We saw yesterday how Dale Carnegie says there’s only one thing we need to do to be successful, whether in personal relationships or in a professional setting. And this is to put ourselves in other people’s shoes.
Sounds easy. Yes, but very hard to apply, isn’t it? What prevents us from viewing things from another’s perspective?
Adi Shankara in his commentary Vivekachoodamani, says that there is one and only one hurdle. The ego.
How to get rid of this ego? He says that there are 2 pillars to this ego.
1. Selfish desire
2. Selfish action
1 causes 2. and 2 reinforces 1. And the cycle repeats ad infinitum.
How to break out of this? By performing actions for others. Seva. Service. That’s the only way Adi Shankara says. The more we think for (not about) others and work for others, the less time we have to worry about ourselves, and the lesser the ego becomes, automatically.
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