The Nature of the Mind : 7.

Ahamkara which is the source of all troubles has its seat in the mind. Annihilation of egoism will bring about destruction of the mind and annihilation of the mind will cause destruction of egoism.

Ahamkara or egoism is the main sense of the Jiva. It is the master-manipulator of diverse life. The ego is the hardening or the concretising of the universal consciousness at a point in space. It is formed of the stuff of arrogating itself and excluding all else from being. Ahamkara need not necessarily be taken to mean pride merely, but it is essentially the feeling of "I am" or self-awareness. This self-consciousness is the pivot of the rotation of the incessant revelation and the withdrawal of self-asserting forces thrown out by the ego by its powerful spells of thought. The whole universe is in fact this magical incantation of the sense of the ego which has at its background the ocean of the mind.

The ego is a monad in absolute consciousness. It strongly desires to express itself and this power of expression creates the appearance of space, time, sound, touch, colour, taste and smell in limitless being. The origin of the world is the desire to egotise in opposition to the Self. The grosser the ego-manifestation, the more real appears the world and the farther is the Jiva from the reality.

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued   ....