I have fond memories of my time in Cape Town when I was a child...
Now I had the opportunity to visit again as a preacher...
Now I had the opportunity to visit again as a preacher...
Flying into Cape Town, I made sure to get a window seat. The weather was clear and I had a beautiful view of the Table Mountain with its flat top and the other surrounding mountain ranges and beaches. The only sightseeing I like to do is from the plane - anything more than that is too time consuming...
Some years ago, ISKCON bought an old building - a former retirement center - in a good residential area and turned it into a nice little temple in a good
location. They worship small Gaur Nitai - I heard they have bigger Deities Who are not installed yet. The community is much smaller than Johannesburg or Durban, but has a nice and personal mood. Cape Town, apparently having a better government, has a lower crime rate and is more relaxed, and there is a balanced mixture of people from different cultural backgrounds: more white people. This also reflects in our devotee community - there is a good balance between white, African and Indian people.
Some years ago, ISKCON bought an old building - a former retirement center - in a good residential area and turned it into a nice little temple in a good
location. They worship small Gaur Nitai - I heard they have bigger Deities Who are not installed yet. The community is much smaller than Johannesburg or Durban, but has a nice and personal mood. Cape Town, apparently having a better government, has a lower crime rate and is more relaxed, and there is a balanced mixture of people from different cultural backgrounds: more white people. This also reflects in our devotee community - there is a good balance between white, African and Indian people.
I was invited to offer a variety of programs at the temple and in devotees' homes, and we also went to the University and conducted a program with a nice group of eager students. An intriguing topic is always the false ego - our constant companion and troublemaker.
Every day, the false ego creates so many inner battles for us: so many anxieties, so much tension, so many tortures. We may all have the experience how sometimes the mind is going on and on, in circles, hanging on to some issues and discussing them over and over again: “Why he said this and I said that, and how I was actually right and he was wrong.” We may engage in such internal dialogues or monologues, with no conclusions to them. And we may not so easily be able to drop the matter and put it aside.
This is the effect of the false ego, pushing the mind to take us for a ride, in circles, and simply harassing us to get its gratification. It is a torturous situation, the root cause of all kinds of conflicts, tensions and misunderstandings. It takes place on all levels: within our heart, creating tension between our lower and higher natures, within personal relationships, between families, communities, and even nations. In fact, even wars and international conflicts arise because of the influence of this troublemaker. The national identification is, of course, based on the bodily platform of life, and the false ego pushes a leader of one nation to have control over another.
When driving a vehicle, our false egos may enjoy being in control, getting intoxicated by high speed and its dangers, thus viewing ourselves to be a supreme controller. Car accidents may even occur through the influence of the false ego, compelling one driver to compete with the drivers of another vehicle.
Every day, the false ego creates so many inner battles for us: so many anxieties, so much tension, so many tortures. We may all have the experience how sometimes the mind is going on and on, in circles, hanging on to some issues and discussing them over and over again: “Why he said this and I said that, and how I was actually right and he was wrong.” We may engage in such internal dialogues or monologues, with no conclusions to them. And we may not so easily be able to drop the matter and put it aside.
This is the effect of the false ego, pushing the mind to take us for a ride, in circles, and simply harassing us to get its gratification. It is a torturous situation, the root cause of all kinds of conflicts, tensions and misunderstandings. It takes place on all levels: within our heart, creating tension between our lower and higher natures, within personal relationships, between families, communities, and even nations. In fact, even wars and international conflicts arise because of the influence of this troublemaker. The national identification is, of course, based on the bodily platform of life, and the false ego pushes a leader of one nation to have control over another.
When driving a vehicle, our false egos may enjoy being in control, getting intoxicated by high speed and its dangers, thus viewing ourselves to be a supreme controller. Car accidents may even occur through the influence of the false ego, compelling one driver to compete with the drivers of another vehicle.
Thus, the false ego is our constant companion; it’s always there to push and torture us and make its demands. It constitutes the main cause for all our miseries. We may be wondering, ‘Why do all these things happen to me?’ We simply don’t realise how the false ego is in our way, creating our suffering.
Interestingly, the bigger our false ego is, the less we can recognise it. And the smaller it is, the more we can perceive it. One may think it should be the other way around! However, we need a certain level of purification in order to realise how we are conditioned by its workings.
Once I spoke to a devotee who was very troubled by her prominent false ego, always getting herself into conflicts with other devotees around her. Since she turned towards me for help, being upset by the situation she was encountering, I decided to try and give her a hint by mentioning in a very careful way: “Well, our false ego is often in our way and tends to get us into trouble.”
Her response was striking. She laughed it off as a joke, exclaiming, “Come on! False ego! What’s that? I don’t have a false ego!”
I was flabbergasted and shocked to see how difficult it is to recognise this troublemaker, even with it being so prominent. All I could think of in response was to say: “I wish I could say this about myself.” I did not venture to speak anything more on the subject, as there was no point.
This incident brought me to the realisation that we need a certain level of purification in order to be introspective and perceive subtleties. We may compare it to a cloth: While it is very dirty, we will not see an additional stain on it. But as it becomes cleaner, every little mark stands out and is clearly visible.
In the same way, the more we become purified, the more we realise, ‘Oh, here we go again! My false ego is again pushing me, trying to prove that I am right, to get the credit, to establish my superior position.’
The false ego uses rather subtle tactics; and it can get its foot into any door, no matter how narrow the gap may be! It will find that little space to enter and contaminate our activities and consciousness....
On the 9th of April I flew back to Durban.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Please visit www.theholynameretreat.net
www.therootsofspiritualculture.net
https://www.facebook.com/instituteforspiritualculture/
Interestingly, the bigger our false ego is, the less we can recognise it. And the smaller it is, the more we can perceive it. One may think it should be the other way around! However, we need a certain level of purification in order to realise how we are conditioned by its workings.
Once I spoke to a devotee who was very troubled by her prominent false ego, always getting herself into conflicts with other devotees around her. Since she turned towards me for help, being upset by the situation she was encountering, I decided to try and give her a hint by mentioning in a very careful way: “Well, our false ego is often in our way and tends to get us into trouble.”
Her response was striking. She laughed it off as a joke, exclaiming, “Come on! False ego! What’s that? I don’t have a false ego!”
I was flabbergasted and shocked to see how difficult it is to recognise this troublemaker, even with it being so prominent. All I could think of in response was to say: “I wish I could say this about myself.” I did not venture to speak anything more on the subject, as there was no point.
This incident brought me to the realisation that we need a certain level of purification in order to be introspective and perceive subtleties. We may compare it to a cloth: While it is very dirty, we will not see an additional stain on it. But as it becomes cleaner, every little mark stands out and is clearly visible.
In the same way, the more we become purified, the more we realise, ‘Oh, here we go again! My false ego is again pushing me, trying to prove that I am right, to get the credit, to establish my superior position.’
The false ego uses rather subtle tactics; and it can get its foot into any door, no matter how narrow the gap may be! It will find that little space to enter and contaminate our activities and consciousness....
On the 9th of April I flew back to Durban.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Please visit www.theholynameretreat.net
www.therootsofspiritualculture.net
https://www.facebook.com/instituteforspiritualculture/
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