Respect and Ego

Bangalore Ashram,
16 Dec 2001 India.

Respect and Ego

There are two types of respect.

1. Respect that comes to you because of your position, fame or wealth. This type of respect is impermanent. It can be lost once you lose your wealth or status.

2. Respect that comes because of your virtues like honesty, kindness, commitment, patience and your smile. This respect, no one can take away.

The less you are attached to your virtues, the more self respect you have. If you get attached to your virtues, you look down upon everybody else and they (the virtues) start diminishing. Non- attachment to virtues brings the highest self respect.

Often one confuses ego with self esteem. Ego needs the other for comparision, self esteem is just confidence in oneself. For example, a gentleman claims that he is thorough in Mathematics or Geography, this is self esteem. But to say that I know better than you, that is Ego.

Ego simply means lack of respect to the Self.

Ego upsets you very often. Self esteem is immune to getting upset by external factors. In self respect, everything is a game, winning or losing has no meaning, every step is joy, every move is celebration.

In Self esteem you simply realise you have it.

Jai Gurudev!

"Lack of understanding of life causes fear. People are afraid of love, people are afraid of meditation, people are afraid of death, people are afraid of themselves. Ignorance, lack of awareness, is cause of fear. Just a glimpse of the Being, of the Self that you are, that you are beyond death, roots out the fear totally."-Sri Sri

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~News Flash~

New Delhi, Nov 17: The Art of Living will host a historic event, named Brahm Naad, which will showcase 1000 sitarists on one platform, in a first-of-its-kind concert. Scheduled to take place in Noida, Uttar Pradesh on November 21, 2008, the proceeds of this initiative are dedicated to aid in the relief & rehabilitation of Bihar.
Conceived by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the event fulfills two purposes; to popularise Indian classical music even while uplifting its practitioners and to epitomize the universality & unifying power of music to spread the message of peace and harmony.
Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, the BrahmNaad initiative will also witness the participation of Pt. Ravi Shankar (Sitar), Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia (Flute), Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra (Vocal- Hindustani Music), Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor) and Sonal Mansingh (Odissi Dancer), who will be honoured, at the event, by the spiritual master.
The music for this 1000-piece sitar orchestra is based on ancient ragas from the Gandharva Veda.
The Art of Living has been involved in the relief & rehabilitation of the state of Bihar, through its volunteer network, at flood hit districts of Khagaria, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Arariya, Madhyapura, Supoul & the army medical camp in Narpatganj. Having mobilized relief materials worth Rs 10 crore, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has pledged to raise Rs 40 crore for the rehabilitation of the flood victims.
The mega event will also see the release of Sri Sri’s Hindi biography, Jeena Sikha Diya. Written by a journalist Swayam Prakash, the research based book details Sri Sri’s global social service, works, talks, question-answers, his interviews and some yet unknown aspects of his life.