Ego: The Trap Of Creation

[Admin]

We tremble, thinking we are about to dissolve into non existence, But nonexistence fears even more, that it might be given human form! - Jelaluddin Rumi

“Heaven and earth live forever because they do not live for themselves.” (The I-Ching) They distribute their affection equally both to the virtuous and the evil. There is no “evil” for them. They carry with them the highest variety of experiences of both joy and sorrow; preservation and devastation. Therefore, they are beyond time.

Men with virtue similar to those of heaven and earth do not decay with death. They do not sacrifice their belongings; as they do not believe that anything belongs to them. All that they have does not belong to them because their inner self is vacant of ego. They are empty of their ‘I’. Both defeat and victory are same for them as both are under the supreme command. Both glory and dishonor are the same because they do not carry the ‘I’. They are beyond birth and death. They are a phenomenon. They are always in Oneness with The Almighty.



The very first sign of duality (separation from The One) appears when selflessness starts to get shrouded with egotism. Guru Nanak in the verse of ‘Asa Ki Var’ states, “Haumai aei Bandhna, fir fir Joni Payae” (Ego ambushes creatures in the vicious circle of life and death). The emptiness of a vessel, determines the utility of a vessel. If there is no space in the vessel then there is no way that anything could be added into it. A mind comprising pride, prejudice and vice is so full of itself that no wisdom can get in.


Men who are alert to the emptiness of selfdom are the ones who experience love in each moment. Nature’s phenomenon and nature’s love exists within and without. The cosmic relationship exists forever. Their eyes wait for the glimpse of the Almighty. They are a tree and a bird, a fountain and the rain, a mountain and an ocean and…and One with the One in everyOne. The Almighty exists within them and they are living in The Almighty.

The fragment of the infinite Lord exists in every human. We call it the human soul. It longs to re-unite with its Creator. The various schools of religious philosophy help to cover some distances in one’s journey towards the experience of Oneness. The mushrooming modern religious institutions to a certain extent, provide some relief to the wounded souls, but complete eternal bliss lies in the experience of the Shabd Guru. The incomplete journey traveled with religions still maintains the state of duality. It is for those who wish to drink a cup from the fountain. If the thirst is for the whole ocean then the spirit is bound to travel through the door of the One where ego must be left at the door. The Guru enlightens one’s consciousness and helps us to keep aware of the emptiness. No ego is allowed to fill this vessel. Gurus ‘Shabad’ is an eternal bliss that is carried within and which radiates in all directions inspiring all with the smiles and joy of cherdi kala!

​

Let us all look into our inner vessel and feel what we carry.

Carrying a begging bowl on my head
I wandered in search of knowledge
From door to door I begged for food
Filling my bowl to the brim.
My stuffed bowl made me feel stuffy-
A learned scholar me.​

With my head held high
I walked touching the skies.
One day I took this bowl and
Placed it before a sage. Saying,
“False! False!” he flipped it over,
And emptied all its contents.
He scrubbed off its mental stains
And wiped the begging bowl clean.​

See, how this bowl now shines:
Like a Lotus blooming brilliantly.​

-Bhai Vir Singh

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Aman ji,

Guru Fateh.

Who is the author of this beautiful piece?

 

[Ozarks]

"The emptiness of a vessel, determines the utility of a vessel. If there is no space in the vessel then there is no way that anything could be added into it. A mind comprising pride, prejudice and vice is so full of itself that no wisdom can get in."

Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not.
- Chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching

It is an unfortunate truth that there is much idol worship going on in the world and it has always been thus. The idol of which I speak is the "I doll". The doll or image most of us make of ourselves. This doll/image reflects either what the maker desires to "be" or what the maker desires to be seen as. If the maker desires power they will focus their attention on obtaining that power to make there image a reality. If the maker desires to be popular that maker may make their image into whatever form they believe to be pleasing in the eyes of others. The ego creates the idol and the idol justifies the ego. With this self-perpetuating process taking up the maker's energy how could they ever expect to see the beauty of what they could be?
This is in part why many have problems in true meditation. Like a over indulged child sent to their room; the ego will not be still. It desires attention. Especially from its "host". Those who have not discovered this will find the silence empty and short lived. Those who have may learn much because in the silence much is spoken.

