The ego has a natural tendency to control, while all of us have a natural tendency to explore. When we go to the mountains, sit by the side of a river, watch the wild birds, that "free spirit" within us comes out in the open, and we get lost in the magic of nature. We suddenly become thoughtless, as if thoughts are too limited to absorb the beauty and grandness of nature. When we travel by air and peep out the window at the clouds and the horizon, we get mesmerised by the wonderful show of nature. When we suddenly encounter a good soul, we talk to that person for the first time and feel as if we know them for life. Time flies by, and we don't have a sense of time. We stumble across so many wonderful things, and then?
Then, the ego wants to control. We had such a beautiful experience at a tourist station, and now we want our family members to have the same experience. We plan a visit to seek the same experience. We plan visits to seek out the experiences advertised on social media. The moment we reach there, we try to capture it with the camera so we can show it to all our friends and post the photographs on social media. But it's nowhere near that sudden encounter we had the last time. We keep attending social gatherings to find that "wow" moment again, when we talk to people freely. The more we try, the more frustrated we get. The more we try to hold the sand tightly, the more it slips out of our hands.
The moment "ego" comes into play, the magic disappears. Ego works for expectations. We have a very beautiful concept of "Yajna" in the Indian scriptures. The sages are performing "Yajna" all the time in their lives. What is "Yajna"? We perform a sacrifice, and then get a "Prasad" from God. While performing the "Yajna", our entire focus is on the sacrifice. We pray for the welfare of the world. In the course, we get the "Prasad", which is what will enable us to carry out our tasks. If we extend the concept of "Yajna" to our lives, all our actions are like "Yajna" we perform for the welfare of society, and in the process, we earn a salary to meet our own and our family members' needs. When the "Yajna of life" is performed with this spirit, we remain content in whatever we get as "prasad". Unfortunately, in today's world, most people live their lives in the spirit of give-and-take. The price of doing the "Yajna" is fixed, and the mind is constantly calculating whether the price is sufficient or not.
When we live our lives under the control of the ego, it's impossible for us to experience the profundity of life. Ego creates expectations. We develop tunnel vision and tend to miss so many beautiful experiences around the tunnel. We tend to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. The ego is very clever. After all, it has survived for millions of years, and therefore, it's not going to give in so easily. It will try to hold on to material possessions and relationships, and, if nothing else, to the self-image of "being right". My views are correct. That's why it is always in a hurry to respond. While sitting in the mountains, looking at the river, or at the clouds from the window of a flight, or while talking to a stranger for hours as we flow with the discussion, are we in a hurry to prove anything? No. That leisure allows us to escape from the trap of ego, at least for a few moments.
But we have to navigate our lives. Otherwise, it will be wasted. Unless we control it, our life will be like a chariot whose charioteer is sleeping and the horses are running here and there without any purpose. We see so many children wasting their lives in drugs, alcohol, wasting time with their friends, aimlessly roaming around here and there. Ego seems to be a great support. It gives life a purpose, a direction. I feel it's just a myth because we have never lived with awareness. When we live with awareness, both our conscious and unconscious minds are guided by it. When we connect to that awareness, at all the levels, that consciousness guides each of our decisions. There is a very effective self-examination kit. The moment there is a reaction, and after that reaction, we are disturbed, we can easily understand that it is the play of the ego. The ego wants to prove something or get something, and because it has not got the same, it is disturbed. On the other hand, when our conscious and unconscious minds are fully aware, there are no reactions, and we stay calm while performing our "Yajna" with complete dedication. Performing "Yajna" is itself a blissful experience because we feel that inner connection while performing the "Yajna".
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