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How do I become Baha’i?
Spirituality

Ego and the Spiritual Power of Intention

Rebecca Sherry Eshraghi | Jun 7, 2016

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the authoritative views of the Baha'i Faith.

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Rebecca Sherry Eshraghi | Jun 7, 2016

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the authoritative views of the Baha'i Faith.

What’s the difference between two people who both want to do a good deed—like making a big money donation to a charity—but one wants his name recognized as a donor, and the other doesn’t?

Is there a difference between these two good-deed doers? After all, they did the same good deed.

The Baha’i teachings say that we should all carefully strive that all of our deeds be “cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy.” In the Hidden Words Baha’u’llah wrote:

O Children of Adam! Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of glory; for ere long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity. This is the daystar of wisdom and of divine mystery that hath shone above the horizon of the divine will. Blessed are they that turn thereunto. – p. 46.

egoWow!!! From a spiritual perspective a big difference might exist between these two people.

From a Baha’i perspective, our pure intention makes a good deed acceptable to God, not the action itself. So if your motives are based on your ego, and on recognition by society, then the ultimate spiritual effect might not be as powerful.

As Baha’is, we learn that humility and self-effacement have a vital part to play in our spiritual growth. In this world, though, it’s not easy to practice humility. I remember when I started going to job interviews after graduating and I didn’t get a job. In the aftermath I learned that I had not “praised” my skills and accomplishments enough—that I hadn’t “tooted my own horn” sufficiently. I just felt uncomfortable bragging about my accomplishments, I realized. Especially in Western cultures, you usually need to be able to show off your skills and knowledge if you want to have a successful career.

So in the face of those kinds of cultural and professional pressures, how do we stay humble and fight our egos? How do we avoid the pitfalls of the ego? The Baha’i teachings say we should avoid:

…The love of self, which if directed to the ego will deprive man of all true development, but if the love of self is a realization that one is a creature of God and must therefore attain to the station appointed for him, this love will be an uplifting one. – Abdu’l-Baha, quoted in A Brief Account of My Visit to Acca, p. 38.

We have to navigate and find the balance between our internal purity of intention, but also understand when humility can be counter-productive such as in an interview for a job.

I have personally experienced, whenever I undertook an endeavor with pure motives that required self-sacrifice, that I saw amazing results and confirmations. But whenever I had the slightest form of egoistic expectations deep down, things did not turn out right.

Let’s all do this challenge and examine our motives in all our actions. Once you start thinking about why you do things, and examining your own motivations for doing them, you may be in for some unexpected surprises.

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Comments

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  • gary bulkin
    Jan 16, 2023
    -
    A work environment that requires and rewards self promotion may not be the best environment for a soul growing closer to the inner reality.
    Prayer, putting one’s trust in God and relying on God’s will may ultimately be the best provision for life’s journey.
  • Steve Eaton
    Jun 10, 2016
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    I wanted to post again to just say to anybody "Take heart! You're not alone in feeling it goes against your grain to assert yourself or brag". Maybe it's from being an only child, but competition has always felt foreign and unnatural to me. Actually, I'm being too conciliatory about it, so will rephrase: it's really the "old-world" cultural ways of man that try to convince us self-assertion is natural. If we've looked around us our whole life and seen it's the prevailing code of conduct, it could be easy to doubt our inner voice that says there ...is a better way. It is true that Abdu'l-Baha said the infant's selfishness serves a good purpose for a while, but he also makes it clear the greed must then be left behind or it becomes harmful. He also talks of the ascendency of the gentler feminine nature, so I'm happy to think of a time when cooperation will be the new code!
    Read more...
  • Julie Love Jahanpour
    Jun 9, 2016
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    My husband and I have had the exact same challenge when it comes to job interviews. Recently, for an internal position for my agency, my manager had to coach me to "sell" myself. Plus, I wouldn't have gotten the interview had I not talked myself up in my cover letter, which was a desperate measure because we've just been so short of opportunities due to not wanting to boost our egos. It is quite the interesting
    phenomenon. Thank you for this article; it helps us to reflect on our intentions in this situation and many more. Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!
  • Steve Eaton
    Jun 8, 2016
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    A fine article. Ego is always trying to sabotage our character development.......growth, then satisfaction, then pride: another regression, so we start over again. We are lucky to have God's patience!
  • Bilolailai Helu
    Jun 7, 2016
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    My Fiance is a Baha'i,Im Christian,And he's teaching me a lot !! I really like it!! We are planning to get married in the near future!! But I wish to learn mre of his faith!! He was about to become a Catholic Priest!!! Than he changed religion!! And he's very HAPPY he did!!!
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