spokes of this wheel. The three modes of nature [goodness, passion and ignorance] are the hub, and the eight primary elements of creation [earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego] form the rim of this wheel. External or material energy, like electricity, sets it in motion. So the wheel of a material body quickly rotates around an axis - its main support. Its axis is the Lord Himself - the Supreme Soul and Absolute Truth. We bow before this Lord in reverence.
/SB 8.5.28 /
A true blessing for a person is the knowledge that someday his life will definitely end. This is true. This is where peace lies. You know that you will definitely graduate from school. When we come into physical life, we are haunted by the thought: “Will I live enough? Will I die without completing everything?” The fear of death becomes all-consuming.
On my side it's the other way around. The fear of entering into embodiment is what fills us. As soon as we get to Earth, we completely lose our memory. We completely forget that we have a plan and we are carrying out our Mission for God.
During this period, the theme that you brought with you is very important, as well as the companion, life partner that you chose. The people around you are important. They all complement your instinctive and creative ability to complete your studies and get through this life.
Especially try to get rid of your main enemy. I'm talking about the false ego. It is not the true 'I am'. This is the part of you that clings to the physical vehicle death grip. The ego wants, needs and demands. This is the spoiled and depraved child inside you who constantly begs, whines and cries. Instead of coddling the false ego, kill it and throw it away!* Then the inner light will shine and illuminate everything around.
* Compare: “If a person has not gotten rid of the ego, he will not be able to achieve liberation. And therefore he will return again and again to this world (due to rebirth), where suffering and grief reign” (Buddha).
The false ego, which must be killed without fail, is not the true self. It's like an infection that comes with earthly life. The infection is attitudes like: “I must live; I must have... Why don’t I have what I want?” This infantile, lifeless, alien infection forces and pushes you all the time. "Am I valued and loved enough? Does everyone care about me enough?" She constantly has to be fed, and thus the tiny microbe turns into a mighty dragon that turns everything black. He is insatiable.
Say, "I will silence this nagging voice. Out of the silence will come the true me." The soul is unable to see or feel this infection that comes with life. Our coming to this planet is like some type of mutation.
Say to yourself every day: “I am the totality of the Divine Father, the Divine Mother and the perfection of my soul.” Then the full beauty of your soul will begin to appear and you will no longer be concerned about how warm you are, how well-to-do, well-educated you are, or how much more you need for complete happiness.
Many people feel a burning need to have a life partner. This is their “cry from the soul.” But they do not understand that a life partner can be a person of the same gender as themselves, or a child. The warmth of spiritual friendship surpasses any physical relationship.
You believe that the partner must be a person of the opposite sex, or at least some other body. In fact, the ideal partner is your own “other side”*. This is the truest form of spiritual friendship.
* That is, your spiritual soul mate.
Look: most men work hard to feed their families, while women make Herculean efforts to take care of all their loved ones. They really don't have time to listen to the inner voice of the ego. They are too busy with daily work, love and worries; their attention is directed to what is outside of them. They silence the voice of the ego and gradually kill it.
You are often advised to "take care of your inner child." But at some point you have to realize that these tactics are blocking your spiritual growth. Let go of the ego. This is one of the obstacles that you have brought with you. When you remove the false ego that seems to grow from your roots, the greatest healing in the world occurs.
We have seen this in all the great leaders of this world. Very rarely did they turn their gaze inward. Their focus is outward to help others rather than just taking care of themselves.
Every day that goes by without helping at least one person in something small or big doesn't leave a mark in your diary. Of course, in this life you have a tendency to do as much as possible. We are able to go years without doing a single good deed, and then we do a thousand good deeds in two weeks.
People are now asking themselves if they are doing enough good. One good deed a day is enough. One little thing. You can simply stop at the door and let someone go ahead. At the bank, let someone skip the line, no matter how in a hurry you are. One single good deed becomes a “golden bead” on the string of your plan.
Of course, your plan is only about you. In all scriptures one way or another it is said that you build your shrine, your building, your temple on the Other Side or - as they say - "in heaven." This is true. You are indeed progressing there, but while you are in embodiment, you do not know it. You go through your school here, but the goal is located outside the earthly world.
