Are man's will and God's Will always in opposition?

Sri Chinmoy: To some extent it is true. Man can unconsciously stand against God's Will and, again, man can consciously stand against God's Will. Sometimes it happens that we know what God's will is. Our conscience tells us, but we don't pay any attention to it. We feel that if we listen to the dictates of our conscience, then we will not be satisfied. Here, satisfaction means gratification, our ego will not be satisfied. So we don't listen to our soul. Naturally, then we are standing against God's Will. Again, many times it happens that we are not diametrically opposing God's Will, but we don't know what God's Will is. We know what our will is, but we don't know what God's Will is. At that time, we are not consciously standing against God's Will. We cannot say that at that time our will is in opposition to God's Will.

But we have to know that either consciously or unconsciously, if we do not fulfil God's Will, then we enter into ignorance and we delay our progress. A child may not know what fire can do to him. But if he touches fire, then the fire will burn him. I know that fire will burn me. But in spite of knowing this, I touch fire and I get burned. So the result of unconscious opposition and conscious opposition is the same. But if somebody does it unconsciously, then he is helpless. In that case God's Grace descends sooner than otherwise. If somebody knows the after-effects of his action, but in spite of that he does something wrong, then God's Grace will not come down immediately. It will take time. The individual has to aspire again most sincerely and devotedly to bring down God's Grace from above. Then, naturally, God's Grace will descend.

Sri Chinmoy, A God-Lover's Earth-Heaven-Life, Part 1,

What is the difference between sharing and gossip?

Sri Chinmoy: Gossip only pleases the vital (Mind) in us. It only satisfies the undivine in us, the destructive forces in us. Once it destroys the world around us — and unfortunately we are not aware of the fact until it happens — then it destroys us. It destroys our inner good qualities. Gossip will never illumine others. On the contrary, it tries to eclipse others' hearts and eclipses our own aspiring heart.

In sharing there is an expansion of one's consciousness in a divine way. If we share something with someone, it is not with a sense of pride, not with a feeling that "I heard it first." When we share we feel an extension of our knowledge. When we have any news — whether it is bad news or good news, sad news or divine news — when we share it with others, immediately we feel a sense of expansion. If it is sad news, we will share it with others to strengthen ourselves. If we hear sad news, we feel that we are being forewarned and forearmed. If it is good news that we share, we feel that we are achieving it ourselves. This is the foundation-stone, and here we shall build a tall edifice.

But gossip is not an expansion of one's consciousness. It is an offering, unconscious or conscious, of a message of destruction. If I offer gossip, it means that I am telling you something bad about a person. I am offering destructive news to you so that you can also use this weapon and destroy the person about whom we are speaking. No matter how important or unimportant it is, in back of gossip there is always destruction. You can't kill a person when he is standing right in front of you. But when you gossip, rest assured that in the inner world you are killing him. If you hear gossip or spread gossip about someone, you are stabbing him in the inner world. And because you are not satisfied with what harm you have done you are asking somebody else to stab him also, so that he will be totally destroyed. You have destroyed someone, but you are not satisfied; so you tell your friend, "Destroy him more, so that he does not stay on earth." This is gossip.

Sharing does not have any bad motive. You have heard something and you are sharing it with all innocence. But when you indulge in gossip, you have to feel that you are only stabbing a person in the inner world. And you are stabbing not only the person whom you are gossiping about, but also the divinity within him, the divinity which is the real message of inseparable oneness. The moment you indulge in gossip you are breaking the ribbon of universal oneness. In the outer world you will try to do it in such a way that others will not recognise it. But even though others may not recognise it or catch you as the culprit, in the inner world you are already caught. There you can't escape. Gossip is a deplorable tendency in human nature that we cherish.

Sri Chinmoy, A God-Lover's Earth-Heaven-Life, Part 1, 

What is Gurus relationship with his disciples based upon?

Sri Chinmoy: My relationship with my disciples is based upon love, concern and compassion. Each spiritual Master has the same relationship with his disciples. There is no spiritual Master who does not have concern for his spiritual children. He is like a father. Sometimes a father is strict and sometimes he is not. Some parents feel that it is through strictness that their children will make fast progress. Other parents may feel that it is through love that their children can make good progress. As a spiritual father, I have come to realise that love is undoubtedly the most powerful force, but that love and divine authority must go together.

