Does ego exist in the Present?

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 19 Oct 1998 sadananda <sada wrote:

> If I can truly identify with what exists in the present since that is that

> really counts then - that is the supreme ego! - aham Brahmaasmi! - When I

> have that BIG EGO - no more identification that ' i am only this and this'

> - I am the total without any exclusions. That EGO is eternal which is

> eternally present in the present.

 

You seem to stop short of the goal: that is certainly the limit of the

ego, but Brahman is beyond that. Katha 1.3.13 gives:

 

yacchedvaa"nmanasii praaj~nastadyacchejj~naana aatmani |

j~naanamaatmani mahati niyacchettadyacchecchaanta aatmani ||

 

The discriminating man should merge the (organ of) speech

into the mind; he should merge that mind into the intelligent

self; he should merge the intelligent self into the Great Soul,

he should merge the Great Soul into the peaceful Self.

 

Shankara's commentary explains the Great Soul is the First Born

(HiraNyagarbha) which seems to be your "supreme ego", but goes on to

explain the peaceful Self as the real Self which is within all and

the witness of all the modification of the intellect.

 

VidyAraNya's commentary on this verse, in jivan-mukti-viveka, gives:

 

The Self is of three kinds: the knowing-Self, the great Self,

and the tranquil Self.

 

The Self present as an agent in the act of knowing, i.e. the

egoism attributed as knower is meant here by the words "the

knowing Self"; since the mind, which is the instrument of

knowledge, is to be controlled, that is why it is being

mentioned separately.

 

Egoism is of two kinds: individual and universal. Thus "Here

I am son of so and so" -- such manifests particular egoism.

And "I am" -- only this much thinking belongs to the universal

form of egoism. Since the universal variety exists in every

individual, it is called great -- mahaan. The two selves are

thus attributed to the two egoisms (respectively).

 

Attributeless is the Tranquil Self. They all happen to be in

an inner and outer relation. The innermost is the Tranquil

Self which is pure knowledge, wherein exists, in the form of

physical power, the unmanifest -- avyakta, primordial nature --

muula-prak.rti, the cause. This manifests itself at first in

the form of universal egoism and is called the great principle

-- mahat-tattva (the intellectual principle). Outer to that it

manifests in the form of individual egoism and again outer to

this in the form of the mind and farther out to this in the

form of the organs, such as speech etc.

 

Regards, Charles.