Beyond the Ego – Simplified!

Sitakant Mahapatra’s Beyond the Ego is an academic paper wherein the author tries to criticize the
concept of Western Existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophy that stresses the importance of an
individual’s free will, that is, their ability to perform their own actions. Existentialism values
individuality but also talks about the pain of living in a world that is meaningless.
Beyond the Ego aims to criticize this philosophy as the West has adopted this philosophy and people
have become isolated and selfish individuals who do not care about society in general.

Search for New Values for Our Global Neighbourhood

This section discusses how the world has become extremely interconnected thanks to the internet.
Events that take place in a completely different continent feel like they take place “in our own living
room,” that is, thanks to television and the internet, we have become aware of global events.
Mahapatra then discusses how we have become too reliant on the internet and that we are still unaware
of various other cultures. He lists a few conferences that have attempted to solve this problem. The
author discusses Buddhist philosophy and how Prince Siddhartha realized that there was a sickness
deep within humanity which is why he became the Buddha: to try to fix this sickness.
The author also mentions several other Buddhist organizations that are working towards this goal,
such as the Japanese organization, the Soka Gakkai movement.

The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time

Mahapatra then goes on to talk about the most common personality today: a self-centred narcissistic
personality who sees everything as a competition. Whereas narcissists from the 18th and 19th centuries
were people who were arrogant and controlling, the present-day narcissists are filled with anxiety and
are also lonely individuals. Instead of a desire to control others, modern day narcissists are more
focused on ‘intense gratification’; they want their desires to be satisfied immediately without having
to wait. This mindset is reinforced by corporations and businesses relentlessly pushing advertisements
for their products. Due to this, people never feel satisfied with what they have and constantly want
more and more.
Mahapatra argues that the modern-day narcissist has forsaken all their connections and lives life as a
competition to be won. This mindset has caused these people to live in a constant state of anxiety and
unhappiness. The author claims that is the end result of Western Existentialist philosophy.

The Long Story of the Broken Gestalt

‘Gestalt’ refers to a collection of various elements or parts. Mahapatra uses this term to refer to how
nature, society, religion and humanity were part of a greater whole but as civilization advanced, the
connections between these things broke and the sense of unity was destroyed. This is what the author
refers to as the ‘broken gestalt.’
Mahapatra talks about how the broken gestalt has become even more fractured as our knowledge has
only developed in one particular area, which is that of the physical sciences (chemistry, physics, etc.)
but other branches of study, such as anthropology and the social sciences, have been neglected. The
author states that our technology has advanced significantly but our culture has not advanced at the
same pace. He does mention that certain prominent scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, have
addressed this knowledge gap.
The author then talks about Gaia theory. The theory, named after the ancient Greek goddess of the
earth, states that the Earth itself is one giant living organism and that whenever it is damaged, it will
attempt to repair itself. Humans have damaged Gaia and now she is attempting to repair the damage.
Simply put, the bond between humans and nature has been severed. We see nature as something to
be conquered and it has turned us prideful. However, Mahapatra argues that that same pride is what
will cause our destruction.

Unattainable Earth And Human Values

In this section, Mahapatra argues that people have lost their passion for everything and due to that,
there is no enthusiasm in anything people do and thus, no meaning in anything. He quotes a few lines
from the Polish poet Czeslaw Milos from whom he borrowed the phrase ‘unattainable earth.’ The
unattainable earth refers to the beauty and magic of the world that we have become blind to. Despite
our boring daily routines, there is still a magic to the world but we can longer sense that magic.
Mahapatra says that nothing is sacred any more; even death has lost all meaning. Death has been
reduced to statistics and numbers read out at news and we have become numb to it. The author argues
that we should reclaim our love of the world and reclaim the passion that we had lost. He recounts
two stories, one from the West and one from Indian mythology that speak about how it so easy to
devote one’s entire life to studying just one thing and that the world is filled with so many things that
is basically impossible to lose our curiosity with the world.

Forgiveness: Journey to Other Selves

Mahapatra refers to a parable from the Bible where a group of men bring a woman accused of adultery
to Jesus so that He can pass judgment on her. Jesus asks the crowd that only people who are without
sin should first judge her. The crowd realizes that all of them have sinned and thus they disperse.
Jesus then asks if the woman has anyone to accuse her and seeing that everyone has left, He forgives
her.
The purpose behind this parable is to show how powerful the act of forgiveness is. Mahapatra quotes
the saying that “to err is human and to forgive divine,” which refers to how making a mistake is
acceptable but the capacity to forgive another is something that is almost like an act of God.
Mahapatra claims that only the divine is capable of fully removing the black stain of a sin and
humanity’s own capacity for forgiveness comes from the divine.
Mahapatra argues that altruism, the attitude of being selfless and charitable, is what is desperately
needed to fix this broken world that has become plagued by selfish, narcissistic personalities. The
author refers to a painting by the artist Vincent Van Gogh that depicts a group of people walking in a
circle in an enclosed room. Mahapatra notes that the people can easily escape the room if they look
up but they refuse to do and thus, they are doomed to remain stuck in that small room. Western
Existentialism considers that interacting with other people is like being in hell and that even one’s
own personality is a type of hell. The author is trying to move away from this mindset.
Mahapatra goes on to say that by practising forgiveness, we can become aware of the cosmos, the
Universe itself and our place within that vast universe. He quotes a verse from the Upanisads that talk
about how each person is connected to everything else that exists within the universe which is the
complete opposite of Western Existentialism. Mahapatra ends his essay by saying that the only way
to escape the selfish attitude of Western Existentialism is to be aware of our place within the Cosmos
and to be selfless and altruistic.