There is a great difference between divine authority and human authority. Human authority is autocracy and dictatorship. Divine authority is based on the strength of inseparable oneness with the disciples. Because the Master has taken responsibility for bringing each disciple to God, he knows what is best for the disciple. An ordinary dictator or autocrat gets tremendous pleasure in lording his power over others. But the spiritual Master does not get any pleasure from his divine authority. It is only with deepest concern that he is acting for the disciples' own good. If he tells a disciple to do something, he knows that it is for the disciple's own progress. He says, "I will be one with you in your ignorance in order to take you to the Goal." Then the Master's divine authority encourages the disciple not to exploit his own soul's patience, or the patience of the Supreme, whom the Master represents.

So my relationship with my disciples is one of constant concern and love, and also divine authority. If you really follow my path, you will do as I tell you. If you don't like my path, you are at liberty to leave my path today. I will not compel you to stay with me. But if you follow my path and if you really want to make good progress, then along with my love and concern, I will also use my divine authority. If I see that you are wallowing in the meshes of ignorance, I will use my divine authority to compel you either to come out of ignorance or to leave my path.

My strictness is also a form of my divine concern. When I am strict with someone, at that time it is not punishment. I am only trying to bring to the fore the roaring lion inside the disciple, so that his ignorance will be destroyed. Because it is used in many forms, people may misunderstand it; but my disciples, my sincere and devoted disciples, know that when I use my divine authority, it is not my dictatorship; it is only my inseparable oneness with them.

Masters Scolding, a step for our good

"My daughter, why do you look so sad today? You should be happy and proud that I have asked you to come to my ashram to work for me."

"I am sorry, Master. I cannot help thinking of your scolding yesterday."

"Yesterday I scolded you mercilessly, true, but today I am showing you my infinite Love and Affection. Why do you always have to think of my scoldings?"

"I don't know, Master."

"Do you feel resentful?"

"Master, is it a feeling of resentment or a feeling of helplessness?"

"In this case, my daughter, it is not a feeling of helplessness it is an inner revolt."

"What should I do so that I won't revolt in this way, Master?"

"You have to feel that everything I say is absolutely correct, absolutely necessary. No matter what I say, even if I do it in a joking manner, it is for the good of my disciples. If you become annoyed or embarrassed by something I say, then you will not receive my Light."

"Sometimes I feel really useless and hopeless when you point out so clearly my limitations and weaknesses."

"At that time, my child, do not feel depressed or disheartened. Instead, feel that here is someone who really loves you, who has unconditional Concern for you."

"Do you ever feel disheartened when I make the same mistakes over and over?"

"If I had been an ordinary human being, I would have given up my efforts with you long ago. I would have said, ‘She is useless, hopeless. To transform her nature is an impossible task.' But the divine in me will never take this attitude. When I deal with my spiritual children, it is my unconditional Love, Concern and Compassion that are operating. No matter what you have done, no matter what you do, I will always continue to show you my infinite Concern."

"Master, I am sorry that I don't deserve it."

"Everything is unconditional, my child. As I have been asking you to be unconditional and unreserved in your love, devotion and surrender, so also I am being unconditional with you. I do not only preach: I also practise. Again and again I will come to you and offer you my unconditional guidance in the hope that gradually, gradually you will improve."

"Am I improving, Master? Will I improve?"

"Yesterday I talked to you for an hour and a half. That means that I feel you can receive my Light and Wisdom. You should be happy and proud that I spent so much time with you. If I had felt that your case was hopeless, then I would simply have given up the fight. Your problem is that you don't feel confident that you can transcend your weaknesses. But if you feel me in your heart at all times, then you will have confidence in yourself."

"Master, there is something else I should tell you. Sometimes I feel so ashamed of my weaknesses.

"Daughter, if I am your Supreme Lord, your Beloved Supreme, which is what you always tell me, then you should not feel that you have to hide anything from me. There is nothing you should try to keep from me, nothing in your nature that you have to be ashamed of. If you know that I am your dearest Lord, then only feel our oneness, our inseparable oneness. The creation does not try to hide from the Creator. If you have a lump of clay and you offer it to be moulded, then it will no longer remain unformed, dirty, impure. Similarly, if you offer me your ignorance, then I can transform it. My daughter, don't you feel how lovingly and divinely I have been guiding, moulding and shaping you?"

The Master paused. "How great is your surrender to me, my child? If I asked you to go and work somewhere else, would you do the work as cheerfully as when you are here with me? When I ask you to do something, do you do it willingly, cheerfully, unconditionally?"
Sri. Chinmoy

Rules of the Master , understand the deeper meaning. The greater benefit.

