mahak on false ego

September 28, 2004

Haribol. False ego is the subtle-est of the eight elements, but it is an element nevertheless. All who exist have false ego, identification with the body and mind as the self.

Do we have a lot of ego? Dunno about youse guys, but I do. You know how I can tell that I have a lot of false ego?

I breathe, all the time I take these breaths. I feed my face when Im hungry, and I drink water. I sleep, I wake up, so I got false ego, I identify the body with the self.

False ego is like intelligence and the mind, these three comprise the subtle elements, and the body is made up of earth, water, air, fire, and ether, gross (tangible elements.

We should never try to think or instruct others to give up the false ego, this is not the process of devotional service. We, instead, strive to alter the direction of the false ego, and try to dovetail with the real ego, swarupa siddhi. We breath only to serve krsna and each breath is also krsna. We eat, but only porasadam, etc.

Heck, I wrote something to cover this, so let me go get it, be right back, hare krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

September 28, 2004

A few years ago, I was writing a piece titled "journey to beneath the straw in the Street", and this was an excerpt from it. This story of Sri Hanuman describes that ego can be changed from false to real, yet ego is never abandoned. Abandonment of identification of the self is another school, not vaisnavism. Its false identification that is the problem.

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Hanumans treasure - story retold by mahaksadasa c 1990

What is the treasure of the Vaisnavas? The following story of Sri Hanumana, the hero of Valmiki's RAMAYANA, explains very nicely what the devotee of the Supreme Lord holds dear. I retell this story, asking Sri Hanuman to ensure that I tell it nicely in his service.

As Lord Ramachandra was preparing to end His Pastimes on this plane, preparing for the entire Kingdom of Sri Ayodhya dhama to go back to the realm of Vaikunthaloka, with His ministers present, He presented His Kingdom Ring to Sri Hanumanadeva as a memento. Upon receivcing this gift, Sri Hanuman, acting like a monkey, bit into the gem, tore it out of its setting, threw it on the ground, and within seconds, had it completely pulverized. Totally shocked, His ministers admonished him for being so foolish as well as ungrateful.

Sri Hanumana said, "How can I possibly receive such a worthless item, there was no inscription of my Lord on the ring."

The brahmanas in attendance tried to teach, "You foolish monkey, you preserve your body with food and rest, and you will do so until the end of time, when Lord Ramachandra's pastimes are no longer remembered amongst men, and His inscription is only available within your mind."

At that urging, Sri Hanumana, with his nails capable of singlehandedly scratching out the existance of the three worlds, tore his chest apart for all to see. The ministers were amazed to see that on each and every bone, each bodily organ, every tendon and fiber of his being was inscripted the Names "RAMA, RAMA, RAMA". Sri Ramachandra, smiling only in the way He does to His beloved Sri Hanuman, rubbed his chest, completely closing the wound. The prema-bhakti yoga, the rasa between The Lord and His unalloyed servant ever increased, He took permission to end His Pastimes on Earth.