A R R O G A N C E, EGO, HUMILITY and kalidasa

 A R R O G A N C E*

After travelling long through a forest, *Kalidasa reached a village. He felt very thirsty and looked around for water.*

He saw an old woman drawing water from a well.

He went up to her and asked her for water. *She agreed to give him water, but asked him to first introduce himself,*

WHO ARE YOU  ?

 "Introduce yourself.” 

Now Kalidasa, who was a renowned and revered scholar of his time, thought that *an ordinary and old village woman was not worthy of knowing who great Kalidasa was.*

So he said, 

*I am a traveller*

But the old lady replied, “No, *you cannot be a traveller.* In this world there are only 2 travellers – *the Sun and the Moon. Both Rise and Set every day and keep travelling perpetually.*

WHO ARE YOU  ?

Thirsty Kalidasa said, *“Alright then, treat me as a guest.”*

Old lady promptly replied, *“No you cannot be a guest,* son. 

In this world there are *only 2 guests – Youth and Wealth … both are temporary and do not stay even if you plead with them a million times, and hence can only they be called as guests.”*

WHO ARE YOU  ?

Thirsty but now quite intrigued with the profoundness of this old lady, Kalidasa said, *“I am a TOLERANT Person, mother* 

Now the old lady replied, *“You don’t quite look tolerant,* young man. 

In this world *only 2 truly know the meaning of Tolerance* 

*Bhoomi (Earth) and Tree*. How much ever you stamp the earth or throw stones at the tree (for the fruits), both continue to nurture us.”

So, 

WHO ARE YOU  ?

With unquenched thirst, Kalidasa was increasingly becoming irritable. He said, *“Fine then, consider me a Stubborn Person* 

The lady smiled and said, *“No my child, you are not that stubborn.*

There are only 2 truly stubborn personalities *our nails and our hair. We keep cutting them non-stop, but they continue to grow.”*

So

WHO ARE YOU  ?

Kalidasa had been patient so far, but now in anger he said, *“Alright, I am a Fool”.* 

Now the lady gave a wide smile and said, *“There are only 2 kinds of fools* in this world 

*A King who rules without having any capability or knowledge & a Minister* who is a sycophant to such a King and lavishes praises on such a useless king.”

WHO ARE YOU  ?

Kalidasa realised that *he had been outsmarted by an old illiterate village woman.*

 In complete awe and humility, he fell at the feet of the lady, saying,

*“O mother! How ignorant I was to think that I know myself.*

I am ashamed of myself. Pardon my ignorance.

Show mercy, and grant me water, I beg of you.

When he touched her feet and then got up,

 Whom did he see?...

*Mata Saraswati the Goddess of Learning and Wisdom.*    

She said, “Kalidasa, you are wise. *But only if you know yourself do you become a true Manushya (human being).* 

Your *EGO* has overshadowed your achievements. 

You are *educated, but you are also given to arrogance*. 

Hence, I had to come to guide you.

The mark of a true human being is *not his knowledge, but his humility.* 

_*Your Intellect*_

_*Your Education is of...*_

_*NO USE IF IT...*_

_*ONLY FEEDS YOUR*_

 _*E   G  O.*_

I- the grand inflated ego injected individual called human being

I- the grand inflated ego injected individual called human being.

Many things are conjured up over time in the space between our two ears. 

​​

With these we create a grand identity which marches in its mortal frame briefly as 'I'. 

This 'I', if we investigate and look into it in-depth will actually be made of many 'I's.

They range from great

Ideas, 

Imaginations,

Interpretations, 

Inferences,

Intuitions,

Intellectualization, 

Injecting emotions,

Information overload,

Inheritance of innumerable rituals, cultures, beliefs, traditions,

Inspirational thoughts,

Internalization with conscious awareness, 

Indifference and impervious attitudes,

Innocent curiosity based inquiry into many things,

Inquisitiveness to learn new things,

Incubation of humanitarian concerns to end confrontations and conflicts;

Impulsive behavior patterns, 

Instinctive responses,

Indecisiveness in making choices,

Inability to be humble and introspect,

Inadequate knowledge and understanding in many aspects.

This 'I', if we investigate and look into it in-depth will actually need many 'I's.

They need to

Intimate at least intermittently to

Imbibe a few time tested humanitarian values;

Inculcate scientific temperament;

Instill the importance of rational approach, thinking and outlook;

Increase the frames of references to perceive with contextual relevance;

Interpret and evaluate issues with perspectives based on inherent merits;

Increase synergy among micro and macro aspects.