Once there was a spiritual Master who was very strict with his disciples. Once a week, however, he met with new disciples and prospective disciples and with these seekers he was not strict. Now, it happened that one week the Master knew he would be late to this meeting, so he asked one of his close disciples, who had been with him a long time, to read out some rules and regulations before his arrival. Unfortunately, even before the disciple had finished reading, people started shouting questions and insults at him. They vehemently protested against the new regulations which requested disciples to give up drugs, shave their beards, cut their hair and dress modestly. The poor disciple felt that the best thing for him to do would be to leave the room.

When the Master arrived, the disciple told him what had happened. The Master became furious. He entered the meditation room to formally start the meeting, meditated only five minutes facing the group and then said, "Some people here are cursing the disciples who are responsible either for writing these rules or for reading them to you. But it was my wish that these regulations be worded in this way and it was at my express request that this disciple read them out tonight. I am taking full responsibility for their actions.

"Some of you are finding these prerequisites very harsh, perhaps undivine. If the wording is harsh and undivine, then you have to know that I myself have been suffering mercilessly from many undivine vibrations caused by the misconduct of both the disciples and the non-disciples. I feel that the time has come for me to be a little strict and to stand firmly by my convictions. If any new seekers approach you about these rules, please tell them what I have just said."

One new disciple who had a beard said,

‘Master, I am a little confused, since some of your good disciples do have beards."

The Master said, "My son, you have just joined our centre. If you want to be my true disciple then please try to follow my request. Now, every rule admits of exceptions. If I ask one individual out of two hundred or three hundred to keep his beard, then I am fully responsible for it. If you see that somebody among my disciples has a beard or long hair, then you have to know that either that person has got my permission or I personally have asked him to keep it. Either it is my necessity or it is that person's necessity. When I approve of something that is not in my rules, I approve for a particular individual; this permission does not apply to all."

One boy jumped up and said angrily, "Jesus Christ had long hair."

The Master immediately replied, "If you say that the Christ had long hair, I will agree. If I see the Christ, I will go and touch his feet. But if I see you, I will just run away. If you have the Christ-consciousness, then you can have long hair. I have written and spoken considerably about long hair. It is my feeling that men should look like men and women should look like women according to the present standards. Hundreds of years ago men had long hair, but we have no right to do so now in the twentieth century just because they did. Most of the time people feel that long hair will offer them a kind of soft, gentle or mild quality. But this is not true. Even if you have long hair you can have a very disturbing vibration. I have seen that nowadays long hair creates a ferocious vibration. From now on, you must have short hair and no beard, and your clothes should be neat and tidy."

"Do you think it is fair," asked another boy arrogantly, "to make us stop taking drugs?"

The Master said, "If you are still taking drugs, then you are knocking at the wrong door. Our door will no longer be open to you. Drugs , I do not approve of. I always say that gradually, gradually you can stop smoking or drinking, tea or coffee. But in the case of drugs I don't tell seekers, ‘gradually, gradually you can stop'. I tell them, ‘Stop immediately'.

At this point one seeker said, "I am studying under another Master as well and he is not so strict with his disciples."

The Master replied, "As we have no right to convert anyone, you also have no right to disturb our peace, our serenity, our prayer. We are not begging you to come to our path. If you have come from a different path, there is no harm in it, provided that you now feel the necessity of following our path. But if you still have another Master and at the same time you try our path or other paths, then you will make no progress. In school there are many subjects. Naturally for each subject you need a different teacher. But in the inner school it can never be like that. In the spiritual life there is one subject and one teacher. If you go to different paths, you are making a mistake.

Finally the Master spoke to all the seekers and new disciples.

"Most of my disciples are very sincere and earnest, so I feel I can exercise my authority. If you don't want to follow our path devotedly, soulfully, explicitly, then we do not want your presence. You cannot please two Masters. He who wants to please everyone, pleases no one. If you want to follow our path, you should give us a chance. If after six months or a year or two you feel that you are not receiving anything here, then you should go to someone else. But as long as you remain in my boat you have to abide by my rules, which are the soulful necessities for my spiritual children.

Then the Master stood up to close the meeting.

