Question: Could you please tell us the best way to conquer the ego?¹⁵¹

Sri Chinmoy: Ego is our earthbound consciousness. It always tries to limit us. The very function of ego is to bind us and make us want to bind others. It says, “My family, my house, my friends, my children.” Everything is my and mine! When we think of earth, immediately we think of possession. Our ego is bound by the earth-atmosphere and, at the same time, we are binding the earth-atmosphere with our ego — the desire-bound ego that all the time wants to possess and be possessed.

How do we conquer the desire-bound ego? Through aspiration. If we live in the world of aspiration, our ego is bound to be conquered. Aspiration is the glowing inner flame that is constantly spreading its flames around — within and without. The fire of aspiration does not kill the ego; it only purifies it. The more our nature is purified, the closer we are to God. The quicker our purification takes place, the faster is our realisation of the Ultimate Goal. At the end of the road of purification is realisation.

We came from Infinity, Eternity and Immortality and, when we aspire, we consciously enter into our own infinitude and divine plenitude. It is like returning to our Homeland, to the place from which we came. To make a journey back home on the physical plane, we need money. In the spiritual life, constant inner aspiration is what buys our return ticket to our eternal Home. When we are in the world of ego, in the world of desire, we all the time are pulling and pushing. But when we are in the world of aspiration, we are just letting ourselves be carried back to our eternal Home.

Here there is no ego, but only all-pervading, all-embracing, all-fulfilling and all-illumining oneness. In this oneness there is a constant sense of boundless fulfilment. Nothing limited, nothing imperfect, nothing obscure, nothing destructive, nothing binding can last here. It is all Infinity, all Reality. Reality grows in the soul of Infinity and Infinity grows in the soul of Reality.

Another most effective way of conquering the ego is to feel constantly not only that we are in God, with God and for God, but also that we are of God. In God and with God: this is very easy for us to feel. Also, we can easily say that we are for God. God is good, so we are for Him. But the moment we can say wholeheartedly that we are of God, that not only our soul but also our body, vital, mind and heart are made of God — as something is made of paper or wood — then immediately our consciousness is changed. To a seeker, God is not just a reality but the Reality. If we feel that we are a part of Him, if we can consciously live in the lap of that all-pervading, all-transcending and all-fulfilling Reality, then we can easily conquer our limited earth-bound ego.

At that time, we will feel that we are not helplessly or hopelessly bound by earthly human limitations. We will feel that we have peace, bliss, power and all divine qualities at our disposal. And when we feel that these divine qualities are within us and we are of them, then our immediate feeling is one of expansion. Light cannot remain without expanding; peace cannot last without expanding. The very nature of divine peace, light, bliss and power is to expand, expand, expand. So if we have the conscious feeling of our oneness with God, the feeling that we are of God, immediately we will feel the expansion of our limited selves into boundless peace, light and bliss. The world of aspiration, the world of peace, light and delight, makes us want to expand and transcend. When we expand, we transcend; and when we transcend, we expand. We go beyond our limited ego-bound selves, beyond the creation, beyond the earth-consciousness, beyond the manifestation of the earth plane itself to the highest Height.

From:Sri Chinmoy,My meditation-service at the United Nations for twenty-five years, Agni Press, 1995
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