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People ask me: you say the key
lesson of Gita is to surrender, to drop the mind. You also say that the ego and
mind do not exist. How to drop something that does not exist ?
You are absolutely correct. I do
say and all others in the lineage of masters have affirmed that ego is an
illusion. However, you live in and with that illusion. It is reality for you,
though not the truth..
You cannot surrender ego when you
are unaware - because you don't know how. Of course, you cannot surrender it
when you become aware either - because then you realise that there is nothing
left to surrender!
What you have heard, read, and
been taught - 'surrender the ego in order to attain Self- realisation' -this is
an utterly nonsensical idea. It can happen only the other way round. Self-realisation
dawns, and suddenly you cannot find the ego anymore. The surrender has already
happened, just like that.
Suppose you are sitting in a dark
room. You want the darkness to disappear. But can you push it out ? Can you
fight darkness and force it to leave the room ? No! No matter how long you keep
trying, you are ultimately going to be defeated - and that too by something which
does not exist!
The ego is like darkness, it has
no positive existence. Just like darkness is simply the absence of light, the
ego is nothing but the absence of awareness. To struggle to kill the ego is like
struggling to push the darkness out of the room. To really expel the darkness,
what you need to do is to forget all about dealing with the darkness. Focus your
energy on Light instead. Just bring a small lamp into the room, and you will
find that the darkness has fled on its own!
So, I tell you to forget all
about the ego. Instead, focus on bringing a lamp of awareness into your being.
When your entire consciousness has become a flame, you will find that the ego is
no more.
I am glad if such a question has
arisen in your being. The ego is the root cause for all your anxieties, sorrows,
and tension. It is your doorway to hell. To actively feel that you want to drop
the ego, to feel the need to be rid of this burden is itself a step towards
awareness. It shows that you are stirring from your sleep! |