Sri Chinmoy, A Galaxy Of Saints, Agni Press, 1974

Not self-importance, but inner oneness. Guide for all the disciples and devotees

One afternoon a spiritual Master asked one of his new disciples to hang a picture in the front hall of his centre. The Master pointed to a spot on the wall and told the disciple, "Please drive a nail here." Naturally the new disciple was very happy that the Master had asked him to do this. He eagerly picked up the hammer and began to hit the nail. The disciple was performing the task soulfully and devotedly, without showing off, although the Master had asked him in particular and there were many disciples nearby to observe him.

Now it happened that one individual whom the Master considered a bad disciple was talking to a few of his friends at the other end of the hall. When he saw what had happened, this bad disciple immediately felt jealous. He said to himself, "Oh, Master cares more for him than for me; that is why Master has asked him to drive the nail."

A few minutes later the Master politely asked the new disciple to sweep the kitchen floor. This time the other disciple was again dying of jealousy because the Master had asked the new disciple and not him. "Oh, Master asked him to do it," said this unfortunate disciple. "It is only kitchen work, but I am inwardly dying because I have not got this kind of opportunity,"

One of the Master's best disciples, who was really devoted and dedicated to the Master, was sitting in the meditation room nearby. He said to himself, "I am so grateful to the Master that he has asked that particular disciple, rather than me, to drive the nail and sweep the floor. He has now given me the opportunity to meditate. I can continue my meditation. I truly feel that the Master is doing this for my good."

Another good disciple of the Master had also observed the scene. He was not in a meditative mood and he actually felt very depressed. This disciple said to himself, "Oh, I am so glad to see this. I know that Master is doing everything for my good. Today I am not in a good mood and if Master had asked me to drive a nail or sweep the floor, then I would only have shown off. I would have displayed my pride and vanity and all my other undivine qualities. I am so grateful to Master because he has forgiven me: he has not brought me forward and exposed my ignorance. He has not given me the opportunity today to expose myself."

Occultly the Master had read the mind of each of these three disciples. He was very proud of his two good disciples and very displeased with the bad disciple's reaction. The Master decided to speak to all the disciples present about the correct inner attitude toward selfless service. He called them into the meditation hall and said, "So-called selfless service is creating a problem in my ashram. I shall not use the word ‘ego', but ‘importance'; it is our self-importance which is creating such problems.

"A good disciple will always find something good in the Master's dispensation. He will think that it is for his own good that the Master is asking somebody else to do something. If he is in a bad mood, even then he is grateful that the Master has not exposed his ignorance. And if he is in a good mood, then he feels that his Master has given him the opportunity to meditate and go deep within and do something in the inner world. A good disciple will always know and feel, ‘Whatever is good for me, Master is giving me; whatever is good for others, Master is giving them; and this is bound to be the best for me also.' But a bad disciple will never think in such a divine way. He will always feel that the Master cares for others much, much more than for him. If you constantly have the same divine attitude as the good disciple, then you will always be able to save yourself from the attack of jealousy, which is nothing but ignorance."

This particular bad disciple inwardly felt that the Master had read his thoughts. But outwardly he said, "Master, please explain to us what you mean."

The Master looked at the disciple for a few moments and then said, "When I ask someone else to do something, if you are a bad disciple you will immediately say, ‘Oh, Master has asked him; that means he cares only for him.' At that time your whole world is lost because I have asked somebody else and not you. But if you are a good disciple, then immediately you will say, ‘I am so grateful to Master because he has allowed me to meditate and go deep within, to enjoy infinite Peace, Light and Bliss.' This is absolutely the correct view, the divine view. Now see how you can change your attitude and save yourself."

The bad disciple felt ashamed that the Master had openly exposed his wrong attitude. The Master continued, "Again, you have to go one step farther and say, ‘If the Master asks me immediately to drive a nail or to sweep the kitchen, then with equal joy I will perform the task because, for me, to meditate and to sweep the floor are of the same importance. But just now for one thing I have been asked and for another thing I have not been asked. I am happy that I am able to do something for the Master. If I remain in ignorance and let jealousy attack me, then I shall never be allowed to sweep the floor or to drive the nail. I won't be able to meditate well either.' Good disciples will always ascribe a good motive to everything that they are asked to do and bad disciples will always find a bad motive behind the Master's request. If you play the role of a good disciple, then not only your problem but also God's problem, the problem of age-old human ignorance, will immediately be solved."

