A devotee’s question: Radhe Radhe Didi, my question is that every human being has been unique, or has been a jeev because of chitta-man-buddhi-ahankar, whether he is a devotee or not a devotee. And to maintain the uniqueness of a human body or the jeev tattva, he needs to be working on the boundary of all of these four. Ahankar is the uniqueness of a jeev. It will never go away until you become God-realized. So how does it differ between the devotee and the non-devotee?
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: No, it's not that after God realization your ahankar will go on. It starts to become less as you practice sadhana. But I still couldn't get your question.
Devotee’s follow up: The question is will the ahankar remain? Will the ego be there just to identify your uniqueness?
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: Yes.
Devotee’s follow up: So, just to work in this world you need to maintain the ahankar. Without that ahankar probably you can't sustain in this world in a normal life, right?
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: That's your wrong thinking - it’s a very wrong thinking. Again go and learn about the greatest of the sages and Saints who have lived in this world and worked and ruled for one kalp like Prahlad. Prahlad ruled for such a long time with zero ahankara in him and he was a king. He was not just ruler of India; he was ruler of this creation at that time. There was no India or America at that time. The earth was one. He was the ruler of this earth without any ahankar.
Forget about Bhagwan Himself, God Himself, Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, they ruled, but I'm just talking about the sages and Saints. So these examples are there to tell us that you can be absolutely free of this ego. “Ego, pride comes before the fall of man.”
Devotee: So I think my ahankar point was not in that.
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: Satta is your identity, it's not your ahankar.
Devotee: Yes. So I was probably correlating that to a different thing…
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: Yes.
Devotee: …or just trying to understand how it differs between a devotee and a non-devotee. You have to still preserve your personality.
Sushree Gopeshwari Devi Ji’s answer: Of course, even if you do not work towards it, it will be preserved. It will be preserved whether one is a devotee or a non-devotee. A non-devotee does not care about the atma kalyan. A devotee does put in a lot of effort and care on atma kalyan, on the welfare of his soul. That is why he is devoting this life to God. But a non-devotee will not care about atma kalyan, the welfare of the soul. However, for a devotee who is so concerned about the welfare of the soul, of the atma, the true identity, the true self, it will be preserved. You don't have to work towards it. God will make you so strong, and you have to know the philosophy as well, that the world is very chatur, very cunning, very clever.
“I have to be very clever in this world. If anybody even beheads himself and puts their head at my feet, right, and expects me to surrender to that person, I will not do it. Let them die. Let them behead themselves and put their heads on my feet. I'm going to be surrendered to you, my Lord, not to the world.”
Be very strong here. You don't bend down to the world. You totally bend down to God. So there you'll have your satta maintained, but without any ahankar, without any arrogance or egoistic feeling in you. Have humble feelings. Humbleness does not actually mean that if one gives you one slap on the right cheek, then you turn the left. No, no, no, no. Humbleness means total acceptance of the almighty omnipotency power of God, and His omnipresent nature. That is what humbleness is. So you must be very humble, consciously very much aware that my Lord is present and is watching me and knows everything, and now I'm not going to bend down to all these worldly people.
“So in the world I'm going to be very, very strict, rigid, you know, but when it comes to You, my Lord, (I will be) so soft that the very softness itself, the word, is put to shame.” So humble. We show our arrogance there, ”I’m this, that.” And we think that we are very humble, but we surrender to the world.
You got the answer? Yes?
Devotee: Yes