When Sylvia completed a year-long course of study, she came to her mentor and found out that she had almost achieved a master's degree. All she had left to do was write her dissertation. She had no idea that she had mastered the material for so many hours of study. So we have no idea what awards we deserve. The secrets that lie within your soul are probably the most amazing of all.
If your light is not directed inward and absorbed by the dark side of the ego, then it will radiate outward. You will be ready to serve God and fulfill your mission instead of worrying about yourself.
I agree with Sylvia. One night she was haunted by the thought: “Why are people so susceptible to the influence of sexual desire?” It's right. It's amazing that God has given us all bodies that fit together, but why is this point so important? It has to do with the ego, doesn't it?
Maybe religious people acquire false beliefs because they feel the need to go to the other extreme? Of course, Catholics introduced the vow of celibacy because they did not want to support entire families. This decree was entirely an ecclesiastical invention. They introduced it not because they wanted to be saints, but because the church did not want to support wives and a whole brood of children.
I think some people have taken celibacy just because it reduces difficulties, but have done nothing to increase spirituality. It's funny, but by the time people realize this, they are too old to worry about this or that.
As you may have noticed, the person you love excites you emotionally - in sexually or whatever. On the other hand, some people may turn you off due to the same chemical "anti-sex" reaction. Both are caused by your sensitivity to the beauty of the soul.
Overall the idea of the connection is great. Everyone needs someone, but until you connect with yourself (and here you can go so far as to have sexual contact with yourself, loving your masculine or feminine side), you will not know your true self." I am". No one can tear the ego into pieces. They may try to defame you or take something away from you, but your body - your home, your temple - will be indestructible.
Many of you are advanced enough to ask the question, "Am I on the path?" The path becomes very winding and everything turns upside down when your "poor miserable self" - the false ego - begins to whine: "Will I be cared for? Will I be babysat? Will I be loved?" When the ego begins to rise, uproot it. Think: “Who can I take care of?.. Who can I love?.. Who can I serve?..” To serve His people is to serve God.
Questioner: You talked about the experience of unity, that thanks to this experience there is a meeting with our true Self. But for some reason this state disappears over time. And the question arises: “What prevents you from constantly realizing your true self?»
Stanislav: Your apparent self.
Q: Where does the apparent self arise from?
S: It is constantly recreated from the structures formed by your mind.
Q: What makes the mind create these designs?
S: Your desires that create action are constantly imaginary movement.
Q: Movement of what?
S: The movement of the mind, which creates with its movement everything that seems to you to be you and the world around you. But you are here and now, and only your mind moves, and what seems to you like the world around you and you is just a game that exists in your imagination as long as there is someone playing it.
Q: When will this be realized?
S: When you are in a state of unity.
Q: How then does the state of unity come?
S: As soon as the player realizes that the player is imaginary, the illusory nature of the game itself is realized, and then what was hidden behind this game is revealed to you - your true Self.
Q: Who is the player?
S: The construction of your mind, your imaginary self, which exists thanks to your own efforts.
Q: It turns out that the construct of the mind forces us to play this game.
S: You involve yourself in this game through your own efforts, and as long as you make efforts, you will play it regardless of whether you want it or not. The constructs of the mind are the you that seems to you - the “player”. Your idea of yourself and the world around you consists of such constructs.
Q: When a person is completely relaxed, he does not make any effort. Then is complete relaxation enough for these mental constructs to disappear?
S: Perhaps, unless relaxation becomes an idea of the mind.
Q: But how can you relax if you don’t have such an idea?
S: Complete relaxation is possible only when there are no ideas. The very thought of relaxation, being an idea, will create action or effort, which will not allow you to completely relax.
Q: How can you relax then?
S: Just stop making any efforts or actions.
Q: But how to achieve such a state?
S: To stop making efforts, you need to accept everything as it is.
Q: This will be difficult to implement, because sometimes rejection occurs unconsciously.
S: But at the same time, rejection itself is recognized by you as a certain emotion that has arisen in you.
