GO EGO GO by Surekha Chandrasekhar

Today morning I woke up with this unusual slogan in my mind ‘’ Go ego go’’. I felt I must write down a few lines on this miscreant ‘’ego’’ causing havoc in our lives. Whenever I think ‘’Oh, I have no ego’’ something or other happens to hurt my ego and I am like ‘’ Oh that little ego hurts’’. J Ego is there and cannot be avoided completely. It also has its companions jealousy, anger, and depression. As we are approaching a brand new year we can take a few minutes to contemplate the presence of ego and its harmful effects on lives.

Ego is ignorant.

The Emperor was obsessed with clothes. Every day he would wear a shining new outfit and go on a ride outside his palace so that everyone can see him and admire the workmanship and splendor of his costumes. One day a clever weaver approached the King and promised to weave a delicate royal robe which no one has ever worn. The weaver handed the magical invisible costume to the King and said ‘’ This costume is invisible to everyone. It is looking so great on you like a second skin’’.

The Emperor couldn’t wait to show off this magnificent costume to everyone in his kingdom. He set out as a big procession in his invisible cloak reveling in his glory. All ministers and others in the court extolled the beauty of the invisible cloth. As the procession was passing through a street a little boy shouted in excitement ‘’Look, The Emperor is naked’’.

The Emperor was wearing nothing but his Ego. Ego is the veil that prevents us from seeing the nakedness of our ignorance.

Ego is ancient.

Pandavas made their royal palace in their capital city Indraprastha with the help of the architect of Gods Vishwakarma. Vishwakarma also invited Maya the asura for the making of the palace. Maya made a great palace of grandeur and illusions. The great Kuru Duryodhna was invited to see this splendor at the Rajasuya Yagna. Duryodhana mistook the highly reflective surface of the lake inside the palace as land and stepped into it and fell into the water. Hurting his deflated ego in the process. Panchali laughed seeing the fall of the mighty Duryodhana. This added fuel to fire. A hurt ego in an evil mind can cause unimaginable destructions. We all know about the ego play of Duryodhana after this incident ended in the fierce and destructive Kurukshetra war.

Replace Ego with beauty and surrender.

Small children don’t have egos and hence they are called the children of God. Children observe parents and imitate them at some point or other. ‘’ Children may not listen to their parents, but definitely, they will follow their parents’’ Says Param Pujaniya Swamiji. As parents, we can inculcate a sense of humility and beauty in children through our actions. We cannot be completely egoless, we are humans. Ego hurts. It has a ripple effect also.

Only The Grace of Guru can save us from the darkness of the ego to light.

Let us step into The New Year with prayer and surrender to our Guru.