Q: How can one know what the relationship of the individual soul is with Infinity?
A: At this time my answer is that you should get rid of ego and then you will know it. Let
ego come to an end and you will fully know how the individual soul is related to the
Universal. When you know it you will not come to ask me! There will be no need to ask!
Many aspects of spirituality are actually intended for the elimination of ego. I sometimes
explain the purpose of certain rituals and observances in spirituality, because people do not
always understand this. When you go to a guide, he is not desirous of that you should visit
him. The guide or master does not keep a notebook detailing the times somebody visits him.
You go for your own self. You wish to get rid of your ego. Visiting the guru is one of the very
important and effective methods for diluting and eliminating of ego. There is a tradition here
that some of you know, what is known as obeisance (full prostration) - ‘like a staff’ - lying on
the ground with all the limbs spread out straight - trying to surrender. But the essential factor
is the inner intention or motive - the feeling. That is the real thing because there are people
who go and hope to be noticed by the master - “Has he seen me or not? Has he not seen me
lying on the ground?”
Sometimes rather awkward situations can be created by certain people. When I was
teaching in the University of Jammu-Kashmir, there was a seeker whose habit was to lie flat
on the ground as soon as he saw me, at any place, without caring about his clothes. I told him
that he should be aware of the circumstances around him. In India it was not so unusual but it
was awkward. In Europe it would cause a great problem on the street.
I told him:“It is all right. I understand your emotions, but don’t lie on the ground. Things
should be done according to the situation.”
The reply he gave showed he was a very deep person and a seeker of a very high order. He
said: “Sir, I do not care what conception other people have of me. They may consider me mad
or foolish, but I do not care since I am doing the best I can for my own salvation and
Enlightenment”.
I said: “That’s correct, but you should have more consideration for the people around you.
There are other people to be taken into account. If you do it in traffic, it will cause a trafficjam
and the police may arrest me. What are you doing on the street, with people and cars
passing by and you are lying flat on the ground?”
He understood. After all we live in an organised society.
Many other factors are involved. For example, some people try to touch the feet of the
saints because energy flows from the tips of fingers and toes. No saint wishes his body to be
touched but some people do it. These are all ways for getting rid of ego. But, finally, it is by
His grace that one becomes free of ego. The more the ego, the less the love, and when there is egoless
is to be deified.
What is the basic essential ego? I have given some examples of various facets of ego -
body, language, learning, wealth, nationality and suchlike, but what is the basic, real ego?
Real ego is our illusion of identifying our consciousness with body. In reality we are the
Spirit. We are the pure consciousness - part of the Divine - but we have started considering
ourselves to be the body, the senses, the mind, the intellect, etc. The basic ego is our illusion
of identifying the consciousness (the living – animate - element) with the inanimate.
According to the eight-fold system of Maharishi Patanjali, when that event of Illumination or
Enlightenment occurs, then that illusion comes to an end.
May God be kind to us and help us to get rid of this disease.
