Tariq Ramadan – Ramadan Chronicles #05 The Ego
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AI: Transcript ©
Peace be with you. We have been talking
yesterday and the day before
about the path, about the jihad, and that
we have
to resist forgetfulness.
There is a notion which is central
also, which is part of our
the first steps of our resistance is the
resistance to the ego.
The fact that I'm saying
I, it's so important because where I can
understand that I am a subject, that I
am thinking. But we have to be very
careful that the starting point does not become
the jail within which I'm
imprisoned, and then it cannot just achieve
this,
path and coming close to god.
The figure and the the the the the
being that we have that in that is,
embodying the very essence
of
this ego
is a shaitan in the Quran, Iblis.
When he is called by Allah to prostrate
before Adam, he refused. And
then,
before
Adam, he refused,
and then,
Allah is asking him.
What prevented you from frustrating
when I'm asked I asked you to do
so? And his answer is
I'm better than him. You created me out
of,
fire, and you created him out of dust,
meaning that my essence is better than his.
Not talking about the essence of faith, but
the essence of this kind of arrogance, and
we have it in the Quran.
When he was asked to prostrate, he said,
He refused, and then he was so proud,
so full of proud that he used to
do so, and he was,
from those who were negating the very essence
of truth. He knew that god was there,
but he refused out of this arrogance. So
this arrogance, this I could be the jail
while you you you
refuse the truth and you refuse to prostrate
and you refuse to come back. So how
are we going to come back to this
fitra within the sound heart that we were
talking about, is by struggling.
And what is
giving
power to the ego?
It's the instincts. It's the passions that we
have. It's
looking for money, looking for power, looking for
all these dimension. This is where the ego
is I and that we can the I
that was supposed to be the starting point
of your consciousness
with God
is ending
by being the jail within which you're forgetting
God and only thinking about yourself. So you
have to follow the path. You can't follow
the path of I with
pride, or you can follow serving god and
serving the poor people, and this is why
you are struggling with your own ego.
Resisting the ego is the first step of
our all,
our deep liberation.
Deep down,
it's as much as you think at the
periphery that saying I is your freedom. You
understand that liberating
yourself from the ego is the only true
way to be free,
and you have to struggle for this. So
the resistance
to the ego that we find in all
our traditions,
the spiritual tradition, it's so important.
Never forget to tell the people you love
that you love them. Life is fragile.