Was SPIRITUAL EGO mentioned in the Rig Veda and explained by subsequent rishis?

 

During the course of spiritual practices, a person can have a profound, ecstatic experience of the Divine or their True Self. However, "glimpses" of illumination or temporary awakenings are highly vulnerable to the ego, till that “Illumination” gets stabilised.

As the the old ego structure remains largely intact in the subconscious. If the individual begins to claim this experience as a personal achievement, vanity creeps in. This pride inevitably pushes them back into the illusion of separation, causing the awakened "light" or peace to fade.

It is the SPIRITUAL EGO.

——

Rig Veda  mentions the SPIRITUAL EGO, as the battle against the Ārya.

Generally, Rig Veda mentions, in esoteric sense, Vṛtra/Dāsa/Bṛsaya/Paṇi, etc, as the obstacles/weakness that come in the way of spiritual progress and Indra as strength of the Illumined Mind.

Ārya indicates an Illuminated mind, derived from Aryaman (अर्यमन्), an epithet of the BRAHMAN.

Rig Veda 10.38.3

यो नो दास आर्यो वा पुरुष्टुतादेव इन्द्र युधये चिकेतति । अस्माभिष्टे सुषहाः सन्तु शत्रवस्त्वया वयं तान्वनुयाम संगमे ॥
yo no dāsa āryo vā puruṣṭutādeva indra yudhaye ciketati | asmābhiṣ ṭe suṣahāḥ santu śatravas tvayā vayaṃ tān vanuyāma saṃgame ||

English translation:

Whatever godless one, Dāsa or Ārya, will have in view to fight us, o much-praised Indra—let those rivals be easy to conquer for you along with us. With you may we vanquish them in the clash.

——

Shri Ramana Maharshi mentions this SPIRITUAL EGO.

——

The following is an excerpt from the Talks with Shri Ramana Maharshi (Talk 95 - 13th November, 1935).

A question was raised as follows by Maj. A. W. Chadwick:-

Mr. Edward Carpenter, a certain mystic, has written in a book that he had Self-Realisation on some occasions and that its effects lasted sometimes afterwards, only to be gradually lost. Whereas Sri Ramana Gita says, “Granthi (knot = bondage), snapped once, is snapped for ever.” In the case of this mystic, the bondage seems to have persisted even after Self-Realisation. How can it be so?

The Master cited Kaivalya as follows:-

The disciple, after realising the all-shining, unitary, unbroken state of Being-Knowledge-Bliss, surrendered himself to the master and humbly prayed to know how he could repay the master’s Grace.

The Master said: “My reward consists in your permanent unbroken Bliss. Do not slip away from it.”

D.: Having once experienced the Supreme Bliss, how can one stray away from it?

M.: Oh yes! It happens. The predisposition adhering to him from time immemorial will draw him out and so ignorance overtakes him.

D.: What are the obstacles to remaining steady in unbroken Bliss? How can they be overcome?

M.: The obstacles are:

1. Ignorance which is forgetfulness of one’s pure being.
2. Doubt which consists in wondering if even the experience was of the Real or of the unreal.
3. Error which consists in the “I-am-the-body” idea, and thinking that the world is real. These are overcome by hearing the truth, reflection on it and concentration.

The Master continued: Experience is said to be temporary or permanent. The first experience is temporary and by concentration it can become permanent. In the former the bondage is not completely destroyed; it remains subtle and reasserts itself in due course. But in the latter it is destroyed root and branch, never to appear again.

The expression yogabhrashta (those who have fallen down from yoga) in Shrimad Bhagavad Gita refers to the former class of men.