Ego: the feeling "I am the doer and the owner", which makes a mind formed within nature take itself for a separate doer.
10 results
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Article
The Gita says that feeling like the doer is an ego's illusion. Does that mean we can say "I didn't do it" and walk away from our mistakes? No. An everyday case, two verses and three sentences to say after a mistake.
Level: Simple English 3 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
When a task goes well the mind swells, and when it fails the mind sinks. The Gita says every action has five causes and you are one of them. Three verses, an example and one small practice for today.
Level: Simple English 6 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
What does the Lord ask of Arjuna in his closing counsel? Gita 18.57 to 18.66 in order: give the actions in the mind, take refuge, reflect fully, then choose freely, with the promise and the last word, do not grieve.
Level: In Depth English 10 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Article
The Gita says 'I do nothing' in one place and counts the doer among five causes in another. Read the verses from 3.27 to 18.17 in order, and see how pride and guilt both grow lighter without effort being lost.
Level: In Depth English 13 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
The Gita says the modes of nature do all action and that the knower thinks he does nothing. Does that free us from blame for our mistakes? A reading of the verses, the difference between an honest use of the idea and an alibi, and a short worked example.
Level: In Depth English 5 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
The Gita says nature performs all action, then counts the doer among five causes. Why these claims do not clash, where 18.16–17 is hard, and where the commentators divide: a verse-by-verse reading.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
The Lord turns beings as on a machine, nature compels, and yet Arjuna is told to reflect and do as he wishes. Gita 18.57 to 18.66 read closely: how surrender and free choice belong together, the readings of the last verse and the objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 16 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Quick summary
How can the burden of carrying everything alone be put down without giving up duty and thought? In Gita 18.57 to 18.66 the Lord gives His last counsel, asks Arjuna to take refuge, and leaves the choice to him.
English 9 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Quick summary
The Gita says that the qualities of nature do all action and the self is not the doer, yet it counts the doer among the five causes of every action. Gita 3.27-29, 5.8-14 and 18.13-17 on the mistake of 'I do everything' and its remedy.
English 9 min Who Is the Doer?
Hub
The Gita says nature's modes perform all action and the self is a non-doer, yet it counts the doer among five causes. Gita 3.27-29, 5.8-14 and 18.13-17 on the mistake of 'I do it all' and how it is mended.