Very much like a rocket which starts to shed the unnecesary booster engines and fuel tanks after lift off,  the mind also needs to shed the initial forces that were responsible for its launch.

One of these initial boosters is the "I" within us.

The "I" is the basis on which the human intellect is born. But after the initial groundwork is done, the "I" entraps the mind in a never ending loop. So the mind is not able to progress to the next level. 

It begins to develop qualities such as Jealousy, envy, ego, projection of the self, as well as a tendency to dominate over all fellow beings. This is a wasteful and endless occupation for a wonderous creation such as the human mind.

Some of the greatest saints of India have been preaching and demonstrating the need to drop the ego or the "I" and lead a life of selflessness and sacrifice. They have demonstrated that once the false identity is dropped, the mind can transcend the barriers of imposed by the body and the environment.  

Krishna Paramathma has been saying repeatedly in Srimad Bhagavatham that the "I" has to be dropped from the mind in order to be able to begin one's journey into freedom from the endless cycles of births and deaths. The mind has to transcend many barriers in order to to be freed from its birth place - the Human Body and the earthly environment which isfull of conflict and turmoil.

A mind trapped within the confines of the "I" will not be able to liberate itself from its familier habitat, simply because the "I", having gained control of the mind, does everything that it can to strengthen and perpetuate itself. 

To shake of the "I", the mind should first be convinced that it is essential to to take on this task in order to liberate itself from its confines. This "conviction" comes only after considerable and extensive experience of the futility of Karmic existence and the repeated failure, pain and misery that results from a mental outlook that encourages dependance on the "I". 

What happens when the mind manages to drop the "I".?

Srimad Bhagavatham simply says that moksham is obtained  (by attaining the feet of the Lord) and  the Atma is freed from the repeated experience of birhts and deaths. More explicitely, the Atma or perceptive energy within us is transported to a state of permenance and is freed from the tormenting experience of the opposites. 

So the reasons are two fold. One is the pain and misery of the "I" experience and the other is the reward of Moksham for those who successfuly drop the "I"

Why the "I" must be discarded.

The external world that we observe has desirable and undesirable aspects. 

The "I" is supposed to be a dispassionate observer and is not supposed to develop any preferances between desirable and undesirable aspects.

But, without guidance, the "I" begins to seek the self fulfilling and pleasurable aspects while rejecting the "unpleasant" aspects. 

It identifies the "desirable" and "undesirable" elements.  We want to take the desirable as our own and leave out the undesirable as not belonging to us.

This process of discrimination is also the birth and growth of Human Intelligence.

This intelligence is born out of preferences, desire, conflict and experience of pleasure and pain.

DESIRE takes root in the mind.

The "I" takes complete control of the mind and begins direct its faculties to accumulate the "desirable aspects" while trying to avoid and reject the rest.

The "I", tainted by the dreaded Desire, becomes misdirected to take the worldy path.  It loses its ability to discriminate and ultimately loses itself entirely in seeking self gratification. 

Using its power of discimination, the "I" focuses thought entirely on the world of objects in order to seek self gratification.  Consequently, it seeks to take ownership of as much of the perceived world as it can and loses itself in the unrelentingly persistent cycle of success and failures.

"MINE" is the Twin Brother of "I". "MINE" represents the OWNERSHIP aspect of "I".  It relates to the illusory attachment to people and objects. Both "I" and "MINE" always go hand in hand. 

AS KARMA PROGRESSES, THE "I" AND THE THOUGHT PROCESS BECOME SO ENTWINED, THAT THEY ARE TAKEN AS ONE INDISTINGUISHABLE ENTITY.   DESIRES THAT CORRESPOND TO ONE's KARMIC TRAPS (OWNERSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS,   PHYSICAL PLEASURES, etc.), BEGIN TO TAKE ROOT.  

In this state, thought is driven by fear and insecurity (that it may be overpowered and rejected by the other people and objects that it perceives as different from itself). 

Because the "I" makes the mind take ownership of the results of "its" actions,  it endeavours to constantly improve on the "results".  This endeavour is based on "intellingent" identification of "correct" and "incorrect" moves made in the past. 

The "I" also causes the creation of the "EGO" in the mind.  The "EGO" is the means by which the mind brushes over its own "failings" and "ignorance" (mostly by attributing the cause to factors "external" and "beyond" itself). When the mind begins to be blanketed by the EGO, its learning and adaptive capabilities diminish significantly. 

The importance of the "I" grows when the MIND is turned towards the material world.. 

"I" diminishes when THOUGHT turns spiritual.

Put in a different manner, thought cannot turn to the material world without centering itself around the "I" and all its "children" (such as greed, need, ownership, etc.).  Thought cannot progress towards the truth about the inner self, without eliminating the "I" as the basis of its existence. 

 

"I" AND "MINE" SHOULD NOT BE THE ROOTS OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS.

Human thoughts drive action (and inaction).  One thought leads to another and builds up a huge network of thoughts before the final decision/action is taken. 

If a self centered attitude is at the root,   then the foundation on which the network of  thoughts will be built will be entirely based on character weaknesses such as Fear, Insecurity, Avarisiousness, seeking of transient pleasures, Greed and Self Projection.

THIS WILL LEAD ONE DOWN THE WRONG PATH FROM WHICH EXTRICATION WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

The direction that the thought process should take is to attempt to identify and discard its limitations, expand its perpective capability and obtain release from a transient existence.

The self centerd thought is limited in its vision because it is focused on protecting and projecting the self, while ignoring the reality that is outside of it.

A self centered person always lives in an illusory world and is unable to grow his/her thought process to see the ultimate reality or Truth,  which will reveal itself only when the "I" is discarded from the thought process.

The three pathways to attaining this elevated mental state are called Karma Yoga,  Gnana Yoga and Bhakthi Yoga.  However,  all three paths are interdependent and cannot be practiced in isolation.  It is very much like Physics Chemistry and Math.  You have to know the basics of all to specialize in one.

A yoga is not something that one can learn or practice outside of daily life. It is not something that one can seperate like work time and liesure time.  Yoga is to be taken as a part of all aspects of life.