Egoism

Self confidence, Self esteem, & Ego: 

Self-confidence is having belief in yourself, having trust in your abilities, having the conviction that you can achieve, attain. Self-esteem is seeing oneself in a positive light, seeing the positive and creative dimensions of one's life and living according to them. Self-esteem is knowing what your abilities and strengths are, what your limitations are, knowing how to manage them, and knowing that you are there to help all those who need your help.

Ego is knowing that 'I exist'. The negative side of ego is arrogance, hard-headedness. The positive side of ego is appreciation of the self, being thankful for existence, for being alive. Maintaining that identity that 'I live, I exist' is awareness of your existence.

The First Creation,  From The Mahabharata; Aswamedha Parva,  

Brahma said:  From the unmanifest first sprang Mahat (the Great Soul), endued with great intelligence, the source of all qualities.That is said to be the first creation. The Great Soul is signified by these synonymous words -- the Great Soul, Intelligence, Vishnu, Jishnu, Sambhu of great valour, the Understanding, the means of acquiring knowledge, the means of perception, as also fame, courage and memory. It stands, pervading everything in the universe. Of great power, that Being is stationed in the heart of all. Minuteness, Lightness and Affluence, are his. He is the Lord of all, and identical with effulgence, and knows not decay.  

In Him are all those who comprehend the nature of the understanding, all those who are devoted to goodness of disposition, all those who practise meditation, who are always devoted to Yoga, who are firm in truth, who have subdued their senses, who are possessed of knowledge, who are freed from cupidity, who have conquered wrath, who are of cheerful hearts, who are endued with wisdom, who are liberated from ideas of mineness, and who are devoid of egoism.  

All these, freed from every kind of attachment, attain to the status  of Greatness.That person who understands that holy and high goal, viz., the Great Soul, becomes freed from delusion.The self-born Vishnu becomes the Lord in the primary creations. He who thus knows the Lord lying in the cave(Heart of people), the Supreme, Ancient Being, of universal form, the golden one, the highest goal of all persons endued with understanding, - that intelligent man lives, transcending the understanding. 

Egoism: Mahabharata; Aswamedha Parva, Section XLI 

Brahma said: That Mahat, who was first produced is called Egoism. 

When it sprang up as I, it came to be called the second creation. That Egoism is said to be the source of all creatures, for these have sprung from its modifications. It is pure effulgence and is the supporter of consciousness. It is Prajapati. It is deity, the creator of deities, and of mind.It is that which creates the three worlds. It is said to be that which feels - I AM ALL THIS.- That is the eternal world existing for those sages who are contented with knowledge relating to the soul, who have meditated on the soul, and who have won success by Vedic study and sacrifices. By consciousness of soul one enjoys the qualities. That source of all creatures, creates (all creatures) even in this way. It is that which causes all changes. It is that which causes all beings to move. By its own light it illuminates the universe likewise.  

From Egoism were verily born the five great elements. They are earth, air, space(akasha), water and light. In these five great elements, in the matter of sound, touch, colour, taste, and smell, all creatures become deluded. When at the close of the destruction of the great elements, the dissolution of the universe approaches, a great fear comes upon all living creatures. 

Every existent object is dissolved into that from which it is produced. The dissolution takes place in an order that is the reverse of that in which creation takes place. When all existent objects, mobile and immobile, become dissolved, wise men endued with powerful memory never dissolve.  

From The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi 

Question:"What is the nature of the mind?" 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: "What is called mind is a wonderous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thought, there is no independent entity called the world.  

In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. 

When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines), the world does not appear.When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self.What is referred to as the Self is the Atman.The mind always exists always only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone.It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (embodied soul or jiva)." 

Question: What is the difference between the mind and the Self? 

Sri Ramana: There is no difference. The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world. Cotton made into various clothes we call by various names. Gold made into various ornaments, we call by various names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold. The one is real, the many are mere names and forms. 

How can one be confident without becoming egotistical? 

Confidence has nothing to do with ego. Confidence is knowledge, understanding and awareness of one's strengths and ability to deal with a situation. When you know you are the master of the circumstance or event and can control it, and you have the wisdom to know what is right and wrong and act according to dharma, that is confidence. There is bound to be ego, whether you do anything or not. Ego is your personality, life without ego is no life.

Ego is subject to the three gunas. Sattwa guna leads to a deeper awareness and understanding of how one can link with the cosmic consciousness. At this point the sattwic ego becomes the motivating factor to unite with the transcendental. When this sattwic ego becomes subject to the influences of the senses and mind, it becomes rajasic. When it becomes rajasic, it begins to manipulate the expressions of the personality. It manipulates thoughts, it manipulates ambitions, it manipulates desires. You are affected by it and other people are affected by your actions. When this ego identifies with the basic instincts in your life, then it becomes tamasic. These are the three expressions of ego. The pure ego is known as sattwa; it is the enlightened ego which unites the individual being with the cosmic being. In association with the senses and mind the ego becomes rajasic and in association with the instincts it becomes tamasic.

All experiences, whether of compassion and love, or of jealousy and hatred, are connected. All the positive and negative emotions and all the positive and negative expressions of intellect, of manas, buddhi and chitta, are connected with ego. Thousands of strands from the dimensions of manas, buddhi and chitta emanate and come to the ego, ahamkara. Whenever there is movement in one of the strands, the vibration will be felt by the ego. Stimulation and activity will be felt by the ego. If you love somebody, the ego is being touched. If you feel compassion towards somebody, the ego is being stimulated. If you hate somebody, the ego is being activated. Ego is the final state of individual experience.

Confidence can affect the ego, but if the ego is tamasic, there will be one reaction and if the ego is sattwic, the reaction will be different. Love can influence the ego, but the same experience of love in the sattwic ego will be different to the experience in the tamasic ego.

The only other way of managing the rajasic ego and the tamasic ego is through the path of bhakti. Very few people can mange it through the path of jnana, knowledge. Only a person of special calibre, like Ramana Maharishi or Swami Vivekananda, with an enlightened buddhi can possibly manage their egos (sattwic, tamasic and rajasic) through jnana yoga. But the majority of people can learn to manage their ego through bhakti yoga.

Devotion is a natural outcome of diverting oneself from the mundane to the transcendental.