SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0039 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Egoism is the self-arrogating principle in the human . It is a Vritti or modification that arises in the mind . Patanjali Maharshi calls it by the name , Asmita .

The same mind assumes the form of egoism when the human begins to self-arrogate . Ahankara manifests first and then comes Mamata or attachment .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0040 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

This baneful egoism generates actions , desires and pain . It is the source of all evils .

It is illusory . It deludes people . Though it is nothing , it is everything for the worldly people .

It associates with mineness . It is born of Avidya or ignorance . It springs from the false conceit . Vanity fosters it .

It is the greatest enemy of peace . If one renounces this dire Ahankara one will be ever happy .

The secret of renunciation is renunciation of egoism .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0041 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Ahankara has its seat in the mind . It is under the influence of egoism that the human commits evils and wrong actions . It is deep-rooted .

Anxieties and troubles proceed from egoism . It is a veritable disease . Pride , lust , anger , delusion , greed , jealousy , love and hatred are the attendants of Ahankara .

Ahankara destroys the virtues and peace of mind . It spreads the snare of affection to entrap the human in it .

One who is free from egoism is ever happy and peaceful .

Desires multiply and expand on account of egoism .

The human's inveterate enemy of egoism has spread about the enchantments of the spouse , children , friends and relatives , whose spell is hard to break .

There is no enemy greater than egoism .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0042 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

One who neither desires , nor dislikes anything , who preserves the serenity of one's mind at all times is not affected by the feeling of egoism .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0043 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Meditate on the formula ,

" Aham Brahma Asmi — I am the Brahman " .

Identify yourself with Brahman .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0044 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

There are three sub-forms of Ahankara , viz , Sattvic egoism , Rajasic egoism and Tamasic egoism .

Sattvic egoism will not bind one to Samsara .

It will help the aspirant to attain the final emancipation .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0045 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

The third kind of Ahankara is the knowledge which identifies the " I " with the body , composed of five elements , which takes the body for the Atman .

This is the worst or the basest form of egoism . This is found in all worldly persons .

Those who possess this kind of egoism can never come to their right senses . Countless persons have been deluded by this form of Ahankara . They have lost their intelligence , power of discrimination and the power of enquiry .

This kind of egoism produces baneful results . People come under the influence of all the evils of life .

Those who are slaves of this form of Ahankara are troubled by various desires which induce them to do wrong actions . It debases them to the state of a beast .

The more you thin out this egoism , the more you will get knowledge of Brahman or the light of the Self .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0046 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Mere illusion or Maya is the cause of egoism . Knowledge is the cause of egoism . Knowledge is produced through the illusory objects such as , the body , tree , river , mountain , animals , etc .

If the objects do not exist , we can neither think of , nor know anything . If there are no objects , we will have no knowledge of objects at all . Then egoism , the seed of Manas will be absorbed .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0047 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

The idea of " I " which is the nest , containing all frailties is the seed of the tree of mind . The sprout which at first germinates from the seed of Ahankara is Buddhi or intellect .

From this sprout , the ramifying branches called Sankalpas take their origin .

Through such a differentiation , the mind , Chitta and Buddhi are but the different names or qualities of the one Ahankara .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0048 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

The branches of Vasanas will naturally produce innumerable crops of Karmas , but if , with the sword of Jnana , you sever them from the heart's core , they will be destroyed .

Cut the branches of the dire tree of mind and eventually destroy the tree at its root completely .

Cutting the branches is only a secondary thing — the primary being the eradication of the tree at its root .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0049 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

If you through virtuous actions destroy the idea of " I " at the root of the tree ( mind ) , then it will not spring up .

Atma Jnana or knowledge of the Self is the fire which destroys the conception of the Ahankara , the seed of the tree ( mind ) .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0050 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

There is another classification of egoism viz , gross ( Sthula ) and subtle ( Sukshma ) .

When you identify yourself with the gross physical body , it is gross egoism .

When you identify yourself with the mind and the Karana Sarira ( seed body ) , it is subtle egoism .

If you destroy pride , selfishness , desires and identification with the body , the gross egoism will perish but the subtle egoism will remain .

You must annihilate the subtle egoism also . Subtle egoism is more dangerous and more difficult to eradicate .

" I am a rich person , I am a ruler , I am a Brahmin " — this is gross egoism .

" I am a Yogi . I am a Jnani . I am a good Karma Yogi . I am a moral person . I am a good Sadhaka or a Sadhu " — this is subtle egoism .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0051 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

There is also another classification of egoism viz , Samanya Ahankara ( ordinary egoism ) and Visesha Ahankara ( special egoism ) .

Ordinary egoism is present in animals . Visesha egoism is present in human beings .

You say , " This body is mine " . The vultures , jackals and fishes also say , " this body is mine " .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0052 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

If you peel off the layers of the onion one by one , the onion dwindles into an airy nothing .

So is the " I " . This body , mind , Prana , senses etc , are all combinations of the five elements and Tanmatras . They are all modifications of the Prakriti only .

Where is the " I " then ? " I " is an illusory nothing , fabricated by the juggler , mind .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0053 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Nothing can be said to exist , which is not produced by some cause . This body which is produced through Karmas is not itself the cause . The knowledge or consciousness that we have of it is itself illusory .

Therefore Ahankara and other effects which are produced through the delusion of knowledge are also non-existent .

The real " I " is only the Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahman .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0054 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Just as the motion of the train or the boat is transferred to the tree , so also " I " is transferred through the jugglery of the mind to the body , mind , Prana and the senses .

When you say , " I am stout , I am lean " , the " I " is transferred to the senses and you identify with the senses; when you say " I am hungry , I am thirsty " , the " I " is transferred to the Prana ; when you say , " I am angry , I am lustful " , the " I " is transferred to the mind .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0055 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

If you identify yourself with the supreme Self , all false identifications will vanish .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0056 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

If you kill the commander of an army , you can very easily subdue the soldiers .

Even so , if you kill this commander-egoism in the Adhyatmic battle , you can very easily subdue the soldiers viz , lust , anger , pride , jealousy , greed , delusion , hypocrisy , who fight for their master — egoism .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0057 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

Try to attain Brahman by means of the first two kinds of superior egoism .

If you are firmly established in that supreme immaculate state wherein even these two kinds of superior egoism are abandoned one by one , then such a state is the imperishable abode of Brahman .

Do not identify the " I " with the physical body .

Identify yourself with the supreme Self or the ParaBrahman .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0058 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

You might have reduced or thinned out your egoism to a very great extent , but if you are still susceptible to censure and praise , know that the subtle egoism is still lurking in you .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0059 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

An aspirant who treads the path of devotion destroys one's egoism through self-surrender or Atma-Nivedana to the Lord . One says ,

" I am Thine my Lord , all is Thine , Thy will be done " .

One feels one is an instrument in the hands of the Lord , and dedicates all actions and the fruits of actions to the Lord .

One feels that there is nothing but the Lord , that everything is done by the Lord , that even an atom cannot move without the Lord and that all beings live , move and have their very existence in the Lord .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0060 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

A Karma Yogin destroys one's egoism through self-sacrifice .

SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0061 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART I ||

A Jnana Yogin kills one's egoism through self-denial or self-abnegation , through Vichara and the practice of Neti-Neti doctrine —

" I am not this body , I am not this Prana . I am not this mind or the senses " ,

and through identification with the supreme Self by meditating on the formula ,

" I am the all-pervading Self or the Brahman " .

SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART #1 ➤➤
SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART #2 ➤➤
SADHANA FOR ELIMINATION OF EGOISM | PART #3 ➤➤

SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG