Maharshi: The ego claims to be the Self

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* (Forty Verses on Reality, vv. 17-18, from The Collected Works of Ramana

Maharshi, Riders, London, and Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai.)

 

Why is the Maharshi so insistent against the ego? Because the ego is the usurper

that claims to be the Self, the mask that conceals the Reality. Its elimination

is the only way to realization of the true Self that underlies It. The seeker

has no alternative. There can be no chick unless the eggshell is broken. The

true Self cannot be realized until the false is renounced. Therefore, the

Maharshi says, since this is ultimately necessary, why not start with it

straight away; since you must finally remain as the Self, why not do so from the

start; since other paths will lead you roundabout and finally face you with the

alternative of Self or pseudo-self, why not go direct and face it here and now?

"This is the direct method. All other methods are practised while retaining the

ego and therefore many doubts arise and the ultimate question still remains to

be tackled in the end. But in this method the final question is the only one and

is raised from the very beginning.... Because every kind of path except

Self-enquiry presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for

following it, and cannot be followed without the mind. The ego may take

different and more subtle forms at different stages of one's practice but it is

never destroyed. The attempt to destroy the ego or the mind by methods other

than Self-enquiry is like a thief turning policeman to catch the thief that is

himself. Self-enquiry alone can reveal the truth that neither the ego nor the

mind really exists and enable one to realize the pure, undifferentiated Being of

the Self or the Absolute."*

 

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