CLIP THE WINGS OF “I”

  CLIP THE WINGS OF “I”

We always use the alphabet ‘I’ for self in capital form purely due to our ego. For the same reason we never use ‘i’ even in between the sentence. While addressing the gathering we stand erect as ‘I’and use ‘I’many times just to demonstrate our importance and eulogize our fineries due to ego. During young blooming age we walk in strutting posture but later on due to dwindling old age bend ourselves. Similarly we should understand the meaning of ‘I’ and ‘i’. When we write ‘I’ we first draw like a stick or vertical bar ‘1’ and then to make it glorious add a crown at its top like ‘T’ but still not satisfied add a foundation to its bottom like ‘I’ to make it further strong symbol of ego. We are smitten with pangs of ‘I’ness but still keep it close to our chest. Have we forgotten that our life is finite in this world? Perhaps not yet. Osho says that nowadays head has become exploiter due to ego. While ‘I’ fires salvos of pride, ‘i’will utter flowery words of peace and happiness. ‘i’ness does not denote undermining of self but a first and right step in reaching the flights and heights of godliness. This way many ‘I’s will follow you submissively without making any differences in caste, religion, creed or country etc. The author quotes the eye-opening lines of Swami Vivekananda, an illustrious son of Bharata, about quashing the pangs of our ego, “The more we sink the ‘little self’, the more God comes.” We should admire the tenets of Nirankari Mission whose followers bend them-selves and touch feet of one another in reverence and to vanquish the ego to the core.

                                                                                                             (2)

Ego adversely affects our faculty discriminating between good and bad/ right and wrong etc. and social bonding to keep us going on.

If you shrug off ‘I’ness , God will reveal to you. When you use ‘i’ in place of ‘I’, you look naive and small as an innocent child bereft of ego and receive love of God. When one descends from ‘I’ to ‘i’, he can easily be moulded/ groomed like a child. This way one behaves and acts like a naive and sincere person. In the state of ‘i’ness one can easily control one’s sense organs and protect oneself from many onslaughts and miseries of life. Also one will not have cynical mind and evil design against any one. We also defuse many internal and external tensions. With ‘i’ness one’s spoken words will not be harsh and not act as destructive weapons. Such a person will take off big load from his head. Opting ‘i’ness promotes the spirit of detachment and friendship with all, peace and love all around with no attrition of any kind. ‘i’ has to swallow the pride of ‘I’ by clipping its fake wings on both sides. The wide gap between high and low can easily be filled up or reduced after understanding the real meaning of ‘i’ness.

          Demonstration of ‘i’ as ‘I’ smacks dominance. ‘I’ denotes ego and hanging over to it you can not earn love and grace. We, with ego in our head, snub/ bog down others. Also egocentric tendency divides humanity.

          When we make two pieces of ‘I’ as ‘-I-‘ (an upright post with a horizontal bar) it becomes a symbol of Lord Jesus Christ called ‘CROSS’ showing His crucification, revered by all. When you become ‘i’ in reality

                                                                                                        (3)

 and there is none to protect and help you, God, your darling, will come to your rescue in some form without your knowledge. Also your mind will be charged with purities. On the contrary, with ‘I’ness in mind, your life will

become dog like. When purified, eye of the ‘i’ will meet the eyes of Benign Lord. Divine love emanates from the time we forego ego of ‘I’ness. Also such a person will always be with God directly communing with Him and by serving His mankind. He will never play God. ‘i’ness makes us sublime, God fearing and not vindictive. A person opting for ‘i’ness will leave his/her fate in the hands of God and face onslaughts of life without wavering. When you, very often, clip the wick of the candle it burns brightly. In the same way when you clip the wings of “I” your grace brightens up. Shedding of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ from life means becoming desireless which leads to the path of spirituality.  

          If ‘I’ and ‘i’ adjust, live together in an amicable way and at least smile sometimes, life will become heaven on this earth itself. We should lead our life laughingly and not become a laughing stock. We are short lived and our relations are also short lived, then why to differentiate between high and low like ‘I’ and ‘i’. Inequality is creating animosity amongst people. We should be realistic and not harsh. We should raise the status of lower strata of people. There should be complete transformation. O man time has changed; you also change and come down to reality.

A P ANAND

E/120, “VIRGO”, LOWER KHARODI, MARVE ROAD,

MALAD (W), MUMBAI-400 095

Ph: 022-2862 0872