Kill The Ego!: As Defined By The Upanishads

by Sukhdev Virdee

This is the 4th part of the book series "I Am Consciousness" We highly recommend you read the previous parts before commencing this one. In this part aptly titled "Kill The Ego!" David decides to stay back at the ashram while everyone else leaves. David decides he’s not going back until he realizes his true Self and spends a few months there. He helps out at the ashram, serves other seekers and does everything as he had understood it. However, he still hasn’t realized the Self and finally out of frustration he confronts Swamiji. Swamiji decides to do something that he has never done before with any other seeker. They have a one-on-one closed room conversation in which Swamiji is at his best. He corners David from every possible angle and smashes every excuse David can come up with, about the one claiming not to have realized Brahman. David too pulls out all his defensive shields and weapons ready to attack the one who is trying to kill him. An explosive conversation takes place and finally, David decides that he's had enough of all these philosophical talks and promising theories that seemed unrealistic and unpractical. "It's time to go home, I've wasted enough time. Swamiji may be enlightened or not but it could be all one big hoax as well, who knows?" thinks David to himself. To be fair, David did everything Swamiji asked of him. Swamiji knew without a doubt that David was truly a genuine and sincere seeker who was hungry to the core for God. Above all this, Swamiji knew for CERTAIN that there was no way that David was going to survive this conversation. Swamiji had seen his own Guru do this only once, and that to, to a very dear disciple. David was very dear to Swamiji too, he loved his sincerity, honest nature and had become fond of him over the few months as well. He wasn’t going to let David go back without giving him his best shot. He remembered his Guru’s words, “A good Spiritual Master is like a Tiger. Once the prey is caught in the tiger’s teeth, it doesn’t let go until the prey perishes.” Swamiji knew without a doubt that he had injected the most feared words into David’s mind and that it would only be a matter of time before his ego would literally destroy itself without any more external help. No Spiritual Master would do this unless the disciple proved to be worthy of it. As David checks into Indira Gandhi International Airport ready with boarding pass in hand to fly back to New York City, it finally happens and David cannot comprehend what was happening as it was happening. It was nothing like what he had been told since his arrival. It could not be described in words.

146 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 28, 2019

About the author

Sukhdev Virdee was born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya. Since childhood he was very inclined towards spirituality and music. After his studies he chose to take up music as a profession. He learnt how to play the keyboards and started performing live on stage at the age of nineteen. He later went to London and completed a BTEC in Music Production and Performance.

He later flew to Mumbai, India to pursue his dream of singing and composing music in the largest Indian Entertainment Industry. His debut pop-album became a chartbuster making him a popular household name in India and across the world. Mumbai became his home where he is known for his high energy live performances and this popularity took him to several countries across every continent on the planet to perform live for huge audiences.

A few more albums and singles followed after that. He was living the life that every young person looks up to even today. He had created a name for himself and enjoyed the name, fame and fortune that most singers dream of but never get to live. During all this he was totally oblivious of what life had in store for him in the coming years.

Just before his 40th birthday, when he was going through a rather rough patch in life, three of his friends gifted him the Bhagavad Gita out of the blue. These were friends that he met only occasionally and yet within two weeks three different people gifted him the Bhagavad Gita that would change his life completely. He read the Bhagavad Gita and felt Lord Krishna was speaking directly to him. It completely changed his outlook towards life as he followed the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita as best as he could.
Just over a year later, one fine morning after he woke up from his morning meditation and walked towards his temple in the house, his body completely froze and in an instant he had become one with the entire Universe. Time stood still and every particle of the entire Universe was alive and shining in bright golden light and he was the light. He was no longer limited to just his body or mind, he was everywhere at the same time and everything was one with him.

This Spiritual awakening experience turned his life upside down and inside out. All desires for anything worldly vanished, fear of death vanished, love and compassion for entire humanity and nature arose and he could feel and experience the Supreme Being in everything.
Not knowing exactly what had happened and what to do next, he sought out several resources before he was pointed towards the Upanishads that answered all his questions as to what had happened, what led to it and what to do after such an awakening.

After years of studying the Vedanta texts he is now an expert on non-dual Vedanta through not only intellectual and philosophical knowledge but most importantly with his own personal direct experience everyday.
He has put all his heart and soul into writing these books that include the highest knowledge of the Upanishads and his own direct experience and knowledge of the Supreme Being.
The series has been written with the absolute conviction that you, the reader, can realize your true immortal Universal Self too, that you are pure bliss and completely unaffected by all pain and suffering.

The promise of all spirituality is that one transcends pain and sorrow in this world, not that pain and sorrow don’t come, but that the realized being is untouched by it. One realizes that their true nature is immortal, that they are one with the Universe. Would a being that realizes that he or she is one with the Universe ever want to accumulate anything in this world?
No, the True Saint or Sage who is Self-Realized makes do with only the very basic necessities required to live an honest decent life. They don’t look to gain wealth, become famous, build an empire or any such sort of selfish activities.

Their main focus becomes serving humanity selflessly and uplifting others to help them realize their true nature

Reviews

[Upendra Awasthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Superb! Recommended to those in spiritual journey.

I was stagnated since long in my spiritual journey. Fortunately I read the series of books by Shri Sukhdev Birdeeji which not only infused confidence in correctness of my spiritual journey so long but also shew the way ahead.
The series of books is great service to mankind and may make basis of synthesis of all religions in most scientific order.