Bhaktisandesam / Pride & Prejudice

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Pride, Ego & Arrogance

 

How to Keep them at Bay BY SHRI GYAN RAJHANS

 

Hari-Om

" Hypocrisy, pride, self-conceit, wrath, arrogance and ignorance

belong, O Partha, to him who is born to the heritage of the demons. "

~ The Gita, XVI. 4

 

 

Why do I wish to talk about pride and arrogance? Because in my

opinion, while pride harms only the proud man, arrogance due to

overbearing pride brings contempt for others. An arrogant man is

often rude and very fond of offending his friends, relatives,

colleagues and everyone else who comes in contact with him.

 

 

 

Pride

Pride rears its head even in the most unsuspected corners. One man

may be proud that he is proud, and another, proud that he is not

proud. While one may be proud that he is a non-believer in God,

another may be proud of his devotion to God. Learning may render one

man proud, and yet ignorance can also be the source of pride for

another man.

 

Ego

Ego is nothing but pride in its inflated form. For example, an

arrogant man is unduly or excessively proud of his wealth, status,

learning, etc. He shows ego in spirit of conduct. He is unwarrantably

overbearing and haughty. His head is swollen like the swelling caused

by dropsy. He thinks very highly of himself and poorly of others. He

claims much for himself and concedes little to others.

 

Arrogance

Arrogance is an absorbing sense of one's own greatness. It is a

feeling of one's superiority over others. In the presence of

superiors, overweening pride manifests itself as arrogance. Pride is

too self-satisfied to care for seeing the good in others and in

praising them.

 

 

Vanity

Another by-product of pride is vanity, which intensely craves

admiration and applause. It is undue assumption of self-importance.

It often results in open and rude expression of contempt and

hostility. It quickly takes for granted superiority and privilege,

which others are slow to concede.

 

 

Why is it Difficult to Ward Off the Ego?

However, if you think pride or ego is easy to get rid of, think

again! The play of the ego pervades our whole life. The ego does not

go away by merely substituting some set phrase for " I " . As long as

the body is alive and the mind functions in and through the body,

what is known as the ego or the personality will arise and exist.

This ego or pride is not a permanent and unquestionable reality. It

is a temporary phenomenon; it is ignorance that invests it with

permanency. It is a concept; it is ignorance that elevates it to

status of reality. Only enlightenment can bring you this wisdom.

 

The Underlying Paradox

How does enlightenment arise? How does the realization " God is the

real doer and we are just His means " get instilled in our hearts? I

am sure you will agree that until this realization arises in our

minds and inner intelligence, we cannot get rid of the ego. One may

very easily say, " Practice Karma-Yoga and the ego will disappear. " Is

practicing Karma-Yoga as simple as these words sound? If, for

instance, you say that you have been a Karmyogi i.e. doing your

duties and not looking for rewards, for years and years and years,

then you become so vain and arrogant that the ego waxes gloriously

inside you, instead of being eliminated. The argument is that if you

are established in the practice of Karma-Yoga, your heart is

purified, and then in that pure heart divine grace dispels the

darkness of the ego. Possibly! But before you get to that stage, the

ego becomes so great that the earlier philosophy is completely

forgotten.

 

 

May God Bless You!

So, what should we do to exorcise the devil of pride (ego) and

arrogance? In my opinion, only by the grace of God one can be

watchful of the presence of pride in all our actions. How does one

earn God's grace? You cannot earn it because that will again involve

your ego.

 

In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna says: " On account of pure

compassion I bestow knowledge on My devotee. I give it out of

compassion, not because he deserves it. " Mark the Lord's words, " My

devotee. " Who is His devotee? He, whose heart all the time cries, " My

God, what am I going to do? I can't get rid of my ego. I cannot deal

with my pride " — in the hope that one day by the miraculous grace of

God someone, probably a Guru will come in your life, who will switch

on the enlightenment and put off the pride. Until then all you can do

is to keep praying.

 

 

Jai Shree Krishna !