Freedom from Ignorance and Ego

This round of birth and death again and again, say the rishis, is a form of bondage. If there are many things which make us happy, there are also many things in life that make us weep. Tears are chasing laughter, pain and suffering shadow joy; for the world is made of pairs of opposites -- heat, cold, light, dark, good and bad. We suffer on our journey because we carry a heavy load of selfishness -- the feeling of "I" and "me" and "mine", our pride, anger, envy and hate. This is our maya or ignorance, which hides the Self. When we reach moksha the ropes of this ignorance are cut by the knife of knowledge, and the whole load falls from our backs. Like the lion cub discovering what he was, we know our Self as the Self of all. Moksha is an indescribable sort of experience. Those who have become free say it is great joy, like that of a fish released from its bowl into a lake, or a butterfly coming out of the cocoon; it is like the pawn reaching the eighth square. Moksha is not at all an easy matter, and many Hindus during their student life seek the help of a guru, a spiritual teacher, to start them on the right road.