Ego

1. The self-willed are never at Peace as are the Godwards steeped in His Wonder.
Why then curse thyself with the ways of the world? For, thy Lord accepts nothing
but the Truth. (Sri Rag M. 1)

2. Rare, O rare, are they who Serve the True Guru; Who still their Ego and Avarice
and wear the Lord in their hearts. (Sri Rag M. 3)

3. He who subdues his body and stands on the head to meditate, but sheds not his
Ego,
Finds not the Lord's Name, even if he commits 'spiritual'deeds. (Sri Rag M. 3)

4. We all are the Brides of the Lord, and Bedeck ourselves (for His Pleasure),
But if we are proud of our Beauty, no use then are our Red Robes. We find not Love
through deceit; the false show avails not (with God). (Sri Rag M. 1)

5. He, who comes to the world, and indulges in Ego, is swept away. P. 64
The world is like the stoe-house of collyrium; in it the body and mind are
blackened. (Sri Rag M. 1)
6. The egotist is Blind; for his Conscience is Awakened not. He is the Killer of
himself and so also the Killer of the world. (Majh M. 3)

7. When a man has the pride of self, He's caught as is a parrot in a hallow reed.
When a man has the pride of Wisdom and Devotion to God, His efforts are of no
avail in the eyes of the Lord. He who thinks he discourses well, Is like the
pedlar who courses through the world (for others). Nanak: He alone Receives the
Lord, Who sheds his ego in the Society of Saints. (Gauri Sukhmani M. 5)

8. When one sheds one's Ego, one is at Peace, And one's body and mind are in
Health. (Ibid)

9. He, in whose heart is the pride of dominions, Dies like a cur and falls into
hell. He, in whose heart is the pride of beauty, Is but a worm abiding in dirt.
(Ibid)

10. He, in whose heart is the pride of good deeds, He, forsure, dies to go the
Round again and again. He, in whose heart is the pride of wealth and lands, Is a
blind fool, void of Wisdom. He, who is blessed with humility by the Lord's Grace;
Obtains Deliverance here, and Peace Hereafter. (Ibid)

11. If a wealthy man has pride of his riches. (Knows he not that) nothin goes
along with him, not even a straw? If he has the pride of having hosts of men,
(Knows he not that) they are destroyed in an instant? He, who deems himself to be
all-powerful, (Knows he not that) he becomes but dust in a moment? The proud one
takes no one into account, But him the Lord of Justice humbles and destroys. He,
who loses his Ego, by the Guru's Grace, He, Nanak, is Approved at the Lord's
Court. If a man, in pride, does myriads of good deeds, All his toil is wasted
away. If he does penance in pride, He wanders between heaven and hell, and goes
the Round again and again. He, who is in ceaseless effort, but has not a tender
heart, Oh, how shall he reach the Court of the Lord? He, who seeks to be called
good, Him goodness touches not. Nanak: He, whose mind is the Dust of all, His
repute alone is the Purest of the pure. (Gauri Sukhmani M. 5)

12. In Ego one comes: in Ego one goes. In Ego is one bon: in Ego one dies. In Ego
one gives, in Ego one takes. In Ego one earns, in Ego one wastes. In Ego is one
truthful or lies like a liar. In Ego one reflects on Virtue and Sin. In Ego do we
land in Heaven and Hell. In Ego are we happy, in Ego in sorrow. In Ego do we sin,
in Ego wash it off. In Ego do we lose the distinctions of caste and kind. In Ego
ar we wise; in Ego are we unwise. Yea, (in Ego) do we know not the Essence of
Deliverance. In Ego is (one's involvement with) Maya; in Ego is one shadowed (by
Doubt) Yea, in Ego in is our birth upon birth. If one spots out the Ego within,
one Realizes the Gate (of Deliverance). The nature of Ego is that we act in Ego.
The bondage of Ego is that we are bound to the Round. How is Ego born? In which
way is the release? Yea, this is the Lord's Will that, in Ego, one follows the
Writ of habit. Ego is a chronic malady; but within it also is its remedy. If the
Lord be in Grace, one practises the Word of the Guru. (Asa Var, M. 1)

13. When one stills one's Ego, one destroys the sense of the Other: The world is
hard for the Egocentric, for, he is Unwise. (But) when one practises the Word, one
eats up the Uneatable. One should See the Lord within and without, And the (inner)
fire is quenched through the Guru's Will. (Ramkali M. 1, Shloka M. 1)

14. The Egocentrics are filled with Craving, and within their minds are a myriad
hopes of all kinds: Yea, accursed are they who lean not on the Lord's Name: they,
the self-willed beings, are wasted away like waste.

15. Where, O where, is thy glory? Why, O why dost thou abide in Ego? Where, O
where, hast thou been hurt by the abuse of another? Hear thou, I tell thee, where
one comes from And also how brief is one's stay here that one knows not when one
leaves. The air and water both have patience, and the earth has compassion,
forsooth; And the confluence of five elements (like these) brought thee into
being; O, which of these is evil ? (Maru M. 5)

16. But gripped am I by the chronic Disease of Ego. The Utterance of the Lord's
Name, yea, the Lord's Praise, is the only cure which I apply by the Guru's Grace.
(Basant M. 1, Dutukas)

17. Now, I consult no more with my Ego,

For, the Guru has warned that egoism is fool-hardy,
And that the Ego remains homeless ever; it finds no Refuge.
So I am attuned to God, being Saved by the Guru. (Bibhas Prabhati M. 5,
Ashtapadis)

18. The poor abide in peace, for they shed their ego.
Nanak: The high and the mighty have been wasted away their pride.