“The true measure of a man is the degree to which he has managed to subjugate his ego.” This is liberation or further enlightenment in its essence, the complete vanquishing of one’s ego. Einstein knew understood the ego to be a great hindrance to human development but did he know how to subjugate is own ego? If we want to be fully realized men and women we need to eliminate our egos. How does one go about this? The Buddha Dharma details many ways, for example, we follow the eightfold path, developing Bodhicitta and Bhodisatva activity, and meditation. Likely the most effective would be to combine all of these. Personally, I think one should do as many of these as possible in order to achieve a good result. Luckily the Buddha’s teachings include even more ideas, not just the few I mentioned above to free us from our emotions that rule us and the ego that seeks to control our every move.
One thing for me is clear, the freedom we attain from overcoming our anger, fears, jealousy, pride and ignorance leaves us space for unlimited joy and love for all beings. Even in the first few weeks of my Buddhist practise, I remember very clearly noticing that there was space, space for me to react better in challenging situations. Instead of the tragedy I consciously chose the comedy more often. I am still a long way from being perfect at this but one might be surprised at the positive surplus one can generate not being ruled by one’s negative emotions. This surplus comes in very handy in all situations in life. When one is no longer ruled by anger and jealousy there is more space for love, when one is no longer ruled by greed there is more space for generosity, when one is no longer ruled by pride there is more space for joy, and when one is no longer ruled by ignorance there is more space for wisdom. Love, generosity, joy, and wisdom are true measures of men and women. These qualities are truly needed in our world today even more so than when Albert Einstein walked the earth years ago. The methods of the Buddha Dharma are just as valuable and effective now as they were 2500 years ago. This connection and transference of wisdom from the past must not be lost but expanded upon if we are to see the continuance of our way of life.

QP