Q: But the awareness of rejection in a given situation occurs after it has arisen, after the fact, so to speak.
S: It depends on your involvement in what is happening.
Q: What does it mean to be involved?
S: Involvement is your identification with what is happening, an emotional response caused by giving objects or events some significance. Everything that surrounds you has long been inventoried by your mind. Each object or event already has a label with its description and significance, which your mind consciously or unconsciously hung on it. And depending on this label, an emotional response occurs, involving you in what is perceived, often regardless of your conscious intention.
Q: It means if it means anything to me great importance, then my emotional response will be high?
S: In an absolute sense, yes, but the emotional response can still be positive or negative. A positive response creates a positive emotion. Negative - pain, suffering, which, if this signal is not understood, causes rejection. Rejection generates internal resistance, which creates tension in you. This tension serves as the energy that fuels your apparent self. To make it disappear, you just need to turn off the power.
Q: So, we must strive to experience only positive emotions so that the tension disappears.
S: This is a misconception. A strong positive emotion - simply put, pleasure - will quickly deplete your energy supply, after which you may even feel depressed.
Q: So it turns out that we should avoid the emergence of emotions in general?
S: You cannot avoid the occurrence of emotions, since they are the mechanism of your perception. You just shouldn't create ideas about how to evoke emotions for the sake of pleasure.
Q: And if an emotion has already arisen, how to calm it down?
S: Allow it to be in you, do not cling with your mind to the experience that has arisen, let go of what caused it, accept everything as it is. Realize that everything is inevitable and the emotion that arises too.
Q: How can you prevent the emergence of the emotion of rejection, how to avoid subconscious reactions, and what needs to be done for this?
S: To do this, you need to develop a readiness to accept any events as inevitable.
Q: How can this be implemented?
S: Realize your complete helplessness, stop creating ideas that you can change anything. Finally understand that you are not driving this apparent machine called “Your Life”, and give up the steering wheel.
V: It’s kind of scary.
S: Fear creates the action of your mind, imagining an undesirable future for you if you refuse to create ideas. But this is sabotage, because fear itself is also an idea of the mind! If there is no one who seems to create ideas, then there will be no one to create fear for you.
Q: What if you just refuse to play any role at all?
S: You can’t just refuse, because refusal is also an action, it’s a game, only with a different role called “refuser.”
Q: How then can you stop playing your roles?
S: Freeing you from the need to play any role can be the realization that there is no need to think about how you can do something better when in an imaginary event, the apparent you performs any actions.
Practice “Quantum displacement”
Sit back and close your eyes. Let your mind wander freely wherever it wants for 15-30 seconds. Just watch the thoughts coming and going. Now be more conscious of what you think. The content of thoughts does not matter.
Just watch very carefully all the thoughts floating across the screen of the mind. Study them with full concentration. There is no need to strain or try to somehow concentrate your thoughts.
Focus your attention in a relaxed way - like a cat watching mouse hole. Like this, with relaxed, focused attention, observe your thoughts for one or two minutes.
I'll wait…
So, did you just spend a minute or two carefully observing your thoughts?
Okay, let's continue.
As you observed your thoughts, you should have noticed that they almost immediately became calmer and slowed down, right? They started to seem less loud. Thoughts became paler and less frequent, and thinking and overall became calmer.
Meanwhile, remember: if your thoughts behave differently, that’s also normal. Whether your thoughts are fussy or calm does not matter.
Your job is to be a perfect observer.
You're just watching to find out what they'll do next. That's all you have to do: watch with calm attention.
Have you noticed that at times your thoughts stop altogether? At first they faded, and then, perhaps, you suddenly notice that they have completely disappeared and you are left alone with pure awareness.
Great, right? But this is just the beginning.
Did you also notice that after doing the first part of the exercise, your body became more relaxed and your mind more calm?
These are all very pleasant consequences of being aware of pure awareness, whether you notice them or not. Soon you will be functioning at this calmer and purer level even when driving on crowded streets during rush hour.
However, we still have things to do - let's get back to them.
