Ego and Tapas

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"Enquire into the very source from where the aham (I notion) arise. The mind

will abide there.

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That indeed is the real tapas (penance)." This is how Ramana Maharshi defines

tapas, penance. The most exalted tapas, according to the Maharshi, is the

destruction of ahankara,--the ego, the I-notion-- leading to the knowledge of

the Self. Ahankara is an imposter--posing as the self--and so, upon enquiry,

resolves into the Self which is its true basis.

 

Ahankara, ego, is simply a notion, a sense, and is born out of the ignorance of

the Self. It can be destroyed only by Self-knowledge that takes place when the

enquiry, "Who am I?" is conducted with the help of a competent teacher,...

 

When the ego is falsified--burnt in the fire of knowledge-- there itself stands

Lord Siva, the Self, with the ashes of ego smeared all over the body.

 

Falsification of the ahankara results in the discovery of the true nature of

self which is parama purna sat, limitless, full, changeless; it shines by itself

in the very place where ahankara, the I-notion was. The enquiry,

 

"Who am I?"

 

that results in the destruction of the ego, revealing the true nature of the

self, is the greatest tapas.

from 'Talks on Upadesa Saram

(Essence of the Teaching) of Ramana Maharshi' by Swami Dayananda

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