Exploring the Universal Ego: Insights from the Bhagavad Gita || Acharya Prashant (2024)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...  ~~~~~ Video Information: 11.05.2024, VBC, Greater Noida  Context:  Even as a man casts off worn-out clothes, and puts on others which are new, so the ego casts off worn-out bodies, and enters into others which are new. Bhagavat Gita 2.22  Ego and Identity: Unraveling the Bhagavad Gita's Wisdom Ego: Understanding the 'I' Within - A Beginner's Guide From Ego to Atman: Exploring the Journey Within The Ego's Cycle: Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita Ego and Rebirth: Insights for Everyday Life  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Namaste Acharya ji. I have a two-part question. I understood that from the verse 222 we are

00:11talking about ego and 223 we are talking about Atma. So my first question is, is ego universal

00:19and can it be explained similar to Atma's example of ocean that was given earlier in

00:24some sessions or is it like and what does 222 mean like when ego is moving from one

00:31body to another body, is it like an ego from a single person when it's dead moves to some

00:37other person or is it some or is it ego is universal, the tendency of ego is universal

00:45that's my first question. The universe is to the ego. So what do you mean by the ego

00:52is universal? There is no universe but to the ego. The universe is the object to the

01:03eternal subject called the ego. It is only to the ego that the universe exists. Okay,

01:13so when we talk about ego moving from one body to another body, how can we relate that?

01:22It basically means that body is changed. That does not mean that the ego is hopping from

01:27this place to that place. It simply means that bodies keep changing. Bodies keep changing

01:37and particular constitutions of bodies say I. You could even proceed to say as we said

01:49that even a molecule does say I. Bodies keep changing and all bodies are to the ego. The

02:02ego associates itself with certain bodies. You could say it associates itself with everything.

02:10Depending on the body, the ego is right now in association with the sentence I am X is completed.

02:22Okay, I will elaborate. What is Prakriti? Prakriti is a duality. The universe that we

02:32call it is a duality. It is a duality. What does duality mean? On,

03:02this is just a model, but a helpful model would help you understand.

03:32See, so the truth has been talked of as nothingness. It is nothing or it has been

03:59talked of as a Bindu, point. The word Bindu denotes the truth and a Bindu has no spatial

04:09existence. It really does not exist. If you say a point exists, that doesn't mean anything.

04:17For something to exist, it must have some, it must occupy some space or say something.

04:26The truth is Binduvat, point like, non-existent and from it, and now from here begins Maya

04:38because the truth really does not change forms or do anything. But to us there is so much.

04:44So, from here we begin. Maya begins. What happens in the sway of Maya? There is duality.

04:53What kind of duality? There is this point and the rest of the universe. This point is the

05:01mother eye tendency, aham vritti, I am. And then there are these infinite number of bodies that

05:11together comprise the object, the object called the universe. So, that is the first division.

05:19That is the first duality that springs from non-duality.

05:23What was the name of the non-duality? Bindu or Atma or that which really does not spatially exist.

05:33So, from that comes this and this entire universe. This entire universe is one object.

05:39This is one object to this one subject. One subject, one object. One object is the

05:46superset of everything here. Now, within this universe, there are these infinite particles.

05:54This thing, that thing, that thing. So, when the ego tendency combines with this,

06:04the universe that itself has projected, when it combines with this, it says I am A.

06:10Combines with this, says I am B. With this, I am C. With this, I am D. With this, I am E.

06:19So, this is what Shri Krishna means. This arises and this combines because this is eternally present.

06:30And here, it's a stream in which objects are appearing and disappearing, rising and falling,

06:38forming and deforming. The moment something forms, this attaches to that and says, I am F.

06:48Even deformation is attached to. Don't we say, I am dead. Oh! I am dead. Look at the construction.

06:58I am dead. Even deformation is something that we attach to or I am absent. I am absent or I am gone.

07:09Coming is an object. Going is also an object. So, this eternal I am. Now, the stream is flowing here.

07:19Things are coming and going, rising and falling. And this is constantly there. I am. It is in the

07:26field of objects of I am that everything is rising and falling, rising and falling.

07:32Now, something rises, it is present, already present to attach to it and say, I am H.

07:39Now, that thing is gone. Something else rises here. It is already present to say, I am T.

07:49This is the broad model.

07:54So, ego is going to be present. Come what may.

07:57The ego is the eternal presence in the field of space and time. The ego is the eternal presence.

08:06The ego tendency that is. The ego tendency. There will be no place, no time when the ego tendency

08:16itself is gone. It is possible that right now the object that it attaches itself to does not

08:25say, I am somebody in the way we know it. But the tendency will always be there.

08:33To give you an example,

08:37there is nuclear annihilation, let's say, and everything is flattened.

08:42Everything is absolutely flattened. No species at all remains on this earth anymore.

08:50Nothing remains. There exists now nobody to say, I am or I am Mohan, I am Daniel, I am Radha.

09:00Nobody exists to say this way. Still the ego tendency will remain.

09:08Everything is gone. Even the last bacteria and the last virus have disappeared

09:13under the nuclear influence. Everything is gone. Still the ego tendency will remain.

09:20Think of the time when there were no organisms on this planet or anywhere in the universe.

09:26Where did they come from? The ego tendency was always there.

09:32The ego tendency was always there. It is there in the particle itself. It is there in the material

09:37itself. Everything in the universe carries the ego tendency.

09:49So, for example, let's say, take a stone. I am saying it is a stone. Stone doesn't know it is a

09:54stone. So, is it that with respect to me, there is an ego tendency for the stone? Like I am saying

10:01it is a stone. But for the stone, there is no ego tendency. You too were a stone. See how today you

10:08say, I am Varsha. Let's say, your name is Varsha. Were we not all stones once? How did we assume

10:20what we call as life? Where did this life come from? There is no God that injected life into

10:28the stone. The stone itself took on life. The stone always had the ego tendency. Therefore,

10:37given the right time, the opportune circumstances, the stone became Varsha.

10:50Because even I was an embryo in the beginning. And before the embryo, what were we?

10:57Just material. How does life get into a fetus? It never gets into a fetus. It was always there.

11:06Every sand particle in that sense is waiting to come alive. That's what we are calling as

11:12the ego tendency. My second question was related to truth being nothing. But while explaining,

11:22you already mentioned that truth is nothingness. So, my question is cleared.

11:27Welcome. Thank you.

11:31Acharyaji, my question is, what I understand life is, it is experiencing things around you

11:39and then understanding the futility of it and then moving towards liberation.

11:44As a part of moving towards liberation, from one of your analogy, examples what you provided that

11:51a person can be somewhere on the xy coordinates say 1000, 1000 x and y and when he starts his

11:57journey towards liberation, maybe he moves to somewhere 950, 950 from his readings. Maybe I

12:07will take an example of Yoga Sutras by Patanjali over here. If the seeker follows aumnium and has

12:13progressed towards 950, 950. And if unfortunately the seeker's journey ends in death, is his journey

12:23towards liberation incomplete or is there something like 00 that the seeker's journey

12:31is only complete when he goes to 00, the origin?

12:37It's not about x and y. It's about dx by dt and dy by dt. You're talking of coordinates. It's

12:46not about the coordinates. It's about the velocity, the direction and the speed. You have to keep

12:55moving. You have to keep moving. You might never actually reach 00. Love is about movement in the

13:06face of adversity. Love towards liberation. 00 is something that is just like a pole star,

13:26Dhruvtara, a guiding light, the horizon. You might never actually reach it.

13:36Liberation lies in the movement, not in the achievement.

13:401000, 950, they all mean nothing. It has to be a blind, heartful tumble.

13:58One is tumbling towards his dissolution

14:09in a blind way, in a way that intellect can never comprehend.

14:19One cannot calculate so precisely, right, from 1000 I have come to 950

14:26and I have burnt 3 liters of petrol. So, even the mileage is nice, you see.

14:31And I have done record time. So, I'm doing well. And how do I compare with the others?

14:38Well, I stand at the 96th percentile. Not too bad. That's not the way of the lover.

14:55Singing and music and melody, that's why I have so much importance in spirituality.

15:12There are certain things that are so difficult to express in prose.

15:18That madness, it's not mathematical, though you must begin with mathematics.

15:40But then very soon,

15:42something beyond mathematics takes over. You forget your calculations.

15:551000, 950, 0, X, Y, all the models, all the intelligent things like this one, so smart, so nice.

16:06He made a sleek model of everything, subject, object, entire universe, including the self.

16:15All this is, as they say, blowing with the wind.

16:23Blowing in the wind.

16:37Yes.

16:42Thanks.

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