Ego is worse than rust

The other day we spoke about attitude and just on that topic we can write volumes, a library full of books. I just want to say what I said on Swami's samadhi day. Life is a journey worth living. This journey is made up of people, and people are made up of attitude. Therefore life is an attitude-filled journey worth living only if it is in the absence of ego. And I think the cause of any kind of attitude points directly to the ego.

We live in this ego-state where we think that we are the only one in this universe, that everybody around us is non-existent, that this world belongs to 'me' and 'me alone'. Everybody in front of us is so small that we cannot see them. And that is a very dangerous attitude. That is the highest in the ranking of ego-attitude. Out of attitude you can make a beautiful world, out of attitude you can make a disastrous world, you can make a destructive world or a happy world. It is all based on attitude. The only reason two countries, or two people, fight is because they have the wrong attitude. And by having the wrong attitude we are full of ego.

Ego is worse than rust. It dissolves your character and creates its own character. Ego can make you somebody you are not. And by living in that ego you start to destroy, besides yourself, everybody in your path. And on this journey that I spoke about, we should be egoless. On this spiritual journey, this journey that we all so much desire to be on, we need to be egoless. We need to not worry about what other people think about us. You should worry about you and the self. Once you realise the self, you automatically become egoless, but to maintain that state of egolessness, we need to continuously know the self. And this can only be done by continuous practice. By continuous practise, instilling in the mind the will to know the self, you become egoless.

Every journey in this universe is difficult. None of you become millionaires or poor people the easy way. Even that was difficult. Becoming rich is difficult and becoming poor is also difficult. This journey is not made of easy methods. It is made of difficult methods. And our most difficult method on this journey is to neglect the physical self, and pay attention to the eternal inner self which we call atma, soul, consciousness, whatever you desire to call this state of beauty. But don't give it any name that will start up your ego. That you need to know. You should be egoless beings. That doesn't mean that tomorrow you should take your clothes off and run down the main street without ego. Ego is your character – destroy that. 'I am a principal', 'I am a guru', 'I am a spiritual master', 'I am a spiritual head', 'I am a president', 'I am a secretary' –  destroy that and just silently do the job you're supposed to do. And in doing that job silently you'll attain that beautiful state of samadhi. It is the most beautiful state on this plane. If you have experienced it, you have experienced beatitude and love. There's nothing more that you need to attain on this journey if you have attained the state of samadhi.

Many people, devotees, disciples, and people of discipline, have lost everything because of ego. Ego destroys you. Ego kills you. Ego eventually dissolves you and creates its own character which is generally hated by everyone around you. But do not portray a false senses of character. This journey is with spine – it's not a spineless journey. Many people I have known hold positions but they are spineless. You need to stand firmly in what you do and what you believe on this journey. But stand firmly without ego. Do not be friends with everybody and in that process lose the self and get caught up in this friendship or this union, togetherness, or whatever you call it. Do not get caught up in that. Just live a righteous journey, a righteous life, and  become a righteous being.

Prepare your inner, outer, entire self to attain the state of samadhi. That is a very important aspect of this journey – to attain the state of eternal bliss. I'm going to conclude by saying that life is a journey worth living. On the journey are people. Because there are people, there are attitudes. Life is an attitude-filled journey worth living egoless.

Hari Om.

Swami Murugesu Mahasamadhi

Those who have met Murugesu Swami will tell you that he was an unbelievably divine spiritual soul. He taught everything through telepathy. We never had a formal lesson but when we left his ashram we all had lessons which we followed.

Life on its own is a very beautiful journey and this  journey is made up of people, and people are made up of attitude. Therefore life itself is an attitude-filled journey, without ego. As you see him dressed here in this statue, Swami used to be dressed like that – nothing extraordinary, just two pieces of cloth. He was totally egoless. If I walk with my guru, it is my own experience, and I would never mention to any being that I am walking with my guru at that moment. He has taught me that as soon as you mention him being with you, you are full of ego. It is your personal experience. And the same goes for all other gurus.

We need to enjoy this life. When I was pushed down the chute of my mothers womb, I left behind a carefree situation, and I was plunged into this universe only to realise that God has put me here just for one thing: to have a union called yoga – a union with God. And as long as we start to experience this union with God, this oneness with God, this yoga, we are experiencing life's journey. We can be content with life's happiness, with life's joys, with life's sorrow and pain – but we should never be content with life's material aspect and ego. The greatest destruction for a human being is ego. 

Whether you are a classical, professional musician, a professional dancer, or a senior accountant, as you walk this journey egoless, you become a spiritual musician, dancer, or accountant. I've never experienced so much beauty,  love, and energy in all the dances I've seen in my life, until this morning. Every molecule, every atom, every nadi in my body was vibrating, and my whole being was filled with tears of joy – and I could see through this dance, my guru, my great master, the beauty, the simplicity, and yet  it was extraordinary. And that is what makes life. Life is made up of simplicity. Extraordinary simplicity is just a bonus. We can not be simply extraordinary. We must be extraordinarily simple. That is this life. And we must all live this life. Really, I cannot express, and I am sure that Amma (Jagadambal) will also echo the same words when she saw the dance. I watched her. She was also a dancer. I thought, the dance was the most beautiful – but it was egoless. That makes it more beautiful.

Walking with the master, dancing with the master, talking with the master, is only your experience – not anybody else's. The beauty and beatitude, love, and graceful movements echoed in every nadi of my body. I could not resist but to give (the dancers) what I had around my neck. There was nothing else I could give for the joy that I experienced in those moments. They were full of cosmic eternal joy. This joy is eternal. I will remember it continuously – just to live in a state of ecstasy, and I will live in a state of ecstasy every time I think of the two dancers we saw here today – beautiful. And that's what makes life – simple beauty.

There are a few things in life that we should know. And of the things in life that we should know there are only three things that make this life extraordinary. The first is dedication to whatever you do in life. The second is non-cruelty to any human being or animal, in word, deed or action. And the third is Ishwara – that we worship God and God alone. If you have these three, you are egoless. The  aim of this life is to be egoless. Ego actually means 'enlarged growth of the oblongata'. All those people who are egoless – they are not like you and I – they think they come from another planet, another world, and yet spirituality is simplicity. Simplicity is love, love is togetherness, and togetherness means no hate. It's as simple as that. Why is this world fighting continuously? We're fighting in our homes, in our ashram, in our countries. Because we are not simple. If we were simple human beings we would not fight.

I've just come back from Nepal – I don't know if the word 'simplicity' can define the people there – they live such a simple, content life. As we sit here, we are not content with life. We are always striving. We all want to see something: Babaji, Murugesu Swami, we have this thing continuously. Then when we've see them we want to see somebody else. We don't know when is enough. And yet we should be content with what we have. And in the words of Paramahansa Yogananda: 'To attain contentment, meditate'. Whenever you're caught in the state of being full of ego, sit quietly and find  yourself. And once you find yourself, you've found God, because self-realization takes you to God-realization. Nobody can claim to be God-realised if they don't know the self. If you have control of yourself, you won't be harsh to people, or be rude, harm them or steal. Because you don't have control of yourself, this is the time to take control of yourself. And only after that can we have a beautiful life.

So,  life is a journey full of living. And this journey is made up of people, and people are made up of attitude, and our life is an attitude-filled journey only if it is egoless.

Hari Om.