Explaining the nature of pride, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the Enlightened being, says,
“The extensive form of the ego is pride.”
From where does the tuber of pride originate? Param Pujya Dadashri explains,
“When one gets the taste of respect, he gets a taste of sweetness in it, then the attachment towards getting respect, the greed for getting respect, the desire for getting respect, the beggary for respect enters, and eventually it becomes distorted, meaning, one deceives just for the sake of getting respect.”
While giving on-the-mark solutions to dissolve the tuber of pride, Param Pujya Dadashri suggests, There is no problem if you like getting respect, but at the same time, the awareness should remain that, ‘This pride is wrong, there should be no desire for getting respect.’ Do not become intoxicated by it. If intoxication arises, it will become ugly! As long as there is pride, a person appears ugly, and once he appears ugly, no one will be attracted to him.
You have the freedom to accept respect, respect is allowed, however, have no attachment for the one who gives you respect.
Pride persists because one believes the other person to be inferior. Therefore, do not believe him to be inferior. Rather, you should say, “He is my superior.” Then pride will depart. Doing so, the plus-minus takes place, and thus pride gets neutralized.
Pride is the intent of contemptuously rejecting others. One believes, ‘I am something,’ thus, he contemptuously rejects others. And anger is interlinked with pride. When there is something that obstructs one’s pride, or when his pride is being wounded, one protects his pride through anger and asks it to teach a lesson to anyone who comes to insult. Thus, anger and pride hurt people. Even an egotistic person should not be hurt, that should be our religion. Hence, whenever pride or anger arises, do pratikraman. Pratikraman means a heart-felt prayer to God, ‘Dear God, I made this mistake of hurting others through my pride and anger. Please forgive me. And also give me strength so that I do not repeat this mistake ever again.’ Everytime anger or pride arises, do such pratikraman
A person with a large tuber of pride remains engrossed in the thoughts of, ‘From where can I gain respect? From where can I gain respect?’ The special key to dissolve this tuber of pride is: One who does not want anything, all his [spiritual] work gets accomplished. Pride decreases with the intent of, ‘I don’t want any worldly thing.’ Even when things come before him, he does not ‘want’ them.
Another thought that one with the tuber of pride remains engrossed in is the fear of, ‘What if I get insulted? What if I get insulted?’ When you receive and accept insults when they come, your energies would increase a lot! If someone tells you, “You are a fool, you don’t have any sense,” then you should tell him, “Sir, this is nothing new; I have always been like that.”
The state of your mind should become such that no matter how many insults come your way, they get digested. When does this state arise? When you are insulted and you realize, ‘Oh! Today I have received the medicine to dissolve my pride, which I was not able to obtain before.’
If you get insulted every day, the tuber of pride will dissolve. So, you should decide in the morning, ‘It will be good if I receive five insults today.’ And have regrets if you do not get even one. Then your tuber of pride will dissolve. It will happen when the habit of being insulted is formed. However, endure it with awareness, or else, you may become thick-skinned!
When the one who insults is regarded as a benefactor, then one’s pride will get eradicated. Consider him your benefactor and decide, ‘It would be great if he is around me all the time.’ But instead, you feel hurt and disappointed when you get insulted. Some people say, “They don’t value me”? What value did you have anyway? Go and ask the ocean what your value is. One wave will come and sweep you away! Those who do not have attachment and abhorrence are considered to have value!
The tuber of pride cannot be recognized, so it remains seated. If one could know it completely, then he would attain salvation! The solution here is attain Self-Realization (Gnan). After Self-Realization, you Know that this mistake is happening! You See the pride that arises without attachment or hatred; that is called Gnan. The Seeing is called Gnan and that which is arising [pride] is ignorance. The Seer of the ignorance is the Gnan. Whether it is one degree of pride or fifty degrees of pride, but the Seer of the ignorance is the Gnani (Self-Realized One). You realize that, ‘This is ignorance, this feeling of pride is ignorance.’ A person who is ignorant of the Self cannot recognize ignorance in the form of pride! He would feel there is no mistake there.
When someone gives you respect, You remain in the awareness of the Self and Know that to whom he is giving respect. Respect and insult are given to John (please insert your name here), not to You. John is the relative self or the worldly self, playing the role he’s been given to act in this world. If someone hurls abuse at you in a drama, then would it affect you? If he says, “You are worthless, you are like this, you are a thief, you are a rogue,” then would it affect you? It would not. This is because that is all set up. You as a Soul (the Self) only Know and See, that at the moment, respect is being given to John! Even the attachment or hatred that John has towards respect and insult respectively is Seen and Known without attachment or hatred. The Self does not have any need for respect. That is called awakened awareness of the Self. This is the ultimate spiritual solution to get rid of all the pride.
This life is for the purpose of achieving the goal of liberation and helping in salvation of the world
Is there any need for respect in order to live? Yet, people seek respect and wander around in a state of gross unawareness arising from illusory attachment. All this should be learnt from Gnani, the Enlightened One who has realized the Self and is able to do the same for others)! It is when one sits with the Gnani Purush, when he attains the grace of the Gnani Purush, that pride leaves. When you surrender your body and mind in the lotus feet of Gnani, the tuber of pride is bound to dissolve.
When can you become an instrument for salvation of the world? When you become pure, absolutely pure (void of all pride, anger, deceit and greed)! What is pure attracts the world, what is impure fractures the world. So, bring about complete purity!
To know more: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.