Only a Guru can prescribe the medicine of wisdom to cure the disease. But it is mandatory that the pupil approach the Guru seeking a cure for his illness, and he has to realise that he is afflicted by the killer disease called ego. He can diagnose this by engaging in self-contemplation and by watching one’s overt and covert thoughts and actions. But a person who is bereft of all this can never free himself from ego, even if he takes a million births.
For someone affected by ego, compassion and sympathy give more relief than a permanent cure. A mind which looks at temporary outlets for achieving this will never seek the Guru. Such a mind looks forward to apologies and capitulation from others. It is easy to pamper the ego by saying things such as, “You are the best,” and, “There is nobody who can equal you.”
But people characterised by a bloated ego feed each other’s condescension. Any slight rupture in this equilibrium upsets them, and they eternally live in an illusion. Allaying the ego is a temporary treatment. It only aggravates the disease and never gives a permanent cure to the disorder.
Arrogance
It is baseless to believe that arrogance is an illusion. It is a product of man’s previous Karma. Life’s main purpose is to slave conceit only after which liberation is possible. To become one with divinity is to win over several beastly and human instincts. Man is born only to realise the motive of his birth and to achieve it. But mind, caught in the vortex of deceit, falsehood, illusion and arrogance loses its sheen by the day. This is when man loses touch with himself. Such a man’s mind loses its balance as it gets stuck in the never engender love, creating a conducive atmosphere for human life to realise its full potential.
For anyone who is conscious about this, his bondage becomes an experience and motivates him to seek liberation. This is also a drive towards realising divinity. Once this drive raises its head in a man, half of his problems are solved.
Once he stumbles into the right path, he is sure to reach his target. He realises that arrogance is futile and starts looking for truth with this knowledge. With the defeat of conceit, truth gets strengthened and spiritual energy increases, leading to divinity. When mind is disengaged with outer things, it becomes interested in inner realities. This is a process, which happens simultaneously.
Although man may achieve anything in his haughtiness, he still cannot have the fruits, as it is not God’s will.
God can be worshipped with full devotion only when the mind craves for him. Here the mind has to be like Sudhama, eternally seeking the devotion of God. Even though caught in grave poverty, Sudhama never wanted anything more than Krishna’s blessings.
The article has been taken from the book Touch Stone by Gurumatha Amma