This 'I', if we investigate and look into it in-depth will resorts to these 'I's.

In spite of all these

Inflated ego of this 'I' 

Impregnates immense importance to itself 

Invigorates all external influences including inviting institutional ideologies,

Imparts illusionary importance to things and giving importance to illusions;

Ignores its own ignorance but

Indicates that of others; 

Insulates or intrudes itself and

Idolizes itself narcissistically as an indispensable and independent

Individual without realizing that everything and everyone are

Interrelated,

Interconnected,

Interdependent and all are

Inhabiting one among the many

Interconnected planets for an

Interim period- which no one knows how long?

Issues, incidents and internal conflicts are woven in and around the reactions or Inherent imbalances of this 'I';

Inner perception of these inevitable facts must inspire us to

Include everyone's welfare as part of life as a whole without inhibition.

Immunize against intimidation by incessant comparisons.

Inner realization may involve some of these aspects but I can't say for sure.

Ego

Let Go My Ego
by Vanessa Ebner

"We need to balance the need to do (ego) with the need to be (Spirit). In the balance, soul exists. The key to living and creating soul is to have both Spirit and our human nature equally present in our consciousness." --Andrew Schneider

When you drop the (L)ight and (T)ruth from (L)e(T) Go what you are left with is EGO. Being able to see the light and truth of the conscious and sub-conscious enables you to free your ego to live a balanced life. Letting go of your ego takes conscious effort and it never ends. Keeping your ego in check is a full time job, read on and you will see why.

Your ego is very powerful and can send you on a wild goose chase at the most in opportune times. When the need for flexibility presents itself, the last thing you want blocking you is your ego. Your heart tells you one thing, the ego INSISTS on the opposite. There you are left standing at the crossroad not knowing which path to take.

So what now? Do you go with what your heart is telling you or do you listen to your ego telling you exactly what it thinks is best for you? This can be a moment when you do not want to be held back; do you throw caution to the wind and do what your heart tells you? The ego is the number one roadblock along the life path. How do you massage the ego and leave yourself intact?

The ego is relentless! The ego you were born with takes on many new roles as you approach adulthood. Egos are very opinionated aspects of the personality. Everyone has one! Realizing this is the first step in knowing that you can take what you want and leave the rest. You can do the same with other people's egos or opinions. However, the ego does not give up easily. It cannot relate to love or its existence.

Ego based living is living out the opinions of your ego without so much as caring what or how it impacts your life or the lives of others. It is letting the ego create imbalance by controlling you. Egos invade others’ space and as a result set you up for a lot of heartache. The key is to get ego to relate to the spirit. Is this easy? NO, for the ego never likes being out of control.

There are great aspects to the ego; it has its good points, it is God-given at birth. The ego that you were blessed with was to guide you along your path on earth. It was God's way of letting you know that you are not expected to do life all alone. The ego given was a great re-enforcer of self. It provided you with all the tools necessary to grow and balance life while learning to walk. It enhanced your self-esteem. Where in the world along this path did it take on different personalities and become so over powering?

As you grew so did your ego. Each day the ego grew stronger and picked up one more trait on how to control you. It grew enormously and unless you knew then to remain in control of your ego instead of vice versa; it came to over power you as an adult. However, it's never too late to take your power back!

The ego takes on many forms. Here are a few that I am sure everyone can relate to at one time or another in life.

1. The power ego. It loves nothing more than to make you one of power over others. Knowing this ego is controlling, you have to apply the strength that power ego gives you in a way that you do not hurt others as a result.

2. The superior ego. Ahhh, that one is pretty common. It's really easy for it to convince you that you are superior to others and your skills are more important than that of your friends, family, and co-workers.

3. The defensive ego. This one keeps you so contained that it's hard for you to accept the guidance and lessons others offer. Learning to deal with this one takes time but well worth it.

4. The stubborn ego. What can this one do for you? Well, let's see. It can keep the real you imprisoned. It backs up the defense ego perfectly by disallowing you to admit you are wrong and others are right. It blocks acknowledgement that prevents growth.

5. The meddling ego. Wow this one is a sneaky snake! This one takes on power to actually let you believe you know what is best for others. Imagine that.
It tells you there isn't a need to ask if others need or want your opinion, it goes blasting in without so much as getting permission to do so.

These were just a few examples of egotism. There are many more forms of ego that make you blind to all of the love that life holds for you. The ego was given to serve you not control you. Take back the power you have unconsciously endowed to your ego. While the ego will always remain a strong part of who you are, it is time to let go of the ego to free yourself and begin living a life of conscious change and loving. LET GO MY EGO!