PHAROAH'S TOWER

A dormant malignancy

That grows with each meal

Engulfing the brain

Suffocating the heart

Seeking to consume all in its path

Seeking to shoot arrows at God

Raising an arm to worshipping masses

A cloud of gray ego betwixt the legs, sapping its struggling host

With great struggle and harsh treatment it may be excised

And the shaven head of a mortal bow to the Divine.

https://youtu.be/A6wPeJXUIxc

INKTOBER 26: EGO/"PHAROAH'S TOWER"

MUSIC: "Che Gelida Manina" from Puccini's "La Boheme"

VIDEO: Poombuhar (retelling of Tamil epic Silapathikaram), Neelakantan & Karunanidhi, 1964

The battle with the Ego is, according to Islam, "the Greater Jihad" as opposed to mere war. Take the meditation of Al-Hallaj, who cried out "I am Haq (Truth; also a name of Allah)" - in his ecstasy of ego-death declaring his body a mere vessel for God. Alas, the Caliph thought Al-Hallaj had declared himself God and had him executed for heresy. Few Kings would die of shame upon killing an innocent man; Caliph Muqtadir was not one such King.