Eliminating Egoistic Tendencies with the Power of the Mantra
by Atman Nityananda / bk
Mantras are one of the most effective means to eliminate egoistic tendencies. Each time an egoistic tendency arises within us (desire, passion, impulse, or negative emotion: anger, envy, lust, pride, disgust, aversion, jealousy, guilt, fear, or gluttony), we can eliminate part of its energy and progressively weaken and dissolve it with the power of the mantra.
- Thoughts that have taken root in our hearts against our will and remain there can uniquely be made to vanish through the prayer of Jesus, when uttered from the depths of our heart.
- Just as it is impossible to cross a vast sea without a great ship, it is likewise impossible to drive away the offense of an evil thought without invoking Jesus Christ.
~ St. Hesychios the Elder (Philokalia, Volume 1)
Being Vigilant (Attentive) and Guarding the Mind (Nipsis in Greek) and the prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”) are therefore connected, like the soul and the body, and one cannot exist without the other. The two are linked in two ways.
First, vigilance resists sin as a vanguard, and then comes prayer, which kills all vile (passionate) thoughts that vigilance has first neutralized; for vigilance alone cannot achieve this.
~ St. Symeon the New Theologian (Philokalia, Volume 5)
The sooner we become aware of the manifestation of an egoistic tendency, the easier it will be to avoid identifying with it, to calm it, and to eliminate it using the power of the mantra of God’s name and through prayer.
Prayer to Remove the Energy of a Tendency
“My Divine Mother (or Christ, God), eliminate the energy of anger (or any other tendency manifesting itself), free my mind and heart from the emotion or the energy of anger, and flood me with peace, love and light.”
There are other methods to eliminate and weaken the egoistic tendencies, but prayer and mantras are the most important ones to eliminate them moment by moment, during all day long. I would like to emphasize that prayer as a means to eliminate egoistic tendencies is also used after the practice of introspection and inquiry that we do at home.
From my book: The Art of Living Consciously in the Present Moment
The ‘secret’ to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind free from desires and ego and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).
🌺 Peace, Love, Harmony
atmannityanada 