“Consume the egotistical veils with the fire of oneness...”
Ego
The biggest barrier to true happiness is to be self-absorbed.
In psychology Egocentrism is defined as: The incomplete differentiation of the self and the world, including other people. The tendency to perceive, understand and interpret the world in terms of the self, being over preoccupied with one’s own internal world.
“Consume the egotistical veils with the fire of oneness, sincerely for the sake of God.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 134)
“Loose thy soul from the prison of self.” (Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)
The ego is a false sense of I, of self, based on a deep sense of alienation from the present, and an identification/addiction to the past and future. It requires the past for its identity and the future for its fulfilment, and thus can never settle down in the present moment. By entangling itself in the world of transient forms (my needs, my story, my pain, my problems), the ego generates a seemingly non-stop flow of compulsive mental activity.
“Just as the earth attracts everything to the centre of gravity, and every object thrown upward into space will come down, so also material ideas and worldly thoughts attract man to the centre of self. Anger, passion, ignorance, prejudice, greed, envy, covetousness, jealousy and suspicion prevent man from ascending to the realms of holiness, imprisoning him in the claws of self and the cage of egotism. The physical man, unassisted by the divine power, trying to escape from one of these invisible enemies, will unconsciously fall into hands of another. No sooner does he attempt to soar upward than the density of the love of self, like the power of gravity, draws him to the centre of the earth.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 241)
Ego cuts us off from other people, from nature, from God, from our authentic self...
“Every imperfect soul is self-centred and thinketh only of his own good. But as his thoughts expand a little he will begin to think of the welfare and comfort of his family. If his ideas still more widen, his concern will be the felicity of his fellow citizens; and if still they widen, he will be thinking of the glory of his land and of his race. But when ideas and views reach the utmost degree of expansion and attain the stage of perfection, then will he be interested in the exaltation of humankind. He will then be the well-wisher of all men and the seeker of the weal and prosperity of all lands. This is indicative of perfection.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 68)
The ego tries to get happiness from doing or having or being someone, while the spiritual self tries to get happiness from transcending (rising above) all of that.
“Trust in God and be unmoved by either the praise or the false accusations declared by people towards thee, depend entirely on God and exert thyself to serve His holy vineyard. All else save this is but imagination, though it be the praises of all people in thy behalf; because all else is of no result and bears no fruit.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 158)
“At all times seeking the approval of men is many times the cause of imperilling the approval of God.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, June 24, 1915)
Often people confuse ego with self-esteem.
Ego needs the others for comparison and often seeks to exalt oneself over others.
“Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other.” (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)
“No one should glorify himself over another; no one should manifest pride or superiority toward another; no one should look upon another with scorn and contempt; and no one should deprive or oppress a fellow creature.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62)
Self-esteem is just confidence in ones abilities and striving to do one’s best.
“The doors of gifts are open before the faces of you all, and the radiance of the Sun of Truth is shining upon you all. Capacity, worth (or merit) and ability, are necessary, for the clearer and purer the mirror is, the lights of the Sun are more manifest thereon.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 444)
“The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 176)
Egocentrism is a personality trait which has the characteristic of regarding oneself and one's own opinions or interests as most important or valid. It also generates the inability to fully understand or to cope with other people's opinions and the fact that reality can be different from what they are ready to accept.
“The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 136)
“He who expresses an opinion should not voice it as correct and right but set it forth as a contribution to the consensus of opinion, for the light of reality becomes apparent when two opinions coincide.” (Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace)
Overall ‘the ego’ is one of the biggest sources of intense anguish, limitation and frustration.
“Whosoever has lost himself has found the universe and the inhabitants thereof. Whosoever is occupied with himself is wandering in the desert of heedlessness and regret. The “master-key” to self-mastery is self-forgetting. The road to the palace of life is through the path of renunciation”. (Abdu’l-Baha -Star of the West, vol. 17, no. 2, p. 348)
“When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed release, for that is the greater prison. When this release takes place, then one cannot be outwardly imprisoned.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 120)
"Life is a constant struggle, not only against forces around us, but above all against our own 'ego'.” (Shoghi Effendi- Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 114)
Can we completely get rid of our ego?
“… the complete and entire elimination of the ego would imply perfection—which man can never completely attain—but the ego can and should be ever-increasingly subordinated to the enlightened soul of man. This is what spiritual progress implies.” (Shoghi Effendi, Living the Life, p. 11)
“We call people ‘saints’ who have achieved the highest degree of mastery over their egos.” (Shoghi Effendi)
But if we want to have permanent peace, happiness or rest, we have to remove ego from its position of power over our life, as ego can literally kill one’s sense of aliveness and joy.
“This [self-love] is a strange trait and the means of the destruction of many important souls in the world. If man be imbued with all good qualities but be selfish, all the other virtues will fade or pass away and eventually he will grow worse”. (Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 136)
So how can we remove ego from its position of power?
“The more we search for ourselves; the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly we will become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life.”
(Shoghi Effendi)
False self ‘EGO’ True self ‘SOUL’
“The more we search for ourselves; the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly we will become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life.”
(Shoghi Effendi)