Before I get into the correlation of Ego, Destiny and Prayer, I must share my viewpoint about what each one means — this is my opinion but I believe it would resonate with every individual who experiences or at least senses an underlying current that pervades the world we exist in, an interactive web of energy that exists inside us which manifests the experience outside us.
The Mind is the seat where we recognize our manifestation of the world. To this day, we do not fully understand the mental projections that appear within our sensory field of perception. We only respond or react to circumstances and events that unravel before us, often trying to rationalize our behavior to a logical pattern often seeking comfort in Science and Technology. When Science becomes a mute spectator, we turn to Religion. All along we trust the Mind, its tendency, judgement and fear but not willing to challenge the Mind about where and how it arrived at a specific opinion, rather how it derived a certain conclusion. These subliminal thoughts that crystallize within our psyche over many generations form a culture. Quite often to challenge one’s mental framework is in fact challenging your entire cultural pyramid.
When Science becomes a mute spectator, we turn to Religion
At this point, I must add that I do distinguish between the Mind and Self as two distinctly separate subject matters. The Self recognizes the Mind, for it is the Self that acts, the Mind is an aggregated kaleidoscope of information absorbed by the senses; it is like a movie projector but whether you become immersed in the screenplay or reject it depends entirely on the Self. There can be two possible outcomes, one is that the Self identifies with the Mind, and the second is that Self recognizes the existence of the Mind. The key factor for understanding the nature of Self depends on one’s ability to distinguish one from the other.
The state in which the Self identifies with the Mind is the Ego state. The Ego is not another term for arrogance, pride or self-admiration; as I see, it exists when the individual has failed to recognize the existence of the Mind as a disparate entity; a fused state of Self and Mind gives birth to the Ego state. Anger, pride and many other ailments are merely side-effects of the Ego state. As long as one’s Self is identified with the Mind (and its projections) one can never experience an Ego-less existence. It is not a question of doing good or being bad, either way, the question is does one recognize the Mind and its functioning.
The state in which the Self identifies with the Mind is the Ego state
A primary characteristic of the Mind is its perception of Time, this inadvertently dictates our existence — how we live, what we live for and why we live. The reason Time has become the pivot around which our Mind exists is because we (can) witness Death; we can feel it happening slowly, working underneath our skin at a slow but steady pace. It bothers (the I) because with the Body, the Mind too is dying. A Self that is attached to the Mind or the Ego state experiences the same fear that it is dying and the process can’t be reversed; thereby it lives in a perpetual state of fear. In fact, it almost seems as if our perception of Time has become a curse because we can never be liberated from the haunting sense that death is imminent. Thus the Ego state continues to thrive on this fear and we succumb to every whim that the Mind projects.
This combination of an Ego state with the fear of Death creates a fertile ground, for any belief system that assures a haven, to thrive upon. The linear experience of Time and the ignominy of human plight makes one turn to any answer even if it lies outside the boundary of human reason, Science for a short while seems like a savior but often it too falters; disappointed we seek answers to explain the rhythm that governs the highs and lows of Life. Destiny is born.
I like to view Destiny as a unified whirlwind of all unknown forces that determine an outcome. More often it affects our lives in a manner we do not understand with our limited linear perception of Time. It is likely that many years later, in retrospect, we may possibly connect the dots and rationalize the theory behind certain events and people shaping our life. However at a specific point in the time-line, we are ignorant. Destiny is an entity of the past. It doesn’t exist in the present; for this reason, your action and thought this instant is shaping your Destiny that you can only recount in the future. Destiny therefore is an illusion, we create it to satisfy our mental perception of time.
Destiny is an entity of the past
When the Self recognizes the existence of the Mind; when the Observer wakes up, so to say, and realizes that it can exist outside the purview of the Mind, and it can act of an intelligence that is alive in the Now, beyond the collective opinion of knowledge and dogma, it is in a state of Self-Awareness. This state of being Self-Aware, a perceptible state of the Self realizing its own nature, the Observer witnessing itself, it ceases to be disturbed by the mental projections of a limited Mind, rather it looks beyond Time. In this state, the Self experiences the Mind and Body as instruments of a universe that is constantly maturing and adapting. There is no longer a separation between Life and the Living. One simply is in a state of Prayer.
A Prayer is the name I like to give to the Ego-less state where one ceases to experience any boundary between the with-in and the with-out. They merge one into the other, there is no need to pray. Prayer is a happening. It always has been, one simply needs to witness it. In Prayer, both Ego and Destiny cease to exist naturally.
Thanks for Reading.