Close your eyes again. Just like last time, observe your thoughts innocently and with rapt attention. Now it will be easier - you may find that the thoughts calm down very quickly or even stop altogether.
Just watch carefully for a couple of minutes. After two or three minutes, pay attention to how you feel.
And again I'll wait...
In these two or three minutes, did you feel serenity, silence, peace? Or perhaps you felt joy, love, compassion, inspiration, bliss, etc.? All these good feelings are the eufeeling.
On next stage, when you sit with your eyes closed, I want the following from you. Observe your thoughts and wait for a euphoric feeling to be born in your consciousness.
Remember that the eufeeling must be either very simple (peace or silence) or very intense (ecstasy). It cannot be said that one eufeeling is preferable to another.
Whatever it is, just observe it casually.
If thoughts come back, just observe them.
Then thoughts will be replaced by either non-thought, or pure awareness, or eufeeling. Whatever it is - a thought, pure awareness or eufeeling - simply and naively observe it and do nothing else.
This is very important: don’t do anything, just watch your thoughts and wait for the euphoric feeling. When you become aware of the presence of the eufeeling, focus on it clearly and intently.
At times you may not have any eufeelings or thoughts.
This is pure awareness.
At such a moment, simply wait in a state of pure awareness until your eufeeling arises again.
See how simple it is? Whatever appears on the screen of the mind, your position always remains the same: you are an observer and nothing else. Never interfere or try to control thoughts or eufeelings.
Believe me: everything will work out by itself.
Have you had to work to relax or calm down? No, it happened spontaneously. Once you become aware of the eufeeling, its wise presence provides everything else. Don't complicate this process, otherwise you will return back to the path of struggle and suffering.
So, repeat the QE process with your eyes closed, following the instructions stated above. Let this part of the lesson last about five minutes. When you finish, slowly open your eyes and continue reading.
How do you feel now?
Are you aware of your eufeeling? I'll try to guess: your eyes are open, but you are still aware of the presence of eufeeling. Isn't it amazing? Before, you had to close your eyes and dive deep into your mind to find it.
But look what happened now: the eufeeling followed you into the world of everyday activity. Cool? Remember that the eufeeling is limitless, so it is always present in you.
You've just neglected him for almost your entire life. And you will forget about it again... however, if you begin to regularly perform QE, you will soon learn to almost instantly enter this state at any moment.
And this is the basis for amazing changes in your life.
In the near future, you suddenly realize that you are constantly experiencing such bliss that you never dared to dream about before.
Meanwhile, we have not finished our session yet.
In fact, the best is yet to come. I want you to continue doing QE.
Close your eyes and watch what is happening on the screen of your mind. Watch until you become aware of the eufeeling, and then watch it with gentle attention. Don't interfere - just look deeply into the eufeeling.
If it turns into some other eufeeling, then look into this new one.
Perform for 3-5 minutes. Then, when you feel the time has come, slowly open your eyes and continue the QE process.
Sit with your eyes open and, looking relaxed in front of you, be aware of the eufeeling. Perform QE with your eyes open. You will observe thoughts, eufeeling and pure awareness, but your eyes will remain open.
Continue this for one to two minutes, then slowly stand up and look at some nearby object. Look at it and at the same time become aware of the euphonic feeling. Then move your gaze to another object, continuing to contemplate the euphonic feeling.
When you're ready, walk slowly around the room. Feel the movement of your body. Feel how you shift your weight from one leg to the other, feel the pressure of the floor on each foot. If the Eufeeling fades, find it again with simple awareness.
Pay attention to noises in the room.
Feel the air touching your face as you move. Run your hand over a plant or other object. Include taste and smell sensations.
And all this time, return to the euphonic feeling - as soon as you notice that it is not there, stop and be aware only of the euphonic feeling; feel how it intensifies or turns into another eufeeling.
In fact, it does not increase or change at all. You are simply more acutely aware of the endless manifestations of your True Self.
This is you - the way you were meant to be.
You simply remain with your True Self, unavailable to the manipulations of the ego, which is trying to entangle you in the networks of endless actions spurred by fear. Nothing is more important and nothing is more satisfying.
Frank Kinslow