2. EGODECTOMY - (Bangkok, Banaras, Bihar)


2. EGODECTOMY!!!

Swami Sivananda, one of the giants in the resurrection and propagation of yoga as a practical and holistic approach to improve well being, has identified the reduction of one’s ego as the primary way to greater happiness.


On my penultimate day at the Rikhia Ashram of the Bihar School of Yoga, the Sanyasin overseeing the ‘seva’ I was assigned to asked me help clean up a particularly messy part of a room. 



We started with sorting out old clothes and assorted gadgets and finally came to a box of old shoes- probably 50 assorted pairs. My instructions-dig right in and make two bundles – those that could be salvaged and used and another that were not fit for wear. Have cleaned toilets, washed windows, painted trees, packed clothes, swept and mopped floors while being down on all fours, but there was something about touching many used shoes that rankled. Fortunately, the words I had read about how selfless service manages the ego came through and I ploughed right in.  No wonder the Sikhs have 'shoe cleaning' as an act of reparation. 

Ah, one more threshold crossed! Ego-dectomy indeed!  

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