The Reflected Sun: Ego, Scripture and the Counsel Ravana Refused
In the morning satsanga of October 30, 2026, Swami Jyotirmayananda taught that the ego is a reflected sun competing with other reflections, that the study of scripture ends in the discovery that this ego does not exist, and read Ravana's refusal of all counsel as the state of the egoistic mind.
One sun shines in the sky, and it is reflected in countless pools of still water. Each reflection is bright, and each, if it forgot the sun, could look at the others and ask, "how good am I?" That, Swamiji taught this morning, is the ego: a reflected sun competing with other reflections. All the stories of the reflection come to an end when the reflected sun unites with its source and knows, "I am the sun."
After an invocation to Lord Rama and the Hare Rama mantra, Swamiji read a poem of meditation: I am not the body, the senses, the mind, the intellect or the ego. I am the Self, immortal, infinite and non-dual, existence, knowledge and bliss. "Listen, reflect, realize."
When the Mantra Inflates the Ego
The egoistic mind, Swamiji explained, wants to be the greatest. It may repeat the same Vedantic mantra, "I am one," but a mind based in ignorance interprets the mantra in a totally different direction, and asserts that it alone is great. "Ego becomes more inflated." That is why the teaching must be listened to, reflected upon and realized, not merely heard.
Yet the ego-based mind is also what makes study possible. Without it, he said, one could not study scripture at all. But the result of all scriptural study is an ultimate revelation: that the very ego which made one a scholar does not exist. That is the purpose of all scriptural knowledge.
The Pure and Subtle Buddhi
The goal is a stage in which the buddhi, the intellect, becomes so subtle and pure that the mind is no longer involved with questions of progress, of papa and punya, sin and merit. There is neither bondage nor liberation; all of these, in the presentation of Shankaracharya, belong to Maya. When the buddhi has come to that space, Swamiji said, that is the victory.
The Sun Needs No Scripture
Here he returned to the sun. While one remains a reflection, greatness is only a reflected self creating vanity. When the reflection unites with its source, the long struggle, the study of the Ramayana and of every scripture, comes to its conclusion. One closes the Ramayana and closes the scripture, because the sun does not require them. "Yoga is union with God." With ego, he said, one cannot be united with God.
The Counsel Ravana Refused
The Ramayana shows the ego-based movement in Ravana. He is given the greatest advice and ignores completely all the subtle knowledge offered in satsanga by those who counsel him. He does not listen, and he develops an insulting attitude even toward his mother. She wants to bless him and hold him back before the war, and he answers, "I know what my blessing is." So, Swamiji said, is the state of the egoistic mind.
A Story Told Every Day
The ego, he continued, seeks praise and appreciation and cannot let go of the victory it has imagined, the dream of becoming a great personality like Alexander. History is filled with such examples, and all of them are in the realm of mortality. "Millions of Alexanders have died."
The sun, by contrast, brings about countless stories. "Every day is a story of the sun." It is told in every part of the world, and these stories go on entertaining the mind. In realization, all the stories move away, and all wisdom is found in one's own heart. When Rama is installed in the heart and Shiva becomes the Shivalinga, the whole body becomes a devalaya, a temple: Jivo Devah Sada Shivah, the individual soul is God, ever Shiva. "No role for ego."
Swamiji closed with atma-samman, which the ego reads as self-esteem: the feeling that life is nothing unless one is recognized as a great personality and given honor. That craving is neither the glory of the Self nor even the glory of the ego, and in realization it moves away. The satsanga ended with a prayer for the grace of God to shower over all.
Terms in This Satsanga
- buddhi: the intellect; when subtle and pure, it is beyond papa and punya.
- papa and punya: sin and merit, both within the realm of Maya.
- devalaya: a temple; what the body becomes when Rama is installed in the heart.
- atma-samman: self-esteem as craving for honor, not the glory of the Self.
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