There is this new bunch of spiritual hoodlums who come up and say, “Be yourself. Accept yourself as you are.” And who are you? Somebody fundamentally dangerous to yourself. We said the ego is its own bleeding wound, and you are being told, “Be yourself, remain the wound. Remain the wound that you are!”
This cult of keeping the ego at the center of life, of society, of existence, of all human endeavor, is destroying us badly. Ask the egoists, “What is auspicious?” and their stock reply would be, “That which I want is auspicious. I am auspicious and my desires are auspicious. What is the most sacred thing in the world? My desire. I will do as I please, and that is called freedom, that is called liberty.”
And that is the reason why the Upanishads are so critical today. Keep them aside, and the ‘be yourself’ brigade will take the day.
