Pride -1 (Teachings to Change Lives)

అహంకారము  

This whole universe exists because of the sense or feeling “I am”. With out this, the body, mind, intellect and ego do not exist. There was lot of discussion about mind in the scriptures. The Paramatma (supreme God, universal energy or Brahman) was there prior to creation. The so called Maya (illusion) is in the control of God. But we as humans are bound to this Maya. Who ever is beyond this illusion, will not see them selves separate from this universal energy. They do not have this feeling of “Mine”. Every thing in the universe is their consciousness.  Other people see this “I” as their body, mind etc. That’s why they are in this birth death cycle.

 To understand the spirituality we need to get to the bottom of this so called faculty of mind. We say sometimes “my mind won’t accept that or my mind is wandering etc.” Why do we say my mind instead of saying me? Inherently we believe that we are not the mind yet we are a slave to our mind. We want to do what ever comes to our mind and what ever we think is good irrespective of righteousness. This sense of “Me” and “Mine” is fooling us most of the time. This is what leads us to have “pride”. Is pride bad? It is not detrimental as long as it doesn't pull us down. The pity is we can not even grasp that this is causing havoc in our lives. By the time we realize we already caused irreparable damage. This realization will happen only if we are willing to acknowledge that we are wrong.

What is pride?  A high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: Pride must have a fall.

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins: 

These are; 1) Wrath 2) Greed (Avarice), 3) Sloth (lazyness), 4) Pride, 5) Lust, 6) Envy, 7) Gluttony (over indulgence).

In Hindu scriptures we talk about six passions (Arishad Vargas):

1. Kama- lust, 2. Krodha — Anger, 3. lobh — Greed, 4. Moha — delusory emotional attachment, 5. Mada or ahankara — Pride, and  6. Matsarya — envy, jealousy

In Sikkism they call it as five evils (Matsarya was not included). 

So pride could be a feeling that you have everything in your life under control because of your uniqueness, power, authority, and competence;

You don't need anyone or anything to help you maintain things at an even keel. One might have a feeling that we do not have to study hard, apply our self at work, grow in spirituality, work at our marriage or work on personal growth on a daily basis because we are different from the rest of humanity; "things'' will just come naturally, spontaneously and deservedly to us.

People with the pride have an answer for every thing, they know the way and the truth while everyone else is imperfect, dishonest, and requires growth. Pride leads to impatience and they can not trust people easily. They do not agree with people who do not agree with their line of thinking, philosophy and spiritual beliefs. 

Pride can be described in different ways but which ever way we look at it pride will take us down. We can always see the problem in other people and we can not see our own problem.

Recognizing this so called Pride:

We call this Maya (illusion) in our scriptures. The pride will pull us down to the bottom.  A person with pathologic pride will not admit their own weaknesses (masked by pride) and therefore become easy prey for a major downfall when a severe crisis or disaster strikes their lives.

Common behaviors that reflect pride:

They show intolerance and impatient when other people present their ideas or feelings.

They do not want to listen to others because their method is the best and they have the attitude of “know it all”.  

They are resentful of those who do not acknowledge their way as the way.

They are narrowly focused in life and they are grandiose in their capabilities.

They are resentful of being challenged and get angry at others when a challenge arises in life.

They will associate with people who can agree with them and feel uncomfortable if any body opposes them. They will associate with people who they think are equal to them.

They will take the issue or conflict to any length until they can prove their point. In the process they will not hesitate to sacrifice even their loved ones or close acquaintances. 

Ego or egotism (ahamkara) is the reason why we separated ourselves from God. This feeling of “I and Mine” makes us play this game of ignorance in this universe. Because of this we are not able to realize the truth. Ego identifies with body, mind, prana (life forces) and the senses.  We identify ourselves with lot of things. We identify with our birth place, the village or town, state and country etc. We never stop identifying with something or the other. Is this bad? May be or may be not; we have our own likes and dislikes. If any body is different we might not like it.

Ego wants to exercise its power and influence its surroundings. Ego wants power, prestige, respect and a need to be recognized.     

What can we do?

We must have a clear understanding of the nature of this ego.

We can achieve this only through introspection.

We should not be afraid to admit our mistakes.

Understanding our weaknesses is a key component to annihilate this ego.

Self analysis is essential; we need to be alert and vigilant.

Above all we need Guru’s grace to even recognize this so called ego.

Shirdi Sai always taught us to be humble. We may not be able to get rid of pride but we can learn to be humble. All the religions emphasized this fact. Sai was very humble. Baba once said “Your servants servant I am. I am your debtor. I am purified by your darshan. It is great grace on your part to have given me the sight of your feet. I am a worm in your excreta”.

Nobody can be more humble than this. There is so much to learn here. We just have to cement these words to our heart.

This ego has to melt in to this universe and the sense of “I” has to dissolve, then only we will realize the self. Baba always emphasized this fact through his behavior modification techniques.  He always tries to bring these bad qualities out through life experiences. This pride disrupts our progress in the spiritual realm. Gross ego can be conquered easily but subtle ego is tough to get rid off. Even in bhakti (devotion) we get carried away. We show lot of pride and protectiveness. At times we want to control God also. We do not surrender. Moreover we feel superior and consider our selves as most prominent among the devotees. We need Guru’s grace to understand these intricacies.

We may not accept our mistakes that easily. If any one else points these mistakes it might be tougher to digest but there are no shortcuts. We have to analyze this by introspection. Once we get a grasp of this process, we will see significant changes in our lives. Where ever this sense of “Me & Mine” is pulling us and creating problems, we have to observe those situations and analyze them. We have to be in a balanced state to observe these behaviors and internal fluctuations in our psyche. 

The fundamental rule is to be humble. We have to examine our motives in each and every aspect of our lives. Even though it is a noble cause that you are involved in; observe your motives, and where your mind is taking you. We have to dig deeper. We might want to be recognized, get some fame or some other motives. Unless we are devoid of these internal motives, unconscious feelings, we will not advance in the spiritual world. We have to suffer through dualities of life. That's why Baba focused on our psyche and past karmas so that he can advance us in life. He did not use a single method and prescribed what ever process that was essential. 

OM SAI RAM!