AHAMKARA, MANAS, BUDDHI, CHITTA.........

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Ahamkara (अहंकार) is a Sanskrit term that refers to egoism, that is the ego of one's self, the identification of one's own ego.

It is the belief of self-consciousness or "I-ness" and the tendency to identify oneself with external phenomena, "The I-maker."

Even though it is not discussed in great detail in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjun that it must be removed.

There are Four Functions of Mind: 
     Manas = sensory, processing mind ·   
     Chitta = storage of impressions ·   
     Ahamkara = "I-maker" or Ego (2 Egos) ·   
     Buddhi = knows, decides, judges, and discriminates.
 
The aspirant should: 
     Understand each function individually.
     Coordinate them all with one another

Ahamkara is “I-am-ness,”: Ahamkara is the sense of "I-am-ness," the individual Ego, which feels itself to be a distinct, separate entity.

It provides identity to our functioning, but Ahamkara also creates our feelings of separation, pain, and alienation as well.

Contd...
Jai Sai Ram

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Egoism may refer to any of the following:

psychological egoism - the doctrine that holds that individuals are always motivated by self-interest
ethical egoism - the ethical doctrine that holds that individuals ought to do what is in their self-interest
rational egoism - the belief that it is rational to act in one's self-interest
solipsism - (sometimes called egoism) - the belief that only one's self exists, or that only the experiences of one's self can be verified
egotism - an excessive or exaggerated sense of self-importance. In extreme forms, egotism may include narcissism and antisocial behavior
Egoism is promoted by the following philosophies/ideologies:

Individualism - a focus on the individual as opposed to society
Individualist anarchism - anarchism that exalts the supremacy of the individual
Libertarianism - a political ideology that advocates individual liberty and private property
Machiavellianism - a tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain
Objectivism - a philosophical system based on the writings of novelist Ayn Rand that advocates egoism
Suitheism - Belief in self as a deity

Contd...
JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Ahamkara is the strong wave
that declares "I am"

Ahamkara takes on partners: This wave of "I-am-ness" called Ahamkara then aligns itself or forms partnerships with the data or impressions in Chitta, and, in turn, with Manas, which then responds to the desires being sought by this "individuality."

Meanwhile, Buddhi, the deep aspect, which knows, decides, and discriminates, remains clouded. Thus, it is said that purifying (or un-clouding) buddhi is a most important task in the path of meditation and Self-realization.

JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

A good way to cultivate the witnessing of Ahamkara is to be aware of the fact that rising thoughts and emotions are often colored with either attraction or aversion.

The attraction or aversion may be strong, or it may be so weak that it is barely noticeable.

Noticing the weak ones can be very insightful as to the subtlety of Ahamkara's coloring (It's much easier to neutrally witness the weak ones at first).

JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Buddhi is higher mind:

Buddhi is the higher aspect of mind, the door-way to inner wisdom.

The word Buddhi itself comes from the root budh, which means one who has awakened.

Buddhi has the capacity to decide, judge, and make cognitive discriminations and differentiations.

It can determine the wiser of two courses of action, if it functions clearly and if Manas will accept its  guidance.

jai sai ram

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Buddhi is cultivated as the decision makerin the factory of life

Buddhi should be the decision maker:

In the factory of life, we want Buddhi to be making the choices for the factory.

Otherwise, Manas gets its instructions from the habit patterns stored in Chitta, that are colored by Ahamkara, the Ego.

Often, Buddhi is clouded over by all of the coloring and impressions in the Chitta.

Thus, a major task of sadhana, spiritual practices, is to un-cloud the clouded Buddhi.

Then, with clear choice one can ever improve the choices that lead to the fruits of spiritual practices.

Jai Sai Ram

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Buddhi:

On the more gross or surface levels of living and meditation, Buddhi is used as a tool for discrimination.

However, when we get deep enough in meditation, we discover that it was the subtlest aspect of Buddhi that first started to see division in ourselves and the universe.

In other words, although Buddhi is used as a tool for deepening experience in meditation, it was Buddhi who carved up the universe in the first place, seeing division where there is unity.

To discriminate between Buddhi and pure consciousness is one of the final stages in the meditative journey.

jai sai ram

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

The principle of Buddhi is one of the most important principles and tools of Yoga, as presented in the Yoga Sutras.

The term Buddhi itself is only used a couple times in the Yoga Sutra, although Buddhi has to do with discrimination, or viveka, and that term is used several times.

By reviewing those few sutras, it will become clear how the entire process is founded on discrimination and Buddhi.


JAI SAI RAM

[dattaswami]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Ahamkara (अहंकार) is a Sanskrit term that refers to egoism, that is the ego of one's self, the identification of one's own ego.

It is the belief of self-consciousness or "I-ness" and the tendency to identify oneself with external phenomena, "The I-maker."

Even though it is not discussed in great detail in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjun that it must be removed.

There are Four Functions of Mind: 
     Manas = sensory, processing mind ·   
     Chitta = storage of impressions ·   
     Ahamkara = "I-maker" or Ego (2 Egos) ·   
     Buddhi = knows, decides, judges, and discriminates.
 
The aspirant should: 
     Understand each function individually.
     Coordinate them all with one another

Ahamkara is “I-am-ness,”: Ahamkara is the sense of "I-am-ness," the individual Ego, which feels itself to be a distinct, separate entity.

It provides identity to our functioning, but Ahamkara also creates our feelings of separation, pain, and alienation as well.

