Guest guest Posted December 22, 1999 Report Share Posted December 22, 1999 Every human being possess the virtue consisting of Buddhi (mind) guided by the Viveka (discriminating intellect). With wisdom, the intellect can discriminate between ego and SELF. Only when we recognize what is ego, we can negate it and realize the SELF. The eradication of ego is possible only through Sadhana (spiritual practice). The role of ego in worldly life differs from its role in spiritual life. Ego can mean "self-esteem,pride," or "vanity." To lead a successful worldly life, self-esteem is a positive virtue, but vanity is a negative quality. Ego has been recognized as a barrier to live spiritually. Can we recognize and measure the presence of ego using some indicators of daily behavior? The answer is yes. Here is an interesting exercise to measure our ego level. The ten Ego indicators should be rated using a scale of zero to ten, the higher number indicates a higher level. The final total (lies between 0 to 100) measures the ego level. Lowering the score of Ego level requires efforts (sadhana). A score of less than 20 is excellent, between 20 to 40 is very good and a score between 40 and 50 is quite good. Those whose score is over 50 need to make extra efforts in the next millennium to bring their score to below 50. Here is an opportunity for you to measure your ego level before the Gita Satsang. Follow the advice of Gitacharya (Lord Krishna) during the next millennium and reduce the ego level so that you can enjoy your life without barriers! 1 Ego of (Excitement-Grief-Overreaction) -------------- (Uncontrollable Expression of grief and joy and failure to control reckless actions) 2 Ego of (Exploitation - Greed - Oppression) ------------- (Direct greedy action that oppresses and exploits others) 3 Ego of (Exaggeration - Gimmick - Opportunism)---------- (Gain personal profits through gimmicks and exaggeration of facts) 4 Ego of (Exorbitance - Glory - Ornamental) ----------- (Conduct useless actions that are Glamorous just for personal glory). 5 Ego of (Excuse - Grumble - Opinionated ) ------------ (Accuse others for own mistakes and fail to listen due to one's own preconceived notions). 6 Ego of (Embarrassment - Guilt - Oscillation)-------------- (Develop unsteady mind filled with guilt generated from disputed beliefs). 7 Ego of (Extremism - Grudge - Opposition) -------------- (Express extreme views and animosity and organize hostile actions). 8 Ego of (Emptyheaded - Guesswork - Obnoxious) ---------------- (Irritating behavior and lack of respect for others propelled by ignorance) 9 Ego of (Enrage - Goof - Offensive) --------------- (Outburst of anger causes temporary insanity and loss of discriminating) 10 Ego of (Enmity - Gloomy - Obstruction) --------------- (Gloomy facial expression showing animosity and trying hard to be obstructive) Cumulative Total Points ------------------ Ram Chandran Note: This is an exercise just for fun! Those who take this exercise too seriously will likely have significant ego problem! Those who are brave enough to ask someone else to rate their ego level do not have dangerous ego problem! Happy Holidays and Happy Millennium! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 23, 1999 Report Share Posted December 23, 1999 Namaste Shivashankara, This is Zo (Sarada) Newell. I am a disciple of Meher Baba of Ahmednagar, and my first guru was Sri Brahmanda Sarasvati. I liked your response to Rama Chandra's post on the ego, and I want to add: In his discourses on the Nature of the Ego and its Termination, Meher Baba writes: "The part played by the ego in human life may be compared to the function of ballast in a ship...The formation of the ego serves the purpose of giving a certain amount of stability to conscious processes and also secures a working equilibrium..Though (the ego) arises only to vanish in the end, it does temporarily fill a need that could not have been ignored in the long journey of the soul...It is charactristic of the ego that it takes all that is unimportant as important and all that is important as unimportant. Thus, although power, fame, wealth, ability, and other worldly attainments..are really unimportant, the ego takes delight in these possesssions and clings to them as "mine."...Spirituality, which comes to the ego as being unnecessary, is really important for the soul...In the ripeness of evolution comes the momentous discovery that life cannot be understood and lived fully as long as it is made to move around the pivot of the ego. Man is then driven by the logic of his own experience to find the true center of experience and reorganize his life in the Truth. This entails the wearing out of the ego and its replacement by Truth-consciousness..." Naturally there is a lot more to this, including a discussion of trimming the individual ego through a "provisional ego" which allows the aspirant to organize life and thought around the figure of the Master or God rather than self-interest. It sounds from what you say as though your teacher thought along similar lines. I too do not believe that it is necessary or possible for us to destroy our own personal egos, or at least not and continue to function. However it does appear possible to me, through continuous effort, to persistently sublimate self-interest through devotion to higher and higher ideals. Zo _________________ Why pay more to get Web access? Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW! Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 23, 1999 Report Share Posted December 23, 1999 Harih Om. My name it´s Shivashankara. I from Spain , I am disciple of Svami Shankaranandaji Maharaja who was disciple of Svami Tilak Maharaja. Sorry because I don´t speak well english. ------------------- Thanks for your exercice Shri Ram Chandran. I think that is good fot to know about egoism of every one and of course of myself. I remember the words of Svami Tilak " To much ego it´s bad, but a little it´s necesari for to live" How it´s posible that we can live whithout ego?. When my lungs get oxigen, ego always be whit me. Only when my body dead perhaps ego non exist. I think that Viveka means discrimination no aniquilation NITYA ANITYA VASTU VIVEKA (brahma sutra) Discrimination betwen that ethernal (Nitya) and that no ethernal (anitya). There is not any point in Sadhana Chatustaya that it says " negate ego". Shivashankara • Ram Chandran wrote: > > Ram Chandran <chandran > > Every human being possess the virtue consisting of Buddhi (mind) guided by the > Viveka (discriminating intellect). With wisdom, the intellect can > discriminate between ego and SELF. Only when we recognize what is ego, we can > negate it and realize the SELF. The eradication of ego is possible only > through Sadhana (spiritual practice). The role of ego in worldly life differs > from its role in spiritual life. Ego can mean "self-esteem,pride," or > "vanity." To lead a successful worldly life, self-esteem is a positive > virtue, but vanity is a negative quality. Ego has been recognized as a > barrier to live spiritually. Can we recognize and measure the presence of ego > using some indicators of daily behavior? The answer is yes. > > Here is an interesting exercise to measure our ego level. The ten Ego > indicators should be rated using a scale of zero to ten, the higher number > indicates a higher level. The final total (lies between 0 to 100) measures the > ego level. Lowering the score of Ego level requires efforts (sadhana). A > score of less than 20 is excellent, between 20 to 40 is very good and a score > between 40 and 50 is quite good. Those whose score is over 50 need to make > extra efforts in the next millennium to bring their score to below 50. Here > is an opportunity for you to measure your ego level before the Gita Satsang. > Follow the advice of Gitacharya (Lord Krishna) during the next millennium and > reduce the ego level so that you can enjoy your life without barriers! > > 1 Ego of (Excitement-Grief-Overreaction) -------------- > (Uncontrollable Expression of grief and joy and failure to control reckless > actions) > > 2 Ego of (Exploitation - Greed - Oppression) ------------- > (Direct greedy action that oppresses and exploits others) > > 3 Ego of (Exaggeration - Gimmick - Opportunism)---------- > (Gain personal profits through gimmicks and exaggeration of facts) > > 4 Ego of (Exorbitance - Glory - Ornamental) ----------- > (Conduct useless actions that are Glamorous just for personal glory). > > 5 Ego of (Excuse - Grumble - Opinionated ) ------------ > (Accuse others for own mistakes and fail to listen due to one's own > preconceived notions). > > 6 Ego of (Embarrassment - Guilt - Oscillation)-------------- > (Develop unsteady mind filled with guilt generated from disputed beliefs). > > 7 Ego of (Extremism - Grudge - Opposition) -------------- > (Express extreme views and animosity and organize hostile actions). > > 8 Ego of (Emptyheaded - Guesswork - Obnoxious) ---------------- > (Irritating behavior and lack of respect for others propelled by > ignorance) > > 9 Ego of (Enrage - Goof - Offensive) --------------- > (Outburst of anger causes temporary insanity and loss of discriminating) > > 10 Ego of (Enmity - Gloomy - Obstruction) --------------- > (Gloomy facial expression showing animosity and trying hard to be > obstructive) > > Cumulative Total Points ------------------ > > Ram Chandran > > Note: This is an exercise just for fun! Those who take this exercise too > seriously will likely have significant ego problem! Those who are brave > enough to ask someone else to rate their ego level do not have dangerous ego > problem! Happy Holidays and Happy Millennium! > > > Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. Searchable List Archives are available at: > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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