How to be free from the sense of pride and superiority

The minds that are devoid of the sense of pride and superiority, they don't need to be free from pride and superiority.

The minds that have the sense of pride and superiority, most probably they enjoy very much being prideful and are enjoying the superior status, and won't be interested in letting go the sense of pride and superiority.

"To be free from the sense of pride and superiority? Why? Is that even a thing that exists? Everyone works so hard and wants to be able to be qualified and deserving to be prideful about their physical and mental quality and ability and all kinds of achievements and possessions, that give them the status of superiority, and be able to boast or glorify about the qualities, abilities, achievements, and possessions that they have, that give them the sense of pride and superiority, that make them feel strong and powerful."

Just like the minds that enjoy making unlimited money and hoarding unlimited wealth and possessions, most probably they won't be interested in letting go greed, or endless dissatisfaction or discontentment, and hoarding/possessiveness.

Unless they experience something impactful in life, where they realize that there are certain things that they want so much, but they can't get, or buy, or in exchange with the total amount of ability, wealth, possession, and power that they have, that will make them rethink or reflect about themselves or about life existence.

Upon coming in contact with certain impactful experience, or intense physical/mental/emotional painful suffering, where their own physical body is no longer in their command to perform even the simplest task, the minds that are prideful about their superior status might rethink and reflect about the uselessness or powerlessness of the sense of pride and the superior status, as no matter how prideful and superior that they think they are, they are just like all and everyone else, where all and everyone cannot escape the inevitable limitation of selfless impermanent changes of decay, hunger, thirst, aging, weakness, stiffness, illness, pain, injury, disability, disintegration, and death, or mortality.

It is highly exhausting to be upholding the sense of pride and superiority that come from the attachment and identification towards certain qualities, abilities, achievements, and possessions that they have, that are limited, conditional, and impermanent. Not only that it takes a lot of energy or effort to maintain all that, but they also need to ceaselessly attain and possess more or higher quality, ability, achievement, and possession, and hence, upon intense exhaustion, maybe some of them will realize that they don't need to be the slave of pride and superiority that come from the possession and accumulation of qualities, abilities, achievements, and possessions that are impermanent, and out of their own freewill or desire, they want to let go the sense of pride and superiority. While there are some minds will never let go, and that's their freedom.

Some minds might question that how difficult can it be to just let go the sense of pride and superiority?

The sense of pride and superiority, a.k.a. the sense of momentary satisfaction, security, success, accomplishment, strength, and power, that are limited, conditional, and impermanent, is similar to any kinds of 'physical or mental addiction' that give the minds some momentary pleasurable enjoyable sensations or feelings that are limited, conditional, and impermanent, that the minds addicted onto.

It is not easy, but it's possible for the minds to let go of the sense of pride, superiority, success, strength, and power, that are there to suppress the many other qualities or impurities that exist in the modification of the mind that they don't like and don't want, such as the sense of low self-esteem, low self-worth, inferiority, failure, weakness, fear, insecurity, animosity, insufficiency, and powerless, reacting towards the presence of certain limitations or qualities in the body and mind that they don't like, disagree with, and don't desire.

It is also because of the ignorant egoistic impure minds don't like, disagree with, and don't desire certain undesirable qualities that exist in their body and their modification of the mind, that make them feel inferior, or insufficient, or weak, or insecure, or powerless, they will also be discriminate towards others that have certain qualities that they don't like, disagree with, and don't desire.

The minds that have discrimination and hatred towards some others, that cannot accept and be kind towards some others that they discriminate and hate, is because these minds have discrimination and hatred towards something in themselves that they don't like, disagree with, and don't desire, where they cannot accept and be kind to themselves as they are. If so, how can they accept and be kind towards some others as they are?

That's why the minds that know how to accept and be kind to themselves as they are, will also know how to accept and be kind to many others as they are, devoid of discrimination or hatred towards oneself and others.

One thing for sure. The most prideful and superior super successful, super strong, and super powerful person in the world will also have to bow down to DECAY and DEATH, when they can't even perform the simplest task, or can't even walk to the toilet, and can't control their pee and shit, or upon the heart stops beating, and the breath stops coming and going.

The unlimited degrees or amount of difficulty/challenge that exists in the yoga asana practice, the pranayama practice, and the concentration practice (especially in certain lineage that only focus on the yoga asana/pranayama/concentration practice, that deliberately doesn't talk about any philosophy at all - "99% of practice, 1% of theory", "Just do your practice, and all will come to you" that are designed for hammering or breaking the prideful ego of the practitioners that have a strong and energetic physical condition and personality), that has no limit of difficulty or challenge physically/mentally/emotionally, until the body and mind can't push any further, and breaks down.

