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Teachings On Ego - Sri Ramakrishna

 A collection of quotes and teachings on ego by Sri Ramakrishna.

The ego, is like an intruder in a house who has been accommodated and accepted as one of the inmates of the house. But when we begin to look into its antecedents—from where it came, its status, its very existence—then it seems to disappear.

Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil.

All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.

If by the grace of God a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a Jivanmukta. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear.

This maya, that is to say, the ego, is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud; when that disappears one sees the sun.

Ripe and Unripe Ego - Sri Ramakrishna Explains

Sri Ramakrishna teaches: ‘I said to Keshab, “You must renounce your ego.”

Keshab replied, “If I do, how can I keep my organization together?”

“I said to him: ‘How slow you are to understand! I am not asking you to renounce
the “ripe ego”, the ego that makes a man feel he is a servant of God or His devotee.

Give up the “unripe ego”, the ego that creates attachment to “woman and gold”.

The ego that makes a man feel he is God’s servant, His child, is the “ripe ego”. It doesn’t harm one.

The Obstacle in Seeing God is Ego – Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

It is on account of the ego that one is not able to see God.

In front of the door of God’s mansion lies the stump of ego. One cannot enter the mansion without jumping over the stump.

There was once a man who had acquired the power to tame ghosts. One day, at his summons, a ghost appeared. The ghost said: ‘Now tell me what you want me to do. The moment you cannot give me any work I shall break your neck.’

The man had many things to accomplish, and he had the ghost do them all, one by one. At last he could find nothing more for the ghost to do. ‘Now’, said the ghost, ‘I am going to break your neck.’ ‘Wait a minute’, said the man. ‘I shall return presently.’

He ran to his teacher and said: ‘Revered sir, I am in great danger. This is my trouble.’ And he told his teacher his trouble and asked, ‘What shall I do now?’ The teacher said: ‘Do this. Tell the ghost to straighten this small tight curly hair.’ The ghost devoted itself day and night to straightening the hair. But how could it make a kinky hair straight? The hair remained kinky.

Likewise, the ego seems to vanish this moment, but it reappears the next moment. Unless one renounces the ego, one does not receive the grace of God.