Re: How can I shed my ego?
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
Originally Posted by
Viraja
Yajvan ji, I went through your reply and the attached posts.
So, I am wondering about 2 things:
1. As you said, to bring in more 'light' of sattva guna, I can practice thought watching and daily sadhana. This includes measures such as eating food that has been offered first to god, etc. Are there any more practices in addition to this, that will bring in 'humility'?
2. Will my practice 'grow on me'? Say, I can practice 'humility' in the aforementioned manner (by watching my thoughts, etc) for a long time. Then due to the length of time I have tried to subdue my ego, will the ego quotient get reduced as a reward? What I am asking is, if whether I practice subduing my egotism for a long time... then will the innate pride tendency get reduced as a reward? (I look forward to hearing from you or any learned member). Thank you for your reply, once again.
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Let me offer the following for your consideration...
Who is watching the thoughts? It will be the intellect pretending to be the SELF. It raised its hand to be this. So, watching the thought with the thing you wish to get rid of is in interesting thing, no? When SELF is co-mingled with the intellect we call it small self ('self' with a small 's') and this we call ego.
So, what is one to do? One needs to establish a practice that goes beyond thought. That is transcending. This is what is done in (guided) meditation; there are many approaches to this. We are 'coached' that initially this needs to be done singularly, by one's self. Where then is that to be done? We find a comfortable place that is conducive to the silence, outside of busy life. This is where one begins. This is where the 'pure light' is found (prakāśa).
Now is watching thoughts valuable? To one that is over-active this no doubt is a start. To the one that has been practicing a bit, it is watching
the gap between thoughts (madhya), where there are no thoughts, where there is silence. This grooms the mind, this is valuable.
I have written many posts on this, and it is not about watching thoughts but following the breath. Please do a search on this and I think
you will find the reading material.
Now these thoughts... they come all the time. Some think they are the enemy but they are not. Then what is? When one engages in them.
If you , like many, still work and the mind is very active (rago-guṇa) filled with thoughts. Yet there comes a time when thoughts are there
but there is no need for them ( as a planning tool, engagement activity, etc). Then one can just not engage with them. It is that simple.
It takes some time but it can be done. It is like a smoke stack. It continues to bellow out smoke, but one does not even look that way.
Like that , the mind continues to bellow out thoughts, fine and good. Yet 'you' ( your attention) does not have to engage them, correct?
'You' choose when to engage and not engage. Like a clutch in a car that is stick shift. You choose when you put the car in gear and
when you dis-engage. Try it and see. Dis-engagement is possible on your terms.
Will my practice grow on me
When done with ease and in a natural way it becomes part of you... This comes via prakāśa. Excessive trying becomes a burden and the mind
revolts. 'What good is doing this if I am not rewarded' - this is not the mind-set to groom. What then is the formula? Patience and persistence in practice.
Gently, but daily. Consistently but daily. Joyfully and with the desire for this, but daily without missing... In a gradual way the practice is to become satatoditam = satata + udita i.e. without break or pause.
इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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