Tariq Ramadan – Ramadan Chronicles #05 The Ego

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.