What is the biggest Obstacle in Self-Realization?

The biggest obstacle in Self-realisation is one’s own pride.There is a positive and negative side of pride. Positive pride does not hurt others, but the negative pride could have a great adverse impact on us, in our life and in our relationships.

Pride is an emotion which makes one susceptible to being fragile and easily wounded. Here, the ego’s want is to be recognised and be praised at the cost of making others feel insignificant.

Let us examine the characteristics of pride.

• Pride is an overestimation of one’s own self-worth – I am better than others.
• Through pride, one assumes he knows or thinks better than others.
• Pride can also mean being conceited, arrogant or superior.
• Pride can be ugly when in action.
• Pride makes us lie.
• Pride is a sign of a self-centred person.
• Our pride compels us to protect our mistakes in order to look good in front of others.
• We fail to see our faults because of our pride. On the contrary, we only see the faults of others.
• One has an excessively-high opinion of one’s self.

Now that we have recognised the various signs of pride, let us look at the obstacles pride can cause.
• Pride gets in the way of how we behave or handle ourselves with others.
• When pride rules, relationships mean baseless to us as in we say things which we do not really mean to say, or we say things which only befit us.
• When we express our self with pride, this hurts and belittles the feeling of others.
• We fail to admit when we have made a mistake for it seems to heavily hurt our pride.
• We are too proud to ask for help and hence we hold ourself back.
• Traits of pride can very easily cause friction, division and pain to others.
• When others have done well, our pride will prevent us from saying so, as we do not like others to succeed at the cost of our own self-worth.
• People generally shun anyone with excessive pride as it comes across as being aggressive and arrogant.
• Pride takes away our peace of mind as we are always seeking to be praised.
• Pride is unsustainable as it never satisfies our needs.
• Pride is a sign of a big weakness.

Effective ways to overcome the weakness of pride:
• First and foremost, acknowledge with conviction that pride for sure is a weakness.
• Recognise the traits of pride and oppose them.
• Recognise the weakness of pride and the negative results pride has in your life.
• When you are insulted, do not protect your pride. Instead, look at this positively and see it as a beneficial thing for breaking down your arrogance.
• Self-examine what pride does to you.
• Eliminate self-consciousness and replace it with humility instead.
• Be open-minded and try not to have preconceived opinions about others or in a situation.
• Listen rather than doing all the talking.
• Stop competing or comparing yourself with others.
• Admit and acknowledge your mistakes not only to yourself but to others.
• Be willing to apologise if you have made a mistake.
• Do not envy others. Rather appreciate and admire their good work.
• Put others before yourself. Step away from making everything all about yourself and try to look at positive abilities of others.
• Treat others like you would like to be treated.
• Serve others. This means rather than thinking only about yourself and your own needs, see where you can support or make a difference in the lives of others.
• Do not be defensive when others try to correct or highlight a mistake or a fault of yours.
• Be open and accept to the point of view of others.
• Praise others. Swallow your pride and say, ‘well done’.
In short, do not allow pride to govern the way you live. Decide with 100% sincerity that you want to make sure pride does not come in your way of progressing on the path of Self-realisation. With this positive inner intent and determination, your work shall be done.

In today’s times, we are fortunate that Akram Vignan, the step less path to Self-Realization, has been discovered, so that people at large can attai
Self-realisation in just two hours, through the direct grace of the Living Gnani, the Enlightened One!!! Here, pride does not pose an obstacle; you can attai
Self-Realization even with your pride remaining intact. Incredible, isn’t it?!

After attaining Self-Realization through Akram Vignan, in the shelter of Gnani, you will be able to see the pride within, much more clearly and vividly. And more importantly, the protection of pride will begin to wither away. This will allow you to finally work in the direction of eliminating every atom of pride that you have collected all along your path of evolution, and thus help you progress on the path of salvation without any fear of pride posing an obstacle anymore.

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