The Little Self
"That fellow has too much ego. He thinks too much of himself," we often hear people say about somebody who is a little heavy on the head. The Ego is to a human as a wave is to an ocean. It is ignorance that makes a wave think that it is different from the ocean. It is the ignorance of ego that makes a human he is different from the rest of the world.
Ego is one of the three main diseases afflicting the human mind. But to a great extent it serves a functional purpose. While a person is growing, one has to go through the rough and tumble of the individual little self to know the nuances of life. A student of Std. I has to learn the little numbers of 1, 2, 3 and 4 and learn to add 1+1. If he is going to contemplate on abstract algebra at that age, the foundations are lost on him. The emotions surrounded around the little self is important up to a certain age of the learning process. The ego is a tool for learning, a tool for experience. However universal the experience of love or wisdom, the experience can be had only in the little ego. Ego is like the small eye of the needle. It may be very small when compared to the long needle, but without that small space, the thread of life cannot pass through. Ego is a bead in the chain of life. It is a part of the whole. It is important to learn the importance of transcending the little self and understanding the whole web of the Universe.
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14 comments:
swahilya
3blogs in a blink of an eye
now thats fast. I need time to digest what you have written. comments later.
Swahilya,
This is a second post I have read on ego. My friend has written something about ego that would complement your post.
http://sramacha.blogspot.com/
I like the part where you have compared the ego to the eye of a needle.Can the needle be without its eye? It is a part of the needle but the needle cannot do its function without the eye that takes the thread through it. But how far should the ego be allowed to shape one's thoughts and life?
You have aptly said that it is important to transcend self and realize that we are but a small part of the universe.
Sowmya
The Ego is to a human as a wave is to an ocean.
Swahilya ! Great explanation. I was reading through Ayn Rand's 'Anthem' a good book again dealing with EGO but in a fictional way. The author was describing EGO towards positive extent. I wanted a further look into it and now I could realise the importance of EGO.
But what should be the degree of EGO in a person's life. Greater the EGO you will be let down isn't it? How should I fix a limit to my superiority?
Ganesh: Just like three bags of wool for ba ba black sheep, one post is for me, one post is for Robbie and the other for g.ganesh. Relax. Take your time. Swaha.
Balasoumi: I'll go through the blog. The ego is as much a tool just as like our hands or legs. We put our hands to use only when it is required, not at other times. The same way with ego which is nothing but a limited perception of self. To quench our thirst with a palmful of water we need not drink the whole river. The palm of water is our ego and the river is our big self that includes everything in creation.
Go-Ganesh: Superiority or inferiority is a fiction. A mountain is tall, but it is in no way superior to a hillock where a little child can run up to the top any time he wishes. Everything has its place in the Universe and so do humans. Each are dependent on the other. Knowing this brings humility to the mind. As I told in Balasoumi's reply, the ego is a tool to be used. There ends the matter.
I'm wondering about blog hacking. I am not able to find my delete sign?
swahilya log into blog and then you will see the trash icon click and get rid of these crazy spammers. Oflate I have been noticing these folks posting in many of our desi bloggers site.
May be you can disable anonymous posting.
Ganesh: That's what I did. But now I am not able to find the delete icon in the blog!
Swahilya:
I loved your last lines!
transcending the little self and understanding the web. It can have a lot of meanings, if you are belittled by your ego you might fall through the web of the universe to be doomed in space.
Amazing analogies! You are the best of the best of the best!
Robbie: You say "the best of the best of the best!" I went back to the post to see what it was and I realised that when I am writing, I am a different person, not the same Swahilya who opens to see the comments. So when in meditation, the grace expresses as words and that is the best of the best of the best!
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