Sairam,
In a satsang held in the divine presence at the UK, on 15 April, 2017, a devotee asked how to deal with beliefs that limit us, our conditioning and ego.
And here is what Swami said:
Question: Swami, how do we deal with our beliefs that limit us, our conditioning, our ego? Always present, they stop us from going for what we love, from receiving your divine will and acting upon it.
Swami: Ego is a basic ingredient of every human being – even an ant has an ego. You cannot get rid of it, so what you can do? Put it in perspective for a moment: if ego says to you, 'I am so-and -so, I have achieved such-and-such and I am what I am because of myself,' concentrate for a moment on your breath and ask who is breathing through you. You are all sitting here listening; did any of you make a conscious effort to breathe all this time? It went on, all on its own.
You have eaten your breakfast and food is slowly getting digested in your stomachs, where it is being converted into energy, going throughout your body; that is why you are able to sit here and listen to all these things, otherwise you would be dead in no time. Your heart goes on beating from the moment you are born, without a minute's rest. Can you stop the heart from beating? Can you make it start again? Nothing is under your control.
All that you are able to achieve is because of the many things that are happening, which are out of your control, or outside your will. It is not under your control. It is what something else is doing – the higher power operating through you. Think: 'Today, I have become a good singer but, if inhalation and exhalation had not been going on, I could not have been a singer.' 'I have become a good surgeon because, first of all, my heart is beating well, making my body function. Anything that I am able to achieve with this body, is because of a higher power working without me realising it.'
The moment the ego swells up within, sit down and concentrate on your breath and ask who is breathing. 'Is it me or something else?' You will get your answer – if you cannot breathe by your own will, cannot make your heart beat at your will, cannot make your food digest at your own will, what can you achieve without God's will? Therefore, it is God's will. Immediately, your ego will deflate and humility will descend. That is the first step for when the ego comes. The second step is when you are working with egotistical people; you have to ask, "What are the good things in that person?" Focus on that.
Remember how I explained that, when electricity flows through a light bulb, each bulb glows according to its wattage? Learn to see how much more brightness there is in that person. What are ten good qualities the person has? That should make you humble enough to listen and understand their perspective, rather than going on about your own perspective. It will bring humility, once again. That is how you must reason and, immediately, the ego will diminish.
When will you all come to India? You are young; save a little money and come to India. It will take a while for you to save enough to come. Plan and book your tickets in advance, so that you can save some money for it and then come to India in November, but not before. Come as a group. All the others will join hands in their own places, in their own way. All must join hands. In this part of London, they are able to go to the aged people's home here, which is close by. There is no point in going to the other parts of London for seva, where you would spend half a day travelling. You would be exhausted and would not have much time or energy left.
Wherever you are in your little groups, try to meet, five or six of you, in your areas in London and elsewhere, to do what they have done here. You have already done it here, so you know how it has to be done.
What are the pitfalls, what are the follies that have to be avoided? You have experienced them all, so you are already at an advantage. Use that experience and undertake seva in your own area. I am saying this again – there may not be a great amount of work that you can do, it may not be the case that you will change the whole fate of the elderly in the United Kingdom. What it will do is to change you, and that is what is of importance to you. The food you eat, you eat for your sake; what you drink, you drink for your own sake; sleep and rest are for your own sake – seva, too, is for your sake. You are not doing seva for the food by eating it; you are not doing seva for the bed by sleeping on it; you are not doing seva for the bottle by drinking from it – you are doing seva for yourself. Correspondingly, however small it may be, whatever you do with great sincerity and love, will transform you. That is important. Begin with that.
All places need seva for the elderly; that is the need in the United Kingdom. Then we will take the next step; when you are strong enough, we will take the next step. Talk to all the young people in your area, talk to them sweetly about seva, let them taste the nectar of seva and they, too, will be transformed. They will thank you, as you thank Me every time, when you say, "Thank You, Swami, for this opportunity." In the same way, they will come and thank you, saying, "Thank you for showing us this way, otherwise we would have been lost, we would have wasted our lives." You started early, drove slowly and arrived safely; help others to do so, too.
My blessings are there in abundance. Wherever there is love, wherever there is service, I am always there, without question. With that faith, you must do whatever you can.