Ahamkara

Ahaṃkāra (अहंकार) is a Sanskrit term that is related to the ego and egoism - that is, the identification or attachment of one's ego. The term "ahamkara" comes from an approximately 3,000 year-old Vedic philosophy, where "aham" refers to the concept of the Self, and "kara" refers to the concept of "any created thing".

The Vedic philosophy taught that when one's mind was in a state of ahamkara, one was in a state of subjective illusion, where the mind had bound up the concept of one's self with a created thing. The created thing is usually a phenomenon which can be thought of as external to the self. It could be a tangible, concrete (material) thing - e.g., a motor car - or an intangible thing - e.g., such as a concept or idea (as in, for example, the concept of the fight for peace). The ego is involved in constructing the illusion.

Thus, an otherwise sensible young man might feel that his new sports car was a reflection of his true self and this would encourage him to race his car recklessly against another person's car. Similarly, someone who believed in the fight for peace, and who ordinarily might behave in a non-violent manner, might come to blows with someone who threatened or challenged his notions of peace.

In both cases, the mind has created a state of illusion, but it seems real to the person in that state, and objectivity and reality are obscured. This illusory state is what can often cause people to do the strangest, oddest things, sometimes evil, and often quite out of character. All humans could - and usually do at some time or other in their lives - suffer from this. Consider how an otherwise apparently nice, normal family man in the military - Rudolf Höss, could also happily undertake the role as the Commandant of the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi Germany. He never could see that he was doing anything other than just doing his job to the best of his ability.

Even though it is not discussed in great detail in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjun that ahamkara must be removed. The reason for this is that the Self is not (cannot be) present when one is in a state of ahamkara.

Ahamkara is one of the four parts of the antahkarana (inner organ) described in Hindu philosophy. The other three parts are Buddhi, Chitta and Manas.

ee also

*Chöd
*Svabhava
*Mindstream

References