“Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. She sharpens, She wakes imagination. There are secret Truths which one can see only with the light of the heart in the depths of the dark”
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
At midnight, when Mankind is wrapt in Peace,
At midnight hour, when slumbering in their deepest sleep,
Worldly Fancy feeds on golden dreams,
This gives more Dream to Man’s most dreadful Hour,
Quickly startled are these, by the sound of
God’s great trumpet sounding high
A sound so pure,
It roars as it speeds through Hearts and Souls
At Midnight; ‘tis presumed, this pomp will burst
From tenfold darkness sudden as the spark…
An Archangel is seen, seated on a cloud,
And with angelic trumpet summons all the world
Man, starting from his Couch, shall sleep no more.
The Day is broke which never more shall close!...
Terror and Glory join in their extremes!
Quickly they arise and do appear before the seat of God!
INSIGNIFICANCE
OF THE HUMAN EGO
Great spiritual masters, who
have explored life in depth and understood it, compare life to a bubble. Time
is infinite. Human life, which appears
and quickly fades away, is transient.
But in his arrogance, man forgets this Truth. When still in possession of wealth, status,
authority and youth, man lives in reckless arrogance, thinking, “I am great.
Everything is under my control”. He
forgets his dharma to the world, his nation, his fellow-beings, to Nature –
even his dharma to himself. Consciously or unconsciously, we give our ego
complete rein to rule and control our life.
When a human life comes
to an end, all that it can look back upon are the actions done in that life
time and how they have influenced people and society. Our lifespan, health, strength and physical
beauty are limited. They all fade with
time. Change is the powerful signature of time.
There is nothng in this universe upon which time does not leave its
mark. It is this change that the ancient
sages named maya. Maya does not mean that
which does not exist. Rather, it means something that undergoes constant
change. However, consciousness, which is
still and constant, is the underlying foundation of all that undergoes change. We should learn to recognize the difference
between the body and the external universe -
which undergo constant change
-- and the unchanging
consciousness that serves as the substratum of the body and universe. When we recognize this difference, we will
learn to see all changes in life as natural and accept them.
Man is Like a Drop
of Water in the Vast Ocean of this Infinite Universe.
When he gives undue
importance to his ego and asserts its greatness, it is like a drop of water
proclaiming that it is the ocean. It is
not man’s ability that makes the sun, moon and planet move, nor is it his
ability that sustains the earth and its innumerable life forms. Man, who is
just another creature that inhabits this infinite existence, should not nurture
his ego. Instead he should realize its
insignificance and move forward in his
life with humility.
Once there lived an old woman in
a village. One day, she quarreled with some people and decided to leave the
village. As she was making her way out,
she exclaimed, “Now let me see how the sun rises over this village”.
“What do you mean?”
asked the villagers. The old woman
replied, “The sun rises here only because my rooster crows at dawn. That is not going to happen any more. Both my rooster and I, are leaving this
village!” The old woman reached another
village where she decided to stay. The
next morning, as usual, her rooster began
to crow. And the sun rose in the sky.
The old woman drew herself up and said haughtily, “Ha ! That will teach
them to trifle with me!” The foolish
woman believed that, after she left the village, the sun never rose over it
again. Often, due to our arrogance, we
also tend to think like her.
We often hear people
say, "That person has hurt me a lot. He
has made so unhappy that I will never be able to forgive." But if we think a
little deeper, we will realize that it is actually our own ego that is hurting
us. Also, on such occasions, it is good
to remember that we too have
hurt others and made many people
unhappy. In fact, no one can hurt us
without our permission.
Life is like a stage full of Actors. And an Actor is totally vulnerable and emotionally naked, without signs of fear or shame. His total personality, his intellect, his bearing, his diction, his whole appearance is exposed to critical judgment and opinions. But it isn't Him at all rather just the ego he deliberately presents and discards with his many carefully rendered masks.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
Ego instigates us to
approach individuals and situations indiscriminately and develop unhealthy
attachments. Whether it is an inner
emotion, or directed towards an external object or individual, it is when we
establish an indiscriminate attachment spawned innately and subliminally by the workings of egotism that we become hurt and disappointed.
Consider a man
tightly hugging a thorny bush and screaming,” Help! Help! I cannot bear this
pain!” Who can help him? Only he himself because he is the one hugging the bush. Only
if he himself lets go of the bush, will his pain cease. Many of our troubles are like this -- they are our own creations. They are the result of our own indiscriminate
and uncontrolled ego. We impose the troubles created by our own mind upon
external objects, individuals and situation, and constantly fool
ourselves. We can be free of this only
through spiritual contemplation and practice. Therefore, just as you eat and sleep, you should try to make Spirituality a part of your life.
Blessings & Best Wishes.
Sincerely,
Jai Krishna Ponnappan :)
