The Ego and the True Self
Why
does the mind go outwards and the intellect inward?
Since the mind is in close association (Sat-sang) with the five sense
organs (eyes, nose, mouth, hands and ears) it always tend to go
outward because these sense organs react to the external
stimuli. Hence the mind also follows it.
In the ancient Sanskrit and Tamil languages, a word "Ahamkara" is
commonly used. This is roughly translated as "Ego". Ego is the "I"
feeling that "I" am the body with the sense organs. So Ego is
generated when the mind is associated with the body sense organs and
its perception. The realm of the mind is the realm of the Ego.
If the mind operates with the feeling
of the body and senses, then it is the Ego feeling. The "I" feeling ,
that I am the body, mind, senses is the Ego feeling.
There is another term used in these ancient languages, "Atma". This is
roughly translated as the "Self". This difference between the
Ego and the Self is that the Ego feels that "I" am the body, the mind
and the senses. The Self on the other hand is the "perceiver" of the
body and the mind and the senses. The Self "witnesses" every thing and
so is the perceiver.
Differentiating these two terms is very essential to understand every
aspect in Vedic tradition. Equally important it is to know to
understand healing also. The Ego is the gate -keeper that makes sure
that the mind does not move inwards. Ego always wants the mind to
revel with the body, sense organs and the mind. Therefore all
spiritual practices were oriented to break the gate that the Ego
safeguards, and transcend to the realm of the Self, that witnesses all
the actions.
We will go deep into this aspect later ,but now we will focus on
healing. In the next pages we will discuss about faith in healing.
This is highly debated topic in modern science. Modern science fails
to understand this because of the lack of its understanding on the
nature of the mind, ego and about awareness.
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