Dr R N Sharma
Ego is the persistent sense of “mine-ness, I-ness or self-ness” in all of us. It is strongest in the waking state; it gets weakened during the dreaming state and is completely absent during the deep dreamless state or “sushupti”.
Definition
Ego is the reflection or the shadow of the soul in the “intellectual layer” of one’s personality.
Intellectual layer being close to the soul derives “illumination” from the self-effulgent soul.
Manifestation
Ego makes its presence felt by self-assertion. ” I can do this, that or the other; I know this, that or the other; I enjoy this, that or the other”.
Is it a real Entity?
No, it is not real. It is absolutely false as it does not exist during deep sleep. It is completely false and an unreal phantom. It is a “false image” formed by the ignorant mind of man for the purpose of arrogating to itself some of the functions and powers of the Almighty God.
It is a “ghost” created by the mind.
Why is it important to understand Ego?
Consciously or unconsciously, we are all, through all our endeavour, thoughts and activities are seeking happiness, a never-ending acme of happiness throughout our lives. Regardless of what we are engaged in, the underlying motive or objective is to attain happiness. The happiness that we achieve by satisfying a desire related to a sense organ is always short-lived, evanescent or ephemeral. We keep trying to re-seek it, repeat it and re-live the experience and finding that the pleasure does not last very long, we give it up and chase that elusive happiness in another object. Experimenting with innumerable “objects of senses” such as food, sex, alcohol, wealth, power, prestige, fame etc., the ultimate of the acme of happiness remains always elusive and unattainable. The reason is that such a perennial fountain of happiness does not exist in the “external environment”. The fact is that such never-ending acme of happiness can be found in the “inmost chamber” of one’s heart, in the core of one’s personality, in the self or the Atman. Therefore, understanding the “Ego” is absolutely vital for the attainment of absolute happiness.
Constitution of Human Personality
Human personality is constituted of five layers which may be diagrammatically represented by five concentric circles as depicted hereunder:
These are: (1) The physical or gross body. This is the outermost layer. (2) Inside the first layer is the Vital layer of Pranas. (3) Interior to the Vital layer is the third layer of Mind. (4) Inside the Mind is the layer of Intellect and (5) Finally internal to the Intellect is the Blissful layer.
And finally inside the last layer, right in the centre of it is the core, the self or the soul of the person or the Atman. The five layers are integral to the personality of an individual. Each succeeding inner layer is more powerful than the preceding layer. Thus the Vital layer controls the physical layer; the Mind controls the Vital layer; the Intellectual layer controls the Mind and the soul controls all the layers. The Blissful layer is very thin and is the seat where the short-lived, temporary and momentary pleasant sensations from the satisfaction of a desire, a pleasant news etc. are experienced and then percolate into the other layers. The self-effulgent soul casts a shadow on the Intellect which is called the “Ego”. Thus the Ego is a false image in the Mind which tries to identify itself with the soul and tries to arrogate to itself some of the functions, attributes and powers of God.
It is perfectly possible for our consciousness or our “being” to move inwards through these layers of our personality to the final destination, the Atman or the self by self-effort with the guidance of a preceptor.
The “self” is the treasure trove of happiness, the fountain-head of infinite, never-ending, unparalleled and unsurpassable bliss. The progress of the inward movement of one’s consciousness is impeded by the phantom of the ego in the intellectual layer where it offers formidable obstruction. And a Herculean effort is required to subdue the Ego, to attenuate and annihilate the ego before the consciousness can reach its destination, the soul or the Atman. And once this is done, the purpose and mission of human life is fulfilled.
Hence the importance of understanding this Ego.
Attributes of Ego
There is no being on earth or in heaven devoid of the sense of ego.
Of course, there are grades or shades of its manifestation.
Few Modes of Its presentation:
(a) An egoistic person wants his ideas and opinions to be accepted by others. Depending on his intellectual caliber, he tries to argue and convince others of the superiority of his ideas and opinion.
(b) An egoistic person likes to talk and tries to out-talk others. A few of them talk endlessly and do not allow others to talk. They are reluctant to listen to the opinion of others.
(c) One of the stronger version of ego is that such a person is habituated to boasting of his achievements and to parade them before others for receiving approbation and acclamation.
(d) Pride of wealth, progeny, lineage, knowledge and fame is another form of a high grade of egoism.
The stronger the ego, the greater is the resistance put up by the intellectual layer to the inward journey of consciousness to its destination, the soul.
Hence the importance of subduing, attenuating and exterminating the ego.
Means of Attenuating the Ego:
(1) Understanding the ego is the most important step.
(2) Sincerity and not hypocrisy in one’s wish to diminish it.
(3) Genuine humility and not a cultivated or contrived humility or ostentatious humility.O
(4) Genuine motivation in the pursuit of the purpose of life, i.e., realizing one’s identity with the self or the soul.
Annihilation of Ego:
It is extremely difficult by human effort to eradicate the ego. However, it is possible to attenuate the ego to a degree wherein the Supreme Power descends down to complete the task for the sincere seeker.
The great Shankracharyalikens Ego to a poisonous snake with three hoods ( representing the Sattva, Rajas and Tamsicgunas) preventing the inward movement of consciousness to its destination – the treasure trove of the Atman.
Once a surgeon visited the great sage of Rishikesh Swami Sivananda in his Ashram. Swamiji asked the surgeon what operations he had performed in his career. The surgeon mentioned some of the operations. Thereupon, Swamiji asked him, ” Have you done the operation called Ego-ectomy?” The surgeon remarked that he had never heard of it. To that Swamiji stated,
” OK. Come and stay with me and I shall teach how to perform Ego-ectomy”.
There are five layers of human personality. These may be represented by five concentric circles one inside the other. Diagrammatically these may be depicted as:
(The author is former Professor HoD Surgery GMC, Jammu)
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