The Ego

The Ego

The ego is only a belief, always standing on the crutches of something or someone else.

My car, my house, my friends, my family, my assets, and so on.

We know all our “possessions,” but we don’t know ourselves because “we” are only a belief, a concept, not a reality.

Recent incident –

I was talking to a Chicago friend who was caring for his grandchild.

When our conversation ended, the grandchild, Rishi (3 years old), insisted he wanted to see my “picture.”

So, my friend called me back, and we had to FaceTime. Rishi was happy.

Then my friend asked Rishi, “ What is tomorrow?”.

Rishi said,” It’s Rishi’s birthday.”

What’s the spiritual take from this?

Rishi just revealed a profound truth.

He only repeats what others have heard: “ It is Rishi’s birthday.”

But he doesn’t say,” It’s my birthday.”

He is still pure consciousness, with no identification with the body.

Once he gets identified with the body, his Ego will start.

This will happen after multiple people telling him Rishi, again and again, day in and day out.

And he is innocent so he will believe them.

But, this will lead him to mine and yours ( duality, Sansar ) ( and resultant sufferings that we all know about ).

And that’s why we can only go back to about 3 years of age, when we try to pull out old memories.

We have no recollection of what happened before the age of 3, as if we didn’t exist.

So, “I am this body” is only a belief that we all acquire (it’s a natural trick), and all beliefs are borrowed.

That’s why they are false, because even our identification is dependent on others.

This shows that, with proper sadhana, consciousness can be withdrawn back into itself, regaining the same state as a Rishi, by disidentifying with the body (and the mind, a storehouse of false beliefs).

This is the whole crux of spirituality.

You are the awareness, not what you are aware of.