Emily: Hi Sadhviji, we're very grateful to you for creating this exclusive course just for our community. Why is this course about the ego so important to you?
Sadhviji: Thank you for having me! I've lived in India for more than 27 years, immersing myself in ancient wisdom. I've seen in my travels around the world, and from those who come to Rishikesh, how much people are suffering. Our suffering stems from being caught in the trap of the ego, the trap of our own stories, the trap of our drama, the trap of our history, and the trap of our mind and thought patterns.
As I have been so incredibly blessed to find healing, transformation, and freedom from all of the ways I was suffering, I feel deeply driven to share that with others. The way out is quite simple. That doesn't mean it's easy. But it's simple. And I feel deeply that to share this is my dharma. I've wanted for quite some time to offer a course for people to navigate their way out of the clutches of the patterns of thinking and living which cause such suffering, and I'm so excited to be able to share this course with the DailyOM community.
Emily: Could you tell me more about what "ego death" means? Are we actually trying to get rid of our ego?
Sadhviji: Ego death is not a violent, conflict-ridden annihilation of something within ourselves. A lot of people misunderstand that. It's actually a very love filled removal of that which keeps us stuck and holds us back. It's a pathway to discovering and living in the very truth of ourselves. It gets sticky, of course, as we so frequently identify those egoic patterns as our true self. So the path of extricating oneself from one's ego is not always easy. But I have seen in my own life that not only can it be done, but also that the joy, peace, meaning, fulfillment, freedom, and divine connection we experience when we are no longer chained to false ways of thinking is extraordinary and the greatest gift in the world!
The ego is that which we have built up subconsciously and unconsciously throughout our lives, but mostly in our early childhood. It tends to be made of things we learned directly or indirectly from our family of origin, culture, and early childhood experiences. The ego is what tells us we are our physical bodies — their size, their shape, their color, their success level, their wealth, their popularity, their skills and abilities.
It's the ego that tells us that we are somehow not enough and that we are in need of something more or something different, in order to be worthy enough or good enough. It's the ego that tells us who we are based on the way that other people have spoken to us or about us or around us. As long as we identify in that way we can never know the true whole, complete, perfect divine self. So ego-death is actually freedom. It's a glorious stepping into the light of the true self.
Emily: How would I know if I'm suffering from egoic patterns of self-sabotage?
Sadhviji: If you find that you're not achieving or manifesting or living in the fullness, beauty, joy, peace, and freedom that you know you should be, chances are you are self-sabotaging. If you notice that others around you seem to be succeeding, thriving, achieving so much more than you in areas where you have equal or even better skills, talents, and abilities, it's very likely you are suffering from self-sabotage.
But don't feel bad about it. It's very natural. Until we deeply know that we deserve happiness, peace, and fulfillment, we will keep ensuring that it never comes. We continue to simply fulfill a false and negative belief about the self. If you believe that you're unworthy of love, subconsciously, you'll make sure to act in ways such that no one loves you. If you believe that you're unworthy of abundance, you'll ensure that you act in ways such that you always live in scarcity. If you believe that you're not good enough, you'll ensure that whatever you do ends in failure. This is why changing belief patterns and freeing ourselves of that ego is so important.
Emily: Could you walk us through your course? What can we expect to learn?
Sadhviji: I think it's going to be so much fun. We'll learn all of the very powerful ways that their own ego patterns are causing them to suffer. So frequently we blame our suffering on the outside world. We think if people would just act differently, speak differently, and treat us differently, then we would be happy. But when we dive deep, as we will in this course, we realize that actually our own belief patterns, thought patterns, and our own ego are actually the source of so much of what we manifest, create, and experience in our lives.
So, first, we'll learn to identify the patterns and how to free ourselves of those patterns — uncovering how to embrace and embody the very truth of who we are. We'll discover and unleash our highest, truest, deepest authentic selves and share that with the world. We'll find that our relationships get so much deeper and more meaningful, closer and more authentic, as we acknowledge who we really are and have the courage to share that with others. We'll take more ownership for co-creating our own lives and stop feeling like victims of circumstances — and experience the unbounded, expansive, infinite self.
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