Contd...
Jai Sai Ram

Arjuna believed the human incarnation but a little jealousy and egoism existed with him.  Krishna knows the mind of Arjuna even though Arjuna praised him as Lord every time. Krishna always presented the concept of the double personality of human incarnation to Arjuna to satisfy that little jealousy.  If the house owner says that the Prime Minister is present in his house, certainly some jealousy will be created.  But if he says that he is the Prime Minister the jealousy will go to climax. You will understand all this if you constantly watch your thought every time and you will realize the truth in my words.  Hanuman killed this ghost of jealousy and demon of egoism completely.  We do not accept even the real greatness present in a fellow human being. But see the case of Hanuman.  He is several times greater than Rama. But still he became  a slave to Rama.  Hanuman had all the super powers and Rama had no super power.  Can you become a slave to a fellow human being even if you are much greater than him?  You can not think this even in dream. 

Then think how much Sadhana you have to do  to reach the state of Hanuman to recognize the human incarnation which often appears in a lower state!  Hanuman served Rama in His personal work and not in uplifting the world.  If you are in that state you will immediately criticize Rama.  This is a test for you that whether you give higher place to the Lord or to the Society.  Imagine how much it is difficult to recognize Krishna, who often exhibited even Rajas and Tamas (bad qualities!).  This state is very dangerous in recognizing God in the human form and some times the devotees may even run away.  Therefore, Krishna neutralized such sever test by exhibiting some miracles. Since Rama exhibited always Sattvam, there was no necessity exhibiting any miracle.

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

The principle of Buddhi is one of the most important principles and tools of Yoga, as presented in the Yoga Sutras.

The term Buddhi itself is only used a couple times in the Yoga Sutra, although Buddhi has to do with discrimination, or viveka, and that term is used several times.

By reviewing those few sutras, it will become clear how the entire process is founded on discrimination and Buddhi.


JAI SAI RAM

OM SRI SAI NATHAYA NAMAHA

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Two uses of the ' word '  "Ego"
 
"Ego" is used in two ways:

To understand and effectively use the practice of witnessing the Four Functions of Mind (see the rest of this paper), it is important to note that there are two different ways of using the word Ego. To do this, we will use the metaphor of two houses.

Imagine two houses that are exactly the same, except for the paint and the decorations. 
·   If we like the color of the paint on the house and the nature of the decorations, we say the house is pretty. 
·   If we do not like the color of the paint and the nature of the decorations, then we say the house is ugly.

.            However, both houses are actually the same as one another, underneath all of the surface appearances of paint and decorations.

·   In our common language and in the field of modern psychology, the word Ego generally refers to our personality structure. Thus, in our house metaphor, the Ego of psychology refers to the paint and decorations, with less regard for the existence of the house itself.   

·   In Yoga psychology, the word Ahamkara means the I-maker and refers to the powerful wave of individuated existence that declares "I am!"

When the word Ahamkara is translated into English, we use the word Ego.
Thus, in our house metaphor, the Ego of Yoga psychology, or Ahamkara, refers to the house itself, not to the paint and decorations, which are considered to be false identities. 

This important principle is not just semantics. When most of us hear the word Ego used to represent the word Ahamkara, we automatically, out of habit, project the wrong meaning onto the word Ego. If we only hear the word Ego, and have never previously encountered the word Ahamkara, we are even more blinded.


JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM


Both uses of the word   EGO are valid and useful:

This is not a claim that one meaning of Ego is right and the other wrong.

Both uses of the word Ego are valid within their own spheres.

The principle of Ego in psychology is useful, and the principle of Ahamkara in Yoga psychology is useful. Also, using the word Ego for Ahamkara is also useful, so long as we remember the way the word is being used. 

The significance of this misuse of Ego for Ahamkara:

The Ahamkara (literally "I-maker") makes a sort of mistake, by associating or identifying itself with some of those impressions in Chitta.

This association between Ahamkara (Ego in Yoga science) and the data in Chitta, in turn, allows the emergence of the apparent individual personality (Ego in psychology). In this association, the impressions in Chitta are "colored"  by Ahamkara with attractions and aversions.

These colored impressions then compete for attention.

In the absence of clear choice by Buddhi (knows, decides, judges, discriminates), the colored impressions drive Manas (sensory-motor mind) to take actions purely out of habit.

JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

The cause of our suffering:

The entire cause of our mental and emotional suffering is the false identification between Ahamkara and the data that is stored in Chitta.

(Eventually, at a deeper level, the Self is seen to have falsely identified itself with the Four Functions of Mind themselves).

By witnessing the Four Functions of Mind, while they are functioning, we increasingly come to see this mistaken identity, which leads to freedom.

Buddhi becomes witness to this mistaken identity:

It is the function of mind called Buddhi, which, once again, knows, decides, adjudges, and discriminates.

In other words, Buddhi is the part that sees the situation clearly. Eventually, the Self or Atman is seen as witness to all of the Four Functions of Mind, including Buddhi itself.

Purifying Buddhi is the most important goal:

How does this clarity come?

It happens by removing the clouds of spiritual ignorance (avidya) that are blocking the wisdom of Buddhi. Thus, the most important goal of all practices is purifying Buddhi.

JAI SAI RAM

[Kavitaparna]

OM SRI SAI RAM

Ego needs to be trained:

Remember, ego, as Ahamkara, is the "I-maker," which allows for our very existence as individuals.

The problem, as described above, is that ego mistakenly takes on false identities.

It is not that ego is somehow bad, and needs to be punished by a death sentence.

Rather, it needs to be trained, along with the other of the four functions of mind, particularly Manas. 


JAI SRI SAI RAM