Sense of Identity Inquiry
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before Oct 05, 2016
Marcia Beloved 3 years ago
I refer to an excerpt from Michel Beloved's book, Anu Gita Explained, Chapter 3, Verse 18.
The inquiry is related to the sense of identity. Can more details be given as to how one brings the sense of identity to order? I have quoted the entire verse with applications, to provide some context to the Analysis section, which talks specifically about the sense of identity and the other psychological adjuncts. The specific areas of interest are in blue text. There is a whole chain of events given, which may occur if one can bring the sense of identity to order. Please elaborate on this as you deem helpful and appropriate!
verse 18
You can see those qualities always in those who are saintly. In them it is definitely situated. On inspection the ideal behavior produces righteous lifestyle, which is inherent in those who are saintly.
Analysis:
There is an abundance of information about saintly behavior and piety in many religious books all over the world. That alone does not establish saintliness. It comes to life by living human being who sets the example. In some this behavior is inherent. In others it is learnt. In some others it is practiced and developed over time.
Application:
A yogi should be kind to the self by seeing to it that it does not fall under subjugation of the dictatorial senses. In the world of the psyche, all psychic components like the sense of identity, the intellect, the memory, the kundalini life force and the sensual energies, should be brought to order under the jurisdiction of the core-self. Ruling benevolently, the self should not allow these various components in the psyche to deteriorate into disorder. Each component should do its duty without infringing on the role of any other.
The sense of identity is basically a traitor but the yogi must realize that he is stuck with it for the duration of the existence of the subtle body, which is for billions of years. If you have to live with someone for many many years, it makes sense only to come to terms with that person.
The core self should bring the sense of identity to order so that it does not destroy the self interest. Once the sense of identity is controlled, the analytical orb will do nothing which is injurious to the self. That in turn will cause the senses to respect the self. It will cause the kundalini life force to always ask permission from the self.
The memories have direct access to the analytical orb but they can be curtailed by keeping the orb in a state of neutrality towards the sensual biases and prejudices developed in the past. Control of the personal psyche must be done by the self, not by God, not by the teacher or anyone else. The self itself must exercise this control. If it cannot do so, then it should learn how to do so from advanced teachers, even from God if the Supreme Being is available.
MiBeloved 3 years ago
I cannot give more clarification without your asking a specific question because generalizations will not help much.
I can say however that the sense of identity surrounds the core-self on all sides and cannot be destroyed by the entity. We are not situated in reference to it, in a way where we can destroy it. That leaves us with only one way out, which is to reform it if we can.
Everything we make contact with the material world is done through the medium of the sense of identity. In the West they rail against this sense of identity as something which is called ego, which they say is unwanted. However not wanting something to exist in no way guarantees that I can get rid of the said thing, even something that is in my psyche. It is my head and still if it is exposed to the sun, it might be burnt. Ownership does not always have full autonomy with it.
The quickest most definite way to be free of the troublesome psychic adjuncts is to break their contact with the sense of identity. The problem with this idea is that even after you break that contact say for five minutes, those adjuncts will make contact again and without any change in their behaviors. Thus breaking the contact is good because at least it will boost self-esteem for us to know that we can exist independent of the adjuncts but it fails to reform them. Thus when we are again connected to them, their default behaviors are reestablished.
It is for this reason that chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita teaches buddhi yoga. It is for that reason also that kundalini yoga is taught. These are for fixing some of the psychic adjuncts.
My car made this very loud disturbing noise. I had no idea what it was. Eventually I got disgusted hearing it. I disconnected the wires from the battery terminals. I was very happy when I did this, because the noise ceased at once.
However I needed to use the car again and as soon as I reconnected the terminals, the noise began again.
The point is that merely disconnecting the sense of identity from the adjuncts does not solve the problem of the bad behavior of the adjuncts. One has to deal with the defective adjuncts. In the case of my car, a mechanic said it was the transmission.
The sense of identity or ego is a neutral something if it is isolated from the adjuncts. Therefore the idea that it is defective is a fool’s view only. It is its affiliation with the adjuncts that causes it to be prejudiced. Thus the items which need to be cleaned, need to be reformed or readjusted, are everything but the sense of identity.
Bringing the sense of identity under control, comes by an action of the core-self where that self acts in a way which frees it from being controlled by the sense of identity. It does this by retaining very restrictive interests. The sense of identity is given a blank check by the core-self when that self expresses an interest in something or a curiosity about something.
Marcia Beloved 3 years ago
Thank you. The "generalizations" you provided are detailed enough to clarify the matter for me, at my current level of understanding. Knowing that the sense of identity is "a neutral something if it is isolated from the adjuncts" is something I had not a clue about. It also definitely clarifies that the sense of identity should not be the object of reform, as in the case of the adjuncts, which are to be isolated and disabled. There is much to consider in your response.