The Master paused. "One more point I shall tell you and then I shall end my sermon. When a newcomer enters into a family, when a child is born, if the elder brothers or sisters are not good, then they become extremely jealous of him. They feel that previously the parents gave much attention to them, but that now the little one will get all the importance and they will get none. If they are really good and divine, then they become so happy that they have a new child in the family, a little brother. They feel, ‘Now we have one more in our family. If we have any disputes or calamities with a neighbouring family, our little brother will be able to fight for us when he is grown up. He will make us stronger than we are now.' This is the attitude they take."

"Master," said the bad disciple most sincerely, "please tell us how to apply this philosophy in our spiritual lives."

The Master said, "Here the family living adjacent to us is ignorance. You see that in our spiritual family the membership is increasing. If you take the attitude that each newcomer is a real member of your family, instead of a threat, then our family will be strengthened. And you yourself will be able to fight more powerfully against the enemy that is just beside you: ignorance. Always try to feel that in accepting newcomers you are increasing the number of your own soldiers to fight against ignorance. If you have sympathy and love for a new person, then that person becomes yours and in the tug-of-war the strength of your side is increasing, always increasing. The other side, ignorance, will naturally have to surrender to you. So be grateful to the newcomer for joining your side in the tug-of-war. Now you are getting more strength, more opportunity to conquer ignorance."

"Master," said the disciple, "your Illumination-Light has made everything very clear to us. From now on, no self-importance, no jealousy; only inner sympathy and love for our fellow disciples. We shall try; and with your Light, we shall definitely succeed."

Narrated by Sri. Chinmoy

Which comes first: perfect obedience or unconditional surrender?

Obedience is mostly in the mind, whereas surrender is of the entire being.

obedience applies mainly to the mind. If I am telling you to do something, you can either walk as slowly as a turtle or run as fast as a deer. But no matter how fast, how enthusiastically, how willingly you go, only one part of your being is going: the mind. The mind is going with the hope that it will please God or please the Master. It is saying, "If I do not go, the Master will be displeased; God will be displeased." Even if you are going fast, whether you are doing it of your own volition or whether you are doing it under some compulsion, still you are not getting a feeling of spontaneous sweetness in the entire being.

 Unconditional surrender encompasses the entire being: the aspiring heart, the searching mind, the dynamic vital and the body that has completely shunned lethargy. When surrender comes, it is just like falling flat at the Feet of the Supreme, absolutely prostrating yourself at the Feet of God. At that time, not only your head but your whole body touches the infinite Compassion-Ocean of our Lord Beloved Supreme.
We have to know that unconditional surrender is not the surrender of a slave to his master. It is the surrender that comes from wisdom, from the realisation that Somebody knows more than we do and, at the same time, claims us as His very own and also wants us to claim Him as our own. The vast ocean always wants to claim the little drop. If the little drop has any intelligence or any wisdom, it will also claim the ocean as its own and say, "I have become the ocean." In exactly the same way, if we can make unconditional surrender, immediately we become part and parcel of our Beloved Supreme. 
 You are asking which one comes first. It depends on the individual. Unconditional surrender will definitely encompass perfect obedience; if you make unconditional surrender, then perfect obedience is bound to come. But if you have perfect obedience, you will not get automatically the result of unconditional surrender, which is sweetness. According to me, unconditional surrender is much more important and valuable than obedience, even if the obedience is based on perfect faith. Obedience can either be willing or unwilling, but unconditional surrender is always cheerful. In unconditional surrender, we say, "Use me like a football. Kick me as hard as you please, with your right leg or left leg, any way you want to." When there is unconditional surrender, at that time the seeker becomes a perfect instrument of the Supreme.
 Taken from work of Sri. Chinmoy

How does one know whether he is ready for a spiritual path or not? Answered by Sri. Chinoy

How does one know whether he is ready for a spiritual path or not?
When you are hungry you know that you have to eat. Your hunger compels you to eat something. In the inner life also, when you are hungry for peace, light and bliss, at that time you are ready. When you have an inner cry, then you are ready for a spiritual path. When you feel the need, you are ready. If you don't have the need, then you are not ready,
Sometimes it happens that the seeker is ready and the Master is available, but attachment to the ordinary life prevents the seeker from looking sincerely enough. The other day somebody told me that she has been looking for a Master for nineteen or twenty years. I was so surprised, because I was positive that her Master is alive. If she had really been searching sincerely and crying for her Master, then she would have found him. If the aspirant is really sincerely crying for a path, then his path will present itself before him. If he really cries for a spiritual Master, either the Master will come to him or he will be able to go to the Master. No sincere effort ends in vain. If someone makes a sincere effort, then I wish to say that his inner life and outer life are bound to be crowned with success.