 

[Archived_Member5]

Carrying a begging bowl on my head​

I wandered in search of knowledge​

From door to door I begged for food​

Filling my bowl to the brim.​

My stuffed bowl made me feel stuffy- ​

A learned scholar me.​

With my head held high​

I walked touching the skies.​

One day I took this bowl and​

Placed it before a sage. Saying,​

“False! False!” he flipped it over,​

And emptied all its contents.​

He scrubbed off its mental stains​

And wiped the begging bowl clean.​

See, how this bowl now shines:​

Like a Lotus blooming brilliantly.​

Kehl kehl akhel khelan, Ant ko Phir Ek...

GurSikhan Di Matt Uchi, Mann Neema... This is amongst my favourite tenets my Mother oft reminded me when I was young. Humility is not fear of embarrassment, or lack of courage, it is rather a humble awareness of being bestowed with God consciousness or Gurmat in a world greatly bereft of the use of the basic five senses let alone a sixth extra sensory intuitive perception. As a Child knows not of the greater world beyond the threshold of its parental home thus man is not aware of his moral or life purpose. Some live happily as householders without this realisation whilst others are inspired y the flame of enlightenment creating a yearning, a calling from beyond their senses to a greater Truth and Universal Consciousness. It is a blessing than a necessity and is one member of a family, community or faith is this blessed makes richer in Wisdom the entire throng. As Nanak Sayeth as a boond'' of impurity defiles an drinking vessel, impure thoughts defile the intellect and thinking, similarly one Wise person is able to lead billions to Peace and understanding. That he world is not united is legacy of the demons and raksha’s or trolls as we know them who impede each step of progress in sulken derailing in an attempt to ensure progress to pace is hindered. There is one such person in most family’s, the antagonist who will provoke argument without closure destabilise harmony and feign indignation when cornered by transferring blame upon the victim. This occurs not only universally, but nationally, socially, in the family and in the mind. There are many verses of Guru Nanak that display his torment in the form of ripostes issued to his stalkers, a tad appeasing that the Great Guru suffered the presence of rakhshas soon given to anger at the indignity of our Precious Lord being subject to such misappropriation.

The reading of many books does not necessarily bring intelligence, recitation of lengthy mantras does not always bring spirituality, servitude in Gurdwaras, Mandirs ad Churches does not bring honour or recompense. It is when the mind craves it is afflicted, an afflicted mind cannot be sufficiently supplicated to admit the great Gurmat and Wisdom of Absolute Truth that is The Spirit of Our Lord. The mind or the portal must be pure, sound and truly amenable. If it becomes as the troll, riposting in mindless rhetoric to each given tenet not always immediately understood it will not assimilate truth. Sometimes the harder we try at gaining truth for gaining sake, it eludes us as a Spouse feeling utilised than loved or understood, better won for loving than bullying, until we open the door of our inner consciousness in trust an integrity, an integral part of enlightenment is faith in the benefactor preceding understanding of why the truth we seek eludes and why much data and many facts are difficult to surmise into a conclusive pearl of absolute truth comprehensible by all.

