Eliminating the Ego by the Power of Mantra and the prayer
The mantras have the power to eliminate the selfish tendencies and make the mind pure-sattvic!
With the power of vibration of the mantras such as Om, Om Nama Shivay, Om Hriing Nama Shivay, Om Sri Jesus Christ Namaha, Om Sri Durgayai Namaha, Om Aeem Hriim Kriim Durgayai Namaha, we can dissolve the selfish energy and restore the mind to its sattvic state.
During the day each time a selfish tendency, (a desire, an impulse, a negative emotion, etc.) emerge within us, we can reduce the egoic energy by the power of the mantra and make it subside. The best condition to apply this method of elimination is to have the repetition of mantra as a central practice in our daily sadhana and not to apply the mantra only when we want to eliminate an egoistic tendency.
Continuous alertness, self-awareness and self-observation
It is important and necessary to keep our mind attentive during all day and to be in conscious contact with the silent space within; if not, we will easily identify with the selfish tendencies and the mental and emotional programming (if we are not alert we may not even know that we already are identified with some egoistic tendency or pattern) and we will be in a difficult position to manage the situation effectively.
It is sought in spirituality to be constantly vigilant, aware of the silent space within (self-awareness) and observe carefully what happens in us, in order to be aware of the manifestation of the selfish tendency as quickly as possible, at its very beginning. The more vigilant and aware we are and the sooner we perceive the manifestation of selfish tendency, the easier will be not to identify with it and manage the situation effectively (that means to make the tendency to settle down and reduce to some degree its energy by the power of the mantra and a prayer. The best way to remain during all day vigilant and in conscious contact with the silent space within (self-awareness) is to repeat the name of God, a mantra (eg. 'Om Nama Shivay') or to repeat a phrase of truth like, 'I am the Light of Consciousness, Ooommm, Ooommm, Ooommm’, 'I am the inner silent presence, Ooommm, Ooommm, Ooommm’, ‘I am Brahman, Ooommm Brahman '.
Full attention and awareness of the selfish tendency
Every time a selfish tendency, a desire, an impulse or a negative emotion emerges (I will use as an example here, the feeling of shame), pay attention to it, feel it fully, be fully aware of the shame and also be in contact with the silence within. To avoid or overcome any internal resistance or reaction to the shame (such as feeling resentment or anger because shame arises in you ) that can keep you trapped in the vibration of the ego and identified strongly with the ego, which will prevent you from consciously managing the situation, you can do the question-reflection, "Can I accept that the shame is manifested in me?" "Can I experience it completely without judging what I feel? This questioning will help you to relax and create space within you and will get you in a position and intense attention and aware of the shame and the silent space within. Ask yourself these questions and feel the shame completely with fullq attention. Being fully aware of what you feel (shame in this case) will bring you to a deeper contact wih the inner silent.
The awareness of the internal silent presence
If the shame distracts forcefully your attention and you have difficulty* to be in touch with the inner silence, it will help you get in touch the following question, ‘Can I experience the silence in me?’, or you can get in touch with the inner silence as well through the sense 'I exist'. You ask the question, 'Can I feel that I exist? and through this questioning you will come into contact with the sense 'I exist' and through the sense 'I exist' you will come into contact with inner silence. (Read more about this method in the subject of 'Meditation through the sensing of the Body').
Comment
you have difficulty * to be into contact with inner silence: To be able throughout the day to maintain relatively easily the conscious contact with the inner silence and avoid the identification with selfish tendencies (when these are manifested), it is necessary to practice every day morning and evening meditation, which is the fundamental practice of getting in touch with inner silence, to deepen and to be established in it. It is also necessary, throughout the day to remain vigilant and attentive so that we can keep in touch with inner silence and observe our minds, so that we can perceive the manifestation of egoistic tendencies on time, not identify with them and eliminate them by the power of mantra, a prayer and other ways as well.
