To Linda: Ripe Ego and Unripe Ego

[Guest guest]

Dear Linda:

 

You requested more knowledge about Sri Ramakrishna’s delineation of Ripe Ego and

Unripe ego. Here are three sources you may find informative.

 

 

 

SWAMI TURIYANANDA was a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Many consider Sri

Turiyananda to have attained Realization. The Swami said:

 

"Ignorance [avidya] is to identify the Self with the individual self. Knowledge

is to identify the Self with the Atman; this is absolute truth. To identify the

Self with body, mind, and senses is a relative truth. And to identify the Self

with wife, children, house, etc. is complete delusion.”

 

“The ripe ego—the ego which considers itself to be a child of God—ultimately

becomes merged in God. It becomes ‘Thou.’ The unripe ego is the great obstacle

to Knowledge. Practice incessantly to keep the mind fixed in God.”

 

The ego seeks relationships. It becomes restless if it is left alone. The object

of spiritual training is to give the ego spiritual relationships. Sri

Ramakrishna used to speak of two kinds of ego—the ripe and the unripe. The ego

that says, "I am the child of God, I am the servant of God" is the ripe ego."

 

The second source is a more modern disciple . Swami Shraddhananda was head of

the Vedanta Society of Sacramento before his death in 1996. The Senior Swami

said:

 

“The unripe ego is that which attaches itself to different ideas and objects of

worldly enjoyment. It says, "I am beautiful"; "I am powerful"; "I am wealthy."

These identifications may be necessary in everyday life, but in the context of

the highest spiritual goal, these notions are barriers. When you say, "I am the

body," you have covered your true Self with a veil. For that reason Sri

Ramakrishna said that the point of spiritual practice is to gradually transform

the unripe ego into a ripe ego. When a person does some work, he or she may say,

"I am doing this." This is an expression of the unripe ego. The same activity

can be taken up by shifting the ego's outlook. The person can say, "This body

which does the work is God's tool. God is the agent." St. Paul used to say, "I

live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Now the ego has become transformed;

it has become the ripe ego.”

 

A Vedanta Magazine called Splendour wrote:

 

“The ideal is to be free from egotism and the sense of possession regarding

things animate and inanimate. That is easier said than done. Sri Ramakrishna

describes two types of ego: The unripe ego that entangles one to sense

enjoyments, making one feel ‘I am the doer. I am the son of a wealthy man. I am

learned. I am rich. How dare anyone slight me?’; the ripe ego, which is also

called the servant ego3, devotee ego or knowledge ego. Rather than worry about

getting rid of his ego, a seeker on the path of devotion tries to cultivate and

strengthen the ripe ego. He feels that God is the Master and he His servant. In

Sri Ramakrishna’s words, ‘One should have such burning faith in God that one can

say: "What? I have repeated the name of God, and can sin still cling to me? How

can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage any more?"’

 

I hope this assists in understanding this subtle subject.

 

With Love,

 

GeorgeSon

 

 

 

 

 

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