What is purity and what is impurity, Purity is a strength and faith of discernment. The Mind-Body-Spiritual Temple. The strong willed mind becomes as impregnable as a fortress immune to desecration or admittance of impurity for whatever reason. Peer pressure, the group requirement is the mob at work. The Great Divorce by C.S.Lewis, the separation of Church and state has caused greater social suffering than eased. With all its abundant wealth and emancipation the west should be a veritable Utopia, yet we find bickering and battling, discord and dissension masked as ‘tolerance’. In Indian and The Punjab we have relative poverty in rural places now being progressively alleviated. What we learn from the two cultural polarities is that without tradition, culture and a faith system beginning from birth, in the family, society, and schooling and to elder year’s society is neither free nor emancipated. It is human nature to seek to be part of a group until it is strong spiritually to function as an entity within its community. Individuation doesn’t work, public opinion when organised is soon overtaken not by the GurMat but by market profiteers as we observe about us, the Golden rule is perfectly possible. Free will is wasted upon the immature and ignorant, with neither self awareness or understanding of others becomes not only self destructive but undermining to the reasonable and peaceful. One cannot create a hellish pit and demand tolerance from the religious against whose values such behaviour is diametrically opposing. Is Church and State cannot reconcile their differences at the helm, the unreconciled problems are manifest in society. If society becomes so badly governed that extreme fringe groups or women demand rights then government must address problems in their own house.

Sikhism encourages upholding honour of our Father who are as strong and authoritative as our conduct and obedience allow. It maps a path for spouses to win the favour of one another through a journey of mutual understanding, not by contentious demands, and creates a well balanced society where in some households men are dominant and in others women are the leading counsel on the premise that there be peace in the household and community.

Yes when faith reserves are low, na sut mit na bhai, aur Nanak sang sahai bi nahin, then one cries out in anguish, of falsehood, a false meaningless life, a false God that allows such suffering and pin and a false world of fickle people who turn on one in ones hour of need, only to hear him say ‘’Nahin to...’ and ‘erase’ the demons he has set upon me and I laugh at the foolishness of it all. SGGS is our Truth and our Guru. The intellectual relationship of mid and matter of self-awareness causing perception of our world if misaligned causes suffering and confusion. We relax, submit, supplicate the mind, he tension fades away, eases stress and find the truth we were searching in right here within and not as monumentally important as when it loomed large over our consciousness. Such is liberated life and mind, ascended above susceptibility to nuances of fluctuating climes and fair weathered friends, finds its true peace and purpose amidst the universal imagination contained within its own mind. A Mind and Consciousness under siege. Who Am I, ‘’who?1’’ the hyenas idolisers sneer snickeringly, and I laugh at the mob, a group finding their purpose in the trolls of my tormentor, and, Listen as my fellow commentators and frontline anchor men echo my sentiment and know in my nonexistence I remain, it suffices, In The WaheGuru’s consciousness awakens his portals of sense, as One. The Lord is at world with the barons of media and would not partake of anything from their cauldron and matrix of illusion. Man finds his comfort where so his mind or lack allow. Armed with {censored}nals of nuclear arms, trillion dollar surplus’ and still we find powerless ordinate men , we could not idolise or other than show a respect for authority so bereft where Gurmat and Wisdom is remiss. We would not deign to revere entertainers and amusers. The Supreme Lords battle is won, an obscure nonentity with Wisdom and Morality outshines and commands greater influence than the publicised by the same contingents orchestrating the demise of Truth is favour of manufactured lies to serve any current agenda. Wisdom and Gurmat cannot be purchased, cannot be contrived for without a moral premise and a foundation built upon Truth it is soon found to be a gilded false coin, vessels of an demagoguery drunk upon its own power. It is Our Victory, The Superstar Lord. Supernal Personages held captive in darkness, and when we look for what are Gods of Morality and Wisdom sacrificed, we laugh, ‘’who?’’ indeed. Let us shift focus from trolls to shoals of little angels lighting a candle and becoming as thus lights for the Eternally Living Immortal One. All can look to The Supreme Truth and find comfort in its each morsel, idolatry worship falls by the ignominious upon the ingratiates aggrandised. To be One with the Noble Truth of Ones Lord is the greatest accomplishment. Again my enemy has entwined his hateful bile into my truth, should I edit or post as is. Sometimes malady is remedied in the telling, exposing...