EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Mr. Politico check your ego or it will destroy you

On May 7 the world commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of one of Mother India’s most illustrious sons -- Rabindranath Tagore, an author, poet, mystic, teacher, painter and Nobel Laureate in Literature.

One of the best ways of remembering him is by emulating his life of humility, simplicity, sincerity and selfless service.

Among the subjects he wrote and taught about was the one on the dangers of cultivating an Ego. Some of our political leaders who appear to be building super egos would be well advised to take a lesson from Tagore before it is too late and the ego explodes in mental instability. In this verse from one of his poems Tagore who composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh underscores his continuous struggle to overcome the gravitational or downward pull of the ever present evil force of the Ego: “I came out alone on my way to my tryst; but who is this me in the dark? I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not; he makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word I utter; he is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.”

Tagore in this dialogue with God wonders, who is this me or Ego in the dark, this thing which is inseparable with the self, swaggering through life with self-importance self-centeredness shamelessly infecting every word and deed and blocks the entranceway to the highest realm.

Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for one of his greatest and best known collections of mystical and devotional songs, the “Gitanjali”, which was translated to English in 1912. Having felt no kinship with such an honour he lived his life writing about how to rid oneself of identifying with such prizes. Tagore’s poems in particular offer a valuable reminder especially to political leaders of the benefits of subduing the Ego and listening to the spirit which beckons us to peace and other-centeredness.

Some of the lessons we can learn is to listen to our heart before reacting and see if we can tame our Ego once today. Before speaking let us ask ourself whether what we are about to say is for the purpose of making someone else wrong and proving our self special. Will I create more turmoil or more serenity? Be aware of how often we use I in conversations and instead see if we can let our sentences begin with You a few times each day. Pass up the need to brag and boast in favour of applauding the accomplishments of others. Work at being less attached to the things you’ve accumulated and begin a practice of letting go. Giving more of yourself to others by giving some of your stuff away is a helpful way to tame the attachment to acquisitions and to retrain ego and allow the peace and tranquillity that the spirit desires.

When we live in harmony with our core values and principles we can be straight forward, honest and up-front and nothing is more disturbing to people who are full of trickery and duplicity than straight forward honesty, which such people find too difficult to deal with or handle. If we conceptualise ourselves from what others think of us we begin to live a life geared to meet the wants and expectations of others and in the process end up becoming weak, shallow and insecure because we are essentially allowing others to run if not ruin our lives.

It was Socrates who said, “The greatest way to live with honour in this world is to really be what we pretend to be.”