G od said to Moses once: "Go out and find The secret truth that haunts the devil's mind."When Moses met the devil that same dayHe asked for his advice and heard him say:"Remember this, repeat it constantly,Don't speak of 'me', or you will be like me."If life still holds you by a single hair,The end of your toil will be dispair;No matter how you prosper, there will riseBefore your face a hundred smirking "I"s. quote 4524 | Attar The Conference of the Birds, p150.
U ntil this dog, the Self, can be subduedOur life is folly endlessly renewed quote 4523 | Attar The Conference of the Birds, p96
W here egoism exists, Thou art not experienced,Where Thou art, is not egoism.You who are learned, expound in your mind this inexpressible proposition. quote 4398 | The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maru-ki-Var, M.1, p. 1092
T hey are forever free who renounce all selfish desires and break awayfrom the ego-cage of "I," "me," and "mine" to be united with the Lord.Attain to this, and pass from death to immortality. quote 4394 | The Bhagavat Gita Bhagavad Gita 2.71
H e who has no thought of "I" and "mine" whatever towards his mind andbody, he who grieves not for that which he has not, he is, indeed, calleda bhikkhu. quote 4393 | Buddha Sakyamuni Dhammapada 367
B lessed One, what is meant by this term Nirvana?" Replied the Buddha,"When the self-nature and the habit-energy of all thesense-discriminations, includ- ing ego (alaya), intellect (manas), and thefaculty of judgment (manovijnana), from which issue the habit-energy ofwrong speculations--when all these go through a revulsion, I and all theBuddhas declare that there is Nirvana. The way and the self-nature ofthis Nirvana is emptiness, which is the state of reality." quote 4307 | The Lankavatara Sutra Lankavatara Sutra 38
B y reason of the habit-energy stored up by false imagination since beginningless time, this world is subject to change and destruction from moment to moment; it is like a river, a seed, a lamp, wind, a cloud; like a monkey who is always restless, like a fly who is ever in search of unclean things and defiled places, like a fire which is never satisfied. Again, [thought] is like a water-wheel or a machine: it goes on rolling the wheel of transmigration, carrying varieties of bodies and forms... causing the wooden figures to move as a magician moves them. Mahamati, a thorough understanding concerning these phenomena is called comprehending the egolessness of persons. quote 4268 | The Lankavatara Sutra Lankavatara Sutra 24
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. quote 4184 | The Bible Galatians 2.20
I f one has a self (?) it is impossible to achieve the great oneness. quote 4034 | Kuo Hsiang ZZJS, 397, trad. B. Ziporyn, 2003, p.67 see also ZZJS, 185 and 401, trad. B. Ziporyn, 2003, p.67, ZZJS, 78, trad. B. Ziporyn, 2003, p.73
T he great man have no self. quote 4032 | Tchuang Tzu Zhuangzi, chap.17 (shool of Tchuang Tzu), trad. A.C Graham, p.150
I , and "mine" that is ignorance. By discriminating, you will realize that what you call "I" is really nothing but Atman [the Self]. quote 3892 | Ramakrishna Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 208
M aya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil. All troubles come to an end when the ego dies. 'if by the grace of God a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a jivanmukta [a liberated being]. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear. quote 3891 | Ramakrishna Nikhilananda, 1942; pp. 168-169
W hen a seeker merges in the beatitude of samadbi, he does not perceive time and space or name and form, the offspring of maya. Whatever -is within the domain of maya is unreal. Give it up. Destroy the prison house of name and form arid rush out of it with the strength of a lion. Dive deep in search of the Self and realize It through samadhi, You will find the world of name and form vanishing into void, and the puny ego dissolving in Brahman-Consciousness. You will realize your identity with Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. quote 3877 | Ramakrishna Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 28
B rahman is the only Reality, ever pure, ever illumined, ever free, beyond the limits of time, space, and causation. Though apparently divided by names and forms through the inscrutable power of maya, that enchantress who makes the impossible possible, Brahman is really One and undivided. quote 3876 | Ramakrishna Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 28
M y enemy "I" is now dead; now none can slay me.'Tis I who have slain myself; I have died, arid yet live.While the thought of self remains, so long are there two.When this selfhood is destroyed, then there is no second.Then only will you find the Beloved, when "I" and "mine" are wholly lost.When "I" and "mine" are no more, then shall you find the pure vision. "I" and "mine" are a load upon the head; you die with the weight of it. (1)…In front of [the true] I, stands the [false] I; for this reason, He remains hidden. (2) quote 3872 | Dadu (1) Jiwat Mritak; Orr, 1947, pp. 162-163 ; (2) Jiwat Mritak; Orr, 1947, p. 142
W hen I am not, then there is One; when I intrude, then two.When the curtain of "I" and "Thou" is drawn aside, then do I become as I was [in the Beginning]. quote 3871 | Dadu Jiwat Mritak; Orr, 1947, pp. 105-106
M y enemy "I" is dead; now none can smite me down.'Tis I who have slain myself; thus, being dead, I live.We have slain our enemy, we have died; but he is not forgotten;The thorn remains to vex us. Consider and lay this truth to heart:You will only find the Beloved when you are as the living dead,Only by losing yourself can you find Him who knows all.When you regard yourself as nothing, then you will find the Beloved.Recognize, therefore, by quiet reflection, from whence this thought of sell' arises.Becoming as the living dead, enter onto the path quote 3870 | Dadu Jiwat Mritak; Orr, 1947, pp. 105-106
W here Rama is, there I am not; where I am, there Rama is not.This mansion is of delicate construction; there is no place for two.While self remains, so long will there be a second;When this selfhood is blotted out, then there is no other.When I am not, there is but One; when I obtrude, then two.When the veil of "I" is taken away, then does the One become as It was. quote 3869 | Dadu Parcha; Orr, 1947, p. 66
L ove based on a desire for gain is worthless.God is desireless; how could one with desire attain the Desireless?When I was conscious of individual existence, the love of the Master filled my heart;When the love of the Master filled my heart, my sense of selfhood was dissolved.0 Kabir, this path is too narrow for two to travel . quote 3852 | Kabir Bijak, Shastri, 1941;p.38
A ll that is other than the true "I" must be slain. quote 3795 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi Mathnawi; Winfield, 1898
Y ou are the Self, the infinite Being, the pure, unchanging Consciousness, which pervades everything. Your nature is bliss and your glory is without stain. Because you identify yourself with the ego, you are tied to birth and death. Your bondage has no other cause. quote 3704 | (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.97
U tterly destroy the ego. Control the many waves of distraction which it raises in the mind. Discern the Reality and realize "I am That."You are pure Consciousness, the witness of all experiences. Your real nature is joy. Cease this very moment to identify yourself with the ego. quote 3703 | (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.97
T herefore I say, the Perfect One has won complete deliverance through the extinction, fading-away, disappearance, rejection, and getting rid of all opinions and conjectures, of all inclination to the vain-glory of `I' and `mine'. quote 3536 | Buddha Sakyamuni Majjhima Nikaya, 72
O h, there is many a trusty, martyred ego that has died in this world but walks about like the living. The brigand spirit has died, but its sword remains in the hand of the warrior. The sword is the same sword, but the man is not the same man -- the form confuses you. Once the ego has been transformed, the sword -- the body -- is held in the hand of the Bountiful Lord's craftsmanship. quote 3331 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, pp. 185-186, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983
S o behead your selfhood, oh warrior! Become selfless and annihilated, like a dervish! quote 3318 | Jalâl ud Dîn Rumi the Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 188, Trans. William C. Chittick. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1983
