Ego - our strength, our weakness

Jan 31 Evening

Egonomics
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
When we embrace humility's confident, dual nature, the early warnin signs of ego are eradicated. Comparison weakens because while we can strive to be something significant, we don't suffer from the delusions that we can be everything.
Seeking acceptance is uneasy next to humility because we are at ease being both love and disliked.

Foolish is the person that takes offense when none was intended. More foolish is the person that takes offense when it was intended.

Ego.
We all have a personal image that we must protect. For eg, I do not want to be seen by others, and particularly by myself as weak, as ill advised, as less than worthy, as stupid, as someone who cannot be respected. I will do whatever necessary to preserve my personal image of myself. The more fragile my self-image, the harder I will struggle to preserve it.

If we can't distinguish who we are from what we do, what we have, or who we do it with, we won't see past our titles or tenure in a discussion.
In our devotion to progress, we must be able to vigorously debate ideas and not let identity get in the way.

Good leaders keep their minds open. Great leaders open the minds of others in the most intense circumstances, even against the odds of prejudice, politics, and habit.
Regardless of what others say or how they act, a genuine exchange of ideas isn't possible until people are sure that what is being questioned is their ideas, not their identity.

If that security is missing or in question, progress stalls because minds close to questions, challenges, new ideas, differences and so on.
Our ability to create open minds is driven largely by what others feel our regard is for them.

Unconditional positive regard assures people we are not interested in changing their identity, even if we are inviting them to change their mind. If people don't feel it necessary to protect their identity, they are able to focus on debating ideas.

It is not easy to hold people in unconditional positive regard when they have a history with us, we have a bagage about them, or the debate is hitting close to home. If that's the case, we have to work harder to suspend juddgement

Father, why my RA is acting up. I know my feet swelled cos I was walkin too much on Saturday. But now even d fingers on left hand swell, something that has not happen in a long long time.
Work wise, is fine. I didn't receive response from SS, but I think he need to think of d increment to my staff rather than my proposal for 3 days week on unpaid leave mode. So that's settled.
Only thing is now Samyama. I admit this week, I was nearin end, but God gave me other options of food and that helped me to sail d week thru and now only 2 weeks to go before I leave for samyama.
Reading Bhagavad abt havin to renounce all to achieve enlightenment is impossible for me. So, ego is saying if that is not possible why go samyama. Why do 40 days veg.
Aiyah,don't be hard on myself. Nearly every tom, dick and henry did samyama without any achievement. So, jus do it.

Bhagavad Gita
This power of renunciation does not involve any loss to the devotee, but gives him opportunity to remove and forsakes all those thing that retard his spiritual progress.

Don't be neutrel as the state is worse than negativeness. In the negative state, the devotee is afraid to foresake sense attachment; in the neutrel state he has attachment to neither Godf nor to the senses - his entire powers of activity are paralysed.

Without deep yoga meditation, in which the devotee trains the mind and life force to remain concentrated in the higher and spiritual centers of expression, there is little hope of the sensory self-control necessay to overcome the bad habit that constitute one's lower nature.