(Continued from Issue 235)

    For the past few Issues we have been looking at various psychological methods to reduce ego. In this Issue we will look at a few more.

     In the last issue we examined efforts related to talking to senior seekers that help in reduction of ego. In this Issue, we will see some more of these efforts

In relation to talking to senior seekers or seekers in charge:

     The Sanatan organization has hermitages (ashrams) and centers in various locations around the world. Seekers who want to devote all their time to spiritual practice, live in these ashrams to practice Spirituality collectively. Other seekers, who are unable to devote all their time to spiritual practice, go to the various centers to seek opportunities to render service unto God. The organization provides seekers with various opportunities for services like helping with proofreading/translation of its publications/periodicals, cooking for the seekers in the ashram, distributing its periodicals to subscribers, etc.

     Some seekers, depending on their spiritual practice and attitude of responsibility, are given the responsibility of looking after these various aspects and activities. These responsible seekers are referred to as senior seekers. Seekers attending spiritual meetings or who need to communicate something about the system or service opportunities, often come in contact with these seekers in charge. The following are some suggestions to psychologically reduce one’s ego during such interactions.

	Not insisting on a particular service out of liking: When a seeker says to a senior seeker, “I like to render a particular service (satseva). Therefore allot only that service to me,” he is thinking only about his own likes and dislikes and/or convenience. This is rendering service according to one’s own liking and reasoning. Undertaking spiritual practice in this way in fact increases one’s ego. By comparison, if a seeker gratefully accepts whatever service is assigned to him and tries to learn what he does not know, then his attitude of learning increases, and his likes and dislikes begin to decrease. Thus, his ego reduces.
	Not complaining about other seekers in a critical tone: When bringing up complaints about other seekers to the notice of a seeker in charge, a critical tone such as, ‘this seeker always behaves like this’, ‘that seeker does not render service properly’, etc., should not be used. One can keep in mind the saying, ‘One does not notice one’s major defects, but is quick to spot trivial flaws of others’. Therefore, before complaining about others, one can analyze whether one is at fault or whether one is hurting anyone due to one’s own personality defects. Accordingly, one can pay more attention to one’s own spiritual practice and ego reduction. Only then should one point out others’ mistakes, and that too, not in a critical tone, but with an attitude to improve the other seekers and the system of service.
	Not hesitating to bring a problem to the attention of the seeker in charge: If a seeker hesitates to tell the seeker in charge about some problem he faces, it actually indicates that he has ego. It is because the seeker is wondering what the other person will think about him or his obstacle. Further, if a seeker does not speak about problems that pose obstacles in his spiritual practice, then they persist. Consequently, he gets entangled in thoughts and drifts away from thoughts about God.

    In the next Issue we will continue to look at some more methods to reduce ego.