In Sanskrit,Ishwar means the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Almighty while Pranidhanameans surrender. TheYoga Sutra (Ch. II, Verse 45) says, “Samadhi Siddhir Ishvara Pranidhana” or by total surrender to the Almighty, Samadhi is attained.Ego (Ahankara) is the barrier in the process. The ego is defined as an individual’s sense of self-importance.Sometimes, the ego reaches a level where it wants to prove itself to be always superior to others, where it wants to show it is better than others, and where it wants to be constantly recognized and acknowledged. At this level, where it gets inflated so much so that it distorts reality, it has the potential to become unhealthy and needs to be checked. Sometimes, the opposite also happens where the person’s ego becomes so low that it allows one to be trodden by others. The person perceives themselves to be inferior to others and in such cases that too is unhealthy.
Ryan Holliday (1987-present), an American author and entrepreneur, in his book, Ego is the Enemy, writes that wherever one is, whatever one is doing the worst enemy is the ego that resides within. He goes on to say that in present times the fallacies of ego are more rampant. With the advent of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. the potential to portray one’s ego and engage followers has become enormous. We find people portraying their egos in these media and as a result, some people feel superior about themselves while others feel inferior. The social comparisons have multiplied in our times.
How do we go about surrendering our ego to achievea greater purpose in life? Robin S. Sharma (1964-present), a contemporary Canadian writer and motivational speaker, has written, “Leave your ego at the door every morning, and just do some truly great work. Few things will make you feel better than a job brilliantly done.” This is a great way of achieving freedom from ego by doing actions to the best of one’s ability without attachment to the outcomes.
Another way of practicing the surrender of ego is what the Bhagavad Gitasays is by Atmvinigrah. The root Atm refers to the body, mind, and ego and Vinigrah refers to restraint. The method suggested is one of mastery of the ways of thinking particularly on the deliberate thoughts through saam or discipline at the very source of thinking, daam or choice of the thoughts at the level of senses, and samadhan or single-pointedness of the mind to achieve satisfaction. So, in essence, this method entails being alert, vigilant, and aware of how one is thinking and regulating it. Such a thinking pattern prevents one from getting attached to the accomplishments of the body and mind and helps understand the big picture as to where those accomplishments have their roots which lie in the efforts of so many people.
Another practical way of learning to surrender one’s ego comes from the practice of yielding oneself to people who you know will not take advantage of you. This can be in the form of our parents who give us unconditional love and do not expect anything in return. Or this can be our teachers who sincerely share their acumen with us without expecting anything in return. Or this can be any other person in life who we believe has nothing to expect from us. If we are unable to find such attributes in anyone then we can simply resort to surrendering our ego to nature or Higher Power attributing all that we achieve to be a result of this Higher Power (Ishwar Pranidhana). If such a practice is incorporated into one’s life, then there is no way one will develop an undue inflated ego or a deflated ego.
Dr. Manoj Sharma is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. He is an avid practitioner of Kundalini Yoga.