It is suggested to deepen in the silence within and stay there for a while. Then focus again on the feeling of shame and then again on the inner silence. You can focus two three times alternatively on the emotion and the inner silence, this will help to disidentify more from the emotion and calm it down (little, quite or very much depending on your inner state of that moment and the situation). Finally feel again the feeling of shame by being in touch with inner silence, feel the shame through the silence. While you are aware of the inner silence and the shame as well, repeat several times the mantra, for example the mantra Om, (repeat mentally Ooommm in a prolonged way) and feel the vibration of 'Om' impregnating the energy of shame. Do not try to stop the manifestation of shame with the power of your will; just be aware of the inner silence, feel the emotional energy and as you say the mantra Ooommm feel the vibration of the mantra saturate the energy of shame. Repeat the mantra with full attention and let its vibrations eliminate it.
You can also combine the mantra with a prayer and ask from the Divine Mother to eliminate the egoistic tendency.
You can also combine the mantra with a prayer and ask from the Divine Mother to eliminate the egoistic tendency.
How we do the prayer
We gather the attention within and being aware of the inner silence, the centre of our existence, we say from the heart: ‘My Divine Mother (you can also pray to Christ, or to God, etc.) eliminate this energy of shame, or freed my mind from the feeling of shame and permeate me with light, peace and love. 'I am light, peace and love', 'I am light, peace and love', 'Everything is light, peace and love', 'Only light, peace and love exists', ‘Ooommm 'Light, peace and love, ‘Ooommm 'Light, peace and love’, Ooommm, Ooommm, Ooommm’. As we say these words, we deepen the contact with the silent presence within us. I emphasize that is very important feeling what we say (not simply saying dry words) and being deeply aware of our inner silence as well.
I stress that it is important to be aware of the inner silent presence when you say the mantra with the intention to eliminate the egoic energy that is manifested in you because when we are in contact with inner silence, the power of the mantra and prayer multiply. The deep contact with inner silence weakens the identification with the selfish tendency and thus facilitates its elimination. The inner silent presence is our true nature, it is constantly present, and it is untouched by what happens in the body and the mind. Therefore, when we are consciously in touch with inner silence, we are capable to maintain a distance from psychological reactions and not be lost in them, and also operate from a higher level of Consciousness that facilitates the elimination of the selfish tendencies.
If when arises within you a selfish tendency or a negative feeling (let’s take shame as example), you are not aware of the inner silence, by focusing completely on shame and by sense it with full attention, it will help you become aware of the inner silence. When we consciously and calmly we put full attention to the emotion, this will bring the inner silence to the fore and thus we will come into contact with the inner silence. Everything we do with full conscious attention brings us back to our centre, it helps us to become aware of the inner silent presence. If you have difficulty getting in touch with inner silence, you can make it easier by asking the question, 'Can I feel the silence in me?' Questioning this silently it will bring you into contact with inner silence. It can also help you get in touch with inner silence the feeling 'I exist'. You first come into contact with the feeling 'I exist' utlizing the question, 'Can I feel that I exist? and as you become aware of the feeling 'I exist'' you will come in contact with inner silence. By being in contact with the inner silence and the feeling of shame as well, you can repeat the mantra to reduce the energy of selfish tendency and make it subside as well. I remind you that you can also combine the mantra with prayer and ask the Divine Mother to eliminate the egoistic tendency.
When we are deeply absorbed in the inner silence, the ego cannot steal easily our attention and to manifest itself with thoughts, feelings, impulses, desire, etc. and make us identify with them. But if the contact with inner silence is not deep enough, although we are in contact with inner silence, the ego can more easily distract and steal our attention and project thoughts, fantasies and make us react mechanically to that we experience externally in every moment. Nevertheless, by being in contact with inner silence, we have the possibility not to identify with selfish reactions, to recognize them in time and to eliminate them by the power of the mantra and the prayer. Keep in mind that If we are careless, if we don´t constantly strive to keep intimate contact with the inner silence, then we will easily lose the state of alertness and the contact with inner silence and we will identify with the imaginations, thoughts, desires, feelings, impulses that our ego is projecting and we will be lost in our ego´s ways, suffering the consequences of forgetfulness and identification.
If we want to avoid the identification with the patterns and programming of the inferior ego and experience the peace and plenitude of our essential nature (Consciousness, Atman) we have moment to moment to take care of remaining vigilant and deepening in the awareness of the inner silence. Without this constant care, we will easily lose the contact with the peace within, we will identify with the mechanical reactions of the ego; moreover, we will not be capable to do a serious work with ourselves in order to achieve a radical transformation, much less to achieve liberation (enlightenment, self-realization).