Human Excellence in Bhagavad Gita. Anahamkara (Absence of ego) (13.9) "The Extraordinary comes only through Egolessness."

Human Excellence in Bhagavad Gita. Anahamkara  (Absence of ego) (13.9)

"The Extraordinary comes only through Egolessness."

When we dig a well, we only dig the earth; water is already present in the earth, and we take credit for the drinking water that comes out of it! Likewise we sow a seed, it sprouts and becomes a tree and bears fruits; and we claim, ‘I have produced the fruits’. We do not create flowers or fruits; Nature does it. On a closer examination of the whole issue, we will find that our contribution is indeed very little. Neither water nor manure was created by us; we only brought it together. We are mere agents of action. When we thus analyze our claims, all our egoism begins to melt away.

We are mere instruments in the hands of a Higher Power—we are like a pen which has no right to say, ‘I wrote this letter’; whatever is written, is done by the writer and not the pen. Good or bad—it is all written by the writer. Similarly body, mind, and our senses are mere instruments. Minus them the person is nothing. And these instruments are in the hands of the Divine.

In absence of introspection, ego becomes even more crystallized. Egocentric people look upon everything as a prestige-issue. Whenever anything becomes an issue of prestige, it creates a situation of point-of-no-return. A prestige-conscious person thinks: ‘My way or no way’. He does not care whether it may cause inconvenience to others or whether it is necessary to do that work; he just wants to fulfil his sense of false honour and prestige. This creates discontentment and being discontent and unhappy, one then tries to control others to fulfil his selfish agenda.

A happy and contented person enjoys others’ happiness and does not try to control them. He enjoys giving freedom to others and does not try to possess them.

Success or failure in any context depends on so many factors. By  chance, we too participate in that process or happening. We can never be sure of the final result of our actions because the result is not in our control; we can only do our actions. We can only play our role and not appropriate all the results.

The remedy lies in seeing or recognising the Universal  Will,  the  Ishwareccha, behind all our actions. If we can recognize the Universal Will, our egoism will vanish.

We will have to be vigilant and detect its workings and slowly size it up.

When we begin to discover that we are mere instruments, we then see the hollowness of all egodriven actions and claims. This is the practice of anahamkara  or egolessness.

Benefits of egolessness:-
* Personal growth
“For me, life has been a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth.”
* Perspective taking
“Before criticizing somebody, I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place.”
* Inclusive identity
“I feel a connection to all living things.”“I feel a connection with strangers.”
* Detached awareness
“I find myself doing things without paying much attention to it's results.”

( Based on Vedanta Kesari and other sources
Edited and Condensed by Swami Adhishwarananda)

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च।
जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम्।।13.9।।