How to Reduce the Ego. credit to http://www.srichinmoybio.co.uk/blog/self-improvement/how-to-reduce-the-ego/

Found this article very enlightening and guiding. many thanks to the writer.... 

by Tejvan on OCTOBER 22, 2007 in SELF IMPROVEMENT

The ego is that part in us which feeds off praise, compliments and success. When we live in the ego we are inevitably subject to feelings of superiority / inferiority, pride and worthlessness, success and failure. If we want to avoid these negative emotions we need to transcend the ego. If we can transcend the ego, we will find that people are instinctively more attracted to us, even though we are no longer trying to impress. It may seem a great paradox, yet, limiting the role of our ego can make a radical difference to our lives.

These are some factors which can reduce the power of the Ego.

1. Don’t Try to impress

Don’t speak about your own achievements. Don’t drop names of great people you have met. Avoid forcing your accomplishments and success into the conversation. If you have been successful in accumulating wealth, try to keep quiet about it. All these factors may impress your own ego, but, you can guarantee they will have little impact on other people.

2. Be aware of False Modesty.

Sometimes when we say. “O I’m absolutely hopeless”. Actually what we are wanting is for people to respond. ‘O no your not, your really good.” Humility means that we don’t take excessive pride in our achievements, but, it also means we don’t exaggerate our failings in the hope of gaining sympathy.

3. Be Careful of Flattery.

We need to be careful about receiving praise, in some ways it can be as difficult as receiving criticism. The problem is that the ego likes receiving praise and so we can easily become addicted to being flattered. Don’t seek out people who are keen to flatter us, as this is only feeding the ego. Also, be wary of flattering other people in the hope that they will return the compliment.

4. Don’t use your Religion / Spirituality to Impress.

It is a mistake to feel that the practise of a religion / spiritual path gives us a moral superiority over other people. If we feel any superiority we are missing the whole point of spirituality. Spirituality is about a feeling of oneness not of proving that one path is better than others. This can be one of the most insidious types of ego. This is because when we wrap up the ego in a sense of moral superiority, we can easily trick ourselves into thinking we are reducing the ego, when actually we are strengthening it.

5. Be Aware of the extended Ego.

Ego, is not just about feeling we are better than others. Our Ego can also be expressed via national / religious feeling. When we feel a pride or superiority in our religion / nation, there is still the same problem of ego but, it is expressed through an extended sense of reality. This sense of superiority / pride is just as damaging as if it was contained to ourselves. However, we can feel that because it is not directly related to ourselves, somehow there is no ego involved.

6. Don’t Speak badly of Others.

Quite often, when we speak ill of others there is a subtle attempt to make ourselves look better. We may not explicitly say it, but, when we point to someone’s shortcomings we imply that we don’t have these, and therefore we are much better than them. The important thing here is the motive. Be very vigilant; what is your inner motive for criticising someone else? If it is to make you feel / look better, be very careful. The irony of course is that when we criticise someone, often we have the same imperfections ourselves, it is just that we find it easier to see them in other people.

7. What is Your Motivation for Doing Something?

If nobody knew that you had done it, would you still do the action with the same intensity? Can you work without expecting reward and praise? If you can do things selflessly with no desire for people to find out, this is a sign you do not give importance to the ego. If you only do things in the hope of praise, then you are working to satisfy the ego. The sad thing is that if you really work selflessly, at some point, your efforts will receive much greater recognition because people will come to also value the selfless motivation behind the action. Try doing some things but not let anybody no about it. In the NT, this is what Jesus meant when he said. “and with you left hand.

8. Don’t rely on Your Physical Appearance to Impress.

If you rely on your physical beauty to impress this is definitely coming from the ego. This is not to see beauty is bad thing, far from it. But, real beauty is heightened by modesty and the absence of ego. Avoid paying excessive interest to your physical looks.

To reduce our ego, we have to give great importance to our thoughts and motivation behind our actions. We have to be very strict with ourselves and work out why we are doing something. To reduce the ego, requires great vigilence, we need to reflect on each action and motivation. However, to reduce the influence of the ego, is of great value, it is the key to achieving a sense of inner peace.

If you have any other tips for reducing the ego, I would be interested in hearing them!

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