Many people might think and believe that physical/mental/emotional breakdown is something bad and terrible, but it can be the precious life changing moment for the prideful arrogant minds to rethink and reflect upon themselves and life existence, and how they treat all the others in this world that doesn't belong to anyone and anything. Here, we are talking about the self discipline of performing the yoga asana/pranayama/concentration practice out of one's own freewill willingly to discipline one's own modification of the mind, without violence, or forced by some others.

This physical/mental/emotional breakdown process deriving from performing the challenging yoga asana practice, is coming from the prideful arrogant mind itself trying to push its body and mind beyond its limitation, that enables the mind to have direct experience and understanding towards the inevitable truth of limitation and impermanence in the body and mind, to be free from pride/arrogance/and many other egoistic impurities, but definitely it's not coming from some others impose/inflict certain violent and aggressive disciplinary training/punishment forcefully unto some others, to push them beyond their physical and mental limitation, in order to hammer and break them, to make them feel weak and vulnerable, to make them become submissive and surrender under their control.

That's why the challenging yoga asana practice being performed out of one's freewill, can help the minds to grow and evolve towards peace, wisdom, and kindness, and even if they haven't attained self realization yet, but just by performing the yoga asana practice regularly for certain months and years, will bring beneficial effects to the body and mind, that can improve the physical and mental health and fitness condition.

Meanwhile, the authoritarianism or disciplinarians that is about coming from someone (an authority or a disciplinarian) imposes/inflicts violent forceful aggressive disciplinary training/punishment or restrictive rules and regulations unto some others, to inflict certain painful physical and mental suffering unto some others, with the intention to make some others to become submissive towards the authority or the disciplinarian, to behave or don't behave in certain way, doesn't help the minds to grow and evolve towards peace, wisdom, and kindness, but the contrary of that.

Just like all kinds of world records in any kind of sports activities and competitions. A world record holder of weight lifting, or high jumping, or gymnastic competition understands that the physical body is limited, where it can never win against the unlimited weight, unlimited height, or unlimited difficulty, as well as the selfless impermanent changes that are not in the control of the body and mind, that can allow the prideful mind to have direct experience and understand towards the sense of pride and superiority as well as the optimistic positive thinking and belief, confidence, and affirmation about "I am highly knowledgeable, intelligent, talented, well-trained, young, healthy, fit, super energetic, super strong, super powerful, and superior human being. I can do and achieve anything that I desire," doesn't and cannot defy or escape DECAY, ILLNESS, INJURY, OLD AGE, and DEATH.

These competitive athletes understand that PRIDE and SUPERIORITY, 'achievement' and 'winning'/'victory', or 'world record' and 'world record holder', or the strongest/the fastest/the supplest/the lightest/the most talented/the most skillful/the most powerful/the most charming/the most influential, and etc, doesn't really mean anything for the physical body, or the life existence, that is limited, that is impermanent, that is extremely fragile.

There is really nothing that can be prideful about, and there is no superiority in anything.

The minds that understand this, will not hurt themselves or others. 

Only the ignorant egoistic minds will think and believe that they (need to) have something that they can be prideful about, and that make them feel somehow more powerful or superior than many others, that boost the sense of self-esteem, self-worth, power, strength, security, accomplishment, and meaningfulness, that are also impermanent. These minds will be hurting themselves and others by constantly forcing their body and mind beyond its limitation in order to achieve higher and endless achievements, out of the sense of pride and superiority.

The minds that are devoid of the sense of pride and superiority,  even when they are highly successful, accomplished, intelligent, knowledgeable, talented, or skillful in something or many things, will also simultaneously be free from dissatisfaction, disappointment, greed, anger, hatred, discrimination, possessiveness, selfishness, low self-esteem, low self-worth, insecurity, humiliation, animosity, offensiveness, defensiveness, bully, jealousy, envy, fear, agitation, frustration, annoyance, violence, authoritarianism or disciplinarians, and all kinds of impurities. (The annihilation of duality, of all kinds of egoistic impurities)

That's why the annihilation of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, is the highest duty of all minds.

Although the limited body and mind can never change or defeat the truth of selflessness and impermanence, but it can go beyond or transcend all kinds of limitation, not being determined or over-powered by all kinds of limitation, while make good use of the availability of energy, life existence, supportive condition, ability, knowledge, intelligence, talent, skill, opportunity, and possibility in the present moment now, to be doing something beneficial for oneself and others and the world, even if all these are limited, conditional, and impermanent.

Inquire the truth of everything.