Self Dignity vs. the Ego

Picture "Buddha in my Heart" kindly provided by h.koppdelaney

What is the difference between acting with dignity and acting with Ego? There is a lot actually...No-one can run away from Ego, it is a natural faculty that we need to survive, otherwise we would give the shirts off our backs to anyone who needs it! It is a basic survival instinct, if we look at it that way, and let it do its job, we can tame it to be a healthy ego, one that will work for us.

The trouble is when we identify with the Ego as a sole reason for our existence, as a substitute for our soul, then it is shallow, self serving, all consuming and quite frankly inconsiderate and obnoxious. We have to treat the ego as a means to an end, it needs to fulfill its purpose, to help us preserve the necessities in life, so that we have time for contemplation, time for meditation , time for service. Only if our house is in order, we can help others do so, only when we have peace of mind, we can offer it to others, only if we guard ourselves with humility, can the leadership of the spirit shine through...

Dignity on the other hand is knowing that one deserves to stand equal to any other human being because of a fundamental right, because we recognize all things are fundamentally not different but one, just like rays from the same sun.  Dignity as defined in Wikipedia: "Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment".  One should have the dignity to be able stand up to anyone, be it your boss, be it the president, be it the queen and speak in confidence, heartfully of whatever matters purely because one understands this as a basic right, and that all are truly created equal.

It is a powerful thing to act with conviction when you are driven by self dignity and guarded by humility. Look at Gandhi, he had self dignity, he was able to throw out an entire British empire because they could not take that away from him. Gandhi also said that that "he is is own worst enemy", referring to his own ego.  Jim Collins author of "Good To Great" identifies the best leaders as level 5 leaders that built companies that persevered and outperformed all others, had an interest common attribute, humility forged with a passion for doing what was right for their people and organisation (dignity), putting this in front of their own selfish interests many times.  How rare is this? compare this with today's corporate greed and ridiculous payouts when people have no jobs!  Look at Steve Job (God bless him) with his trademark turtle neck t-shirt and jeans, look at the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with their simple robes, their message and beliefs is more important then themselves.

When you are driven by a positive value, then it is not called an action, its called a movement! Movement of the consciousness materialized on the earthly plane, full of fruitful intention...it is powerful stuff, it is Matrix material :)!

Humility, self dignity, service is the perfume that evolved souls adorn themselves with. Please ponder this deeply in your mind as you go about your day to day life.

The perfume of humility

Picture "Now" kindly provided by h.koppdelaney

I seek those who wear the perfume of humility

What use is a cup which is not hollow?
Have you ever seen a proud lover?
A lover has to go down on one knee to propose
Is humility not an embodiment of true love?

The temple of the living God is not made of bricks or mortar, but of flesh and blood

With a door that is tinier than an atom

Only the naked soul can enter

Oh friend, adorn the perfume of humility

One lock of eternity is opened by it

Peace,

Kirpal

Purity needs to be uncovered, not covered with false purity...

Being on a spiritual or religious path does not necessarily make you a better person, it can make you a better hypocrite because you are more aware...one cannot fake it, conceptualize or intellectualize it, all goodness comes automatically from one's dedication to their own practical application of the path chosen...purity is already there, it just needs to be uncovered, not covered with more layers of false purity.

Ego is prevalent in everything even spirituality.  Humility is the armor of Spirituality, see Guru Habit 1. I use this as a basis of choosing my mentors and my friends.  A cupful does not leave room for much more....

The following is a great post on 10 spiritual transmitted diseases, I highly recommend reading it.

Guru Habit 1 - Humility

The first Guru Habit is Humility.

In contemporary life, humility is more important than ever. The more successful we become, both as individuals and as a family, through our development of science and technology, the more essential it becomes to preserve humility. For the greater our material achievements, the more vulnerable we become to pride and arrogance. Dalai Lama Facebook Post 14th Jan 2011

Humility is a virtue, and not highly regarded in the Western world. In the west the ego is highly valued, and often overinflated, people are often full of themselves, and it can be quite tiring listening to all that BS!

Photo by NASA Goddard

Lack of Humility is evident by the constant desire to "Exert our own will, vs accepting and being grateful for all that is given"

The Ego is often a sense of identity, people exert an enormous amount of energy to appear a certain way or maintain a certain image reflective.

Why is Humility to important?

In the primal beginning, we were all together, a single source, undifferentiated, we did not know nothing but bliss and that was the problem.

So the creative power decided to create a grand scheme, a scheme where we could know ourself as separate individuals, through taking on the garment of the mind, of which ego is its primary clothing.

The ego is a sense of self, separate from each other, a healthy ego is required to survive in this world, if we did not have an ego, we would not survive on this planet.

However the ego is meant to serve us, not to control us. See the ego tries to fill in this void of the soul by creating an "artificial" soul here on the physical plane by physical things, and thats were the problem starts.

An inflated ego, does not leave any room for anyone else let alone the divine. We have to empty ourself, dissolution of our false importance is required. Us as separate individuals have really nothing to hold on to, everything physical is temporary, changing, hence not the truth.

The remedy for the Ego, is:
1. Contemplation of its Opposite Values (Humility, Compassion & Love)
2. Self-Less Service (Sewa)
3. Company of Seekers of Truth (Satsang)
4. Meditation (Including Yoga, Pranayama, Qi Gong)

Contemplation of its Opposite Values (Humility, Compassion & Love)

"As you think, so you are", the repetition of values, bringing images and thoughts of humility to mind everyday, can develop habits automatically.

Here is a daily affirmation for humility:

I hereby affirm that I will undertake all actions today with a sense of humility, as I recognize that the ego is a poor substitute for my soul.

Self-Less Service (Sewa)

Self-Less service to others can make teach you a lesson in Humility, I have seen doctors, lawyers clean people's shoes and toilets in the temples.

One does not need to do any of these, but doing actions of humility in our lives can teach one humility practically. Practice Humility in action in your everyday environment, at Work, at Home, a Charity, in your place of Worship, by doing volunteer work to benefit any worthwhile cause.

Company of Seekers of Truth (Satsang)

Do you expect to find a lion in a herd of sheep? If you want to change your behavior and values, there is no more powerful way than to change the company of people you keep.

In today's day of the internet, one can even keep company virtually, although this is limited in certain ways. Joining a charity or a spiritual group like the "Art of Living" is a good way to find positive people.

Meditation (Including Yoga, Pranayama, Qi Gong)

One of the most powerful way of self change is any form of meditation. In this category I include seated meditation, moving meditations like Yoga, Qi Gong, and Pranayama. Meditation is very powerful, because it connects you to your true self, automatically shedding all false emotional and mental layers.  Its like a washing machine for your mind, however it does take some self work, and effort.

Progress in meditation in any form (Moving and Non-Moving) depends on two things:
1. Quality of Teacher
2. Dedication of Practice by the Student

It sad, that no-one gives guidance on the right habits to develop, often in the Eastern traditions, the Guru provides this, even parents in today's fast pace lives do not value these great Virtues, brainwashed by a bombarding of mindless images in the form of advertisement, entertainment and bad company.

Hope this article has brought some contemplation of the most important habit of Humility.

To finish I ask:  "Why be the Wave when you can be the Ocean", why cling on to a limited expression of yourself when you can be an infinite expression of one, by letting go of the attachment of the Ego and a temporary sense of identity.


"Your way begins on the other side. Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color. Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud. Slide out the side.
The speechless full moon comes out now."
~Rumi


Wishing you Love, Compassion & Peace of Mind,

Kirpal


This work by Kirpal Chauhan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License