Wisdom of Consciousness

The Shastras (teachings of the Wise) tell us “speak the truth, but speak it lovingly.” There is no harm in speaking the Truth with love and kindness, but there can be a great harm in speaking it sarcastically or harshly. Harming others with our words is an act of violence, and with this act we are destroying the very foundation of Truth. In truth, the foundation of Truth can never be shaken or destroyed; but those who speak the Truth without establishing themselves on the foundation of non-violence, are not speaking the Truth at all, but are only expressing their ego.

This doesn’t mean we should tell a lie to please others. It only means we should tell ourselves off first before correcting another. ‘Telling ourselves off’ means confronting our own ego and ignorance. Self-confrontation is far superior to condemnation of others. Self-confrontation leads to self-improvement. Our own example of self-improvement will inspire and uplift others; whereas our show of superiority will only turn others away.

A good teacher is certainly far superior to his (or her) students in their chosen field of expertise, but a good teacher will reveal his superior knowledge gradually over time, as the students learn. Otherwise, the students may become disheartened and leave their studies, resigning themselves to the path of ignorance. For example, a father and mother shower lots of tender loving care on their infant children. As the infants grow into young children, the parents gently discipline them and continue to guide them through their entire childhood, introducing them to more and more of their knowledge and understanding. It is just not possible, practical, or even healthy for an infant child to understand everything that the parents know.

In this world, everyone cannot know and experience the same thing all at once. In this story of Life, if we were all on the same page, we would all be looking over each other’s shoulders and would never be able to really see or appreciate this story of Life. In this symphony of Life, if we all played the same note, there would be no symphony. Yes, there would be the Cosmic Sound of OM, but that vibration is always present in both unity and diversity.

Diversity does NOT mean perversity, and open-mindedness does not mean acceptance of bigotry, hate, rape, murder and mayhem. Nowadays in some parts of the world, it is popular to embrace the notion of secularism in the name of universality, just as it is popular to embrace nationalism or fundamentalism in the name of honor and truth. Secularism that rejects Truth and embraces falsehood is not true secularism; nationalism based on a false sense of superiority is a dishonor and a disgrace; and fundamentalism which rejects or ignores the fundamentals of Truth (such as non-violence) is simply a farce.

The Truth spoken from the core of one’s being can move the whole world, but the one who is established in Truth can never be moved by untruth. The Truth is far away from those who fail to see the Truth within themselves, but it is very near to those who see the Truth shining in every heart. The Truth is within us and all around us, to the East and West, to the North and the South. The Truth is here NOW in this moment, in the last moment, and in the next, but the Truth is also beyond all of this. Writers write, speakers speak, preachers preach and teachers teach, but the Truth remains beyond the reach of mind and intellect, and far, far beyond the realm of ego and personality.

All conflict in this world is born out of ego and ignorance. Ego is rooted in ignorance. To completely remove our ego, we must remove our ignorance; but to remove our ignorance we must stop feeding our ego.

Those who think they can save the world with their religion, their money, their politics, or their popularity (personality) are deluded. The world would be better served if everyone did their own ‘homework’ and got busy with the practice of self-discipline, simplicity, integrity, compassion, and, most important, NON-VIOLENCE.

The practice of NON-VIOLENCE requires self-discipline, and the practice of NON-VIOLENCE is the only true religion there is, was, or ever will be. Let us practice non-violence by ‘using kind words in abundance’. OM

First, let us come to a deeper understanding about personality. . . .

It has been said elsewhere in this wisdom journal that personality is the flavoring of ego. We have also said personality is the expression of ego. So, this would seem to mean that unless we express our ego we have no personality, and that apparently by denying our personality (that is, by not feeding into it) we dissolve our ego (we loosen the grip of ego on our mind).

Personality is unique to each individual. Many people say that personality is ‘who you are.’ They would say that when you ‘change’, it is your personality that changes. There is only a subtle distinction between one’s ego and one’s personality. Ego is always there, but it is apparent only when it is expressed through our personality. Ego does not really change, it is only its expression (in the form of personality) that changes.

Our personality is an outgrowth of our psychological state of mind. In other words, it is our ego decorated (or embellished) with mental make-up. The mental make-up (or cosmetic) is a blend of the five mental phenomena: (1) PRAMAAN: the Inquiry into, and understanding of, Truth; (2) VIPARAYA: misunderstanding, incorrect or false knowledge, the state of ‘not knowing that we do not know’; (3) VIKALPA: imagination, day-dreaming, and verbal delusion wherein our thoughts clothed in language do not correspond to reality (to what is really happening, happened, or could happen); (4) NIDRA: the sleep-state of mind, including both the dream and dreamless states of sleep; (5) SMRITI: memories.

Our mental make-up, or mascara, is the result of the working of the cycle of KARMA: action, impression, tendency, thought/attitude, and again action. In other words, the mental phenomena described above are the natural by-product of KARMA (action and its associated effects).

It is only when the mascara is applied to the ego that personality takes shape (otherwise, personality remains only a potentiality). Only when we are embodied as a human being is this mental make-up applied to the ego. In other words, animals do not have personalities (even though some people imaginatively assign personalities to their pets or other animals). Of course, animals do have various psychological make-ups, but they do NOT have personalities. Only a ‘person’ has a personality, and animals are NOT persons. The ego of an animal is dormant; it is not active. Its psychological state is the result of its actions (in this, and previous, lives), but this psychological state is not associated with its ego (which remains dormant during the non-human stage of existence).

Some persons may argue that there is no reason an animal, such as a dog, would not have a personality, because dogs obviously have a psychological component to their nature, and have the sense of self-identity (i.e., experience themselves as separate from other beings). However, even if we accept that a dog’s mental make-up could be applied to their sense of self-identity (ego), the resulting ‘expression’ or manifestation would not be substantial enough to really call it ‘personality’. This is because most of the elements of the mental make-up are missing: namely, PRAMAAN, VIPARAYA, and VIKALPA. Hence, it is fair to conclude that only human beings are ‘persons’, and the qualifying characteristic of a person is that element which we call PERSONALITY.

Everyone’s personality is unique. Some people’s personality is very selfish, like the personality of a criminal. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those few people whose personality is totally unselfish, such as the personality of a saint or sage.

One’s personality is a hindrance (causing pain to one’s self and others) when it is individualistic, and it is a joy when it is universal. Our personality becomes universal only when we make our mind universal by opening it up with the wisdom of consciousness. The wisdom of consciousness removes ego from the mind, and this makes the mind universal.

The process is like this:

OM