Elephant ego

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>From Talks:

 

M: Control of breath or its regulation is only for controlling the

mind so that the mind may not wander away.

 

D: Is it for control of the mind only?

 

M: It is not enough that light is seen; it is also neccesary to

have the mind engaged in a single activity, eg., the elephant

trunk and chain.

 

D: How long will it take for one to gain Chintamani ( the

celestial gem granting all wishes to its owner)?

 

M: The example of Chintamani is found in Yoga Vasishta.

Chintamani signifies the Real nature of the Self. The story is a s

follows:-

 

A man was making tapasya for gaining Chintamani. A gem

mysteriously fell into his hands. He thought that it could not be

Chintamani because his efforts had been too short and too little

to gain the gem. He disgarded it and continued the tapas. Later

a sadu placed before him a brilliant pebble with facets cut. The

man was taken in by its appearance but found that it could not

fulfill his desires as he originally supposed. Similarly, the Self,

being inherent, should not be sought for elsewhere.

 

Again, an elephant used to be often teased by its keeper. He

once had an accident and fell down. The elephant could have

killed him on the spot but did not do so. Later, however, the

keeper dug a big pit in the forest and killed the elephant.

 

Chudala illustrated Sikhidhvaja's error by this story. He had

vairagya even while ruling his kingdom and could have realised

the Self if only he had pushed his vairagya to the point of killing

the ego. He did not do it, but came to the forest, had a time-table

of tapas and yet did not improve even after 18 years of tapas. He

had made himself a victim of his own creation. Chudala advised

him to give up the ego and realise the Self which he did and was

liberated.

 

It is clear from Chudala's story that vairagya accompanied by

ego is of no value, whereas all possessions in the absence of

ego do not matter.