Written in the train from Madras (Chennai) to Bombay(Mumbai)
October 11, 1942.
The Jiva who wants to develop the life and whose heart is set to do sadhana of life, will always continue to forget himself. He will not be able to find himself without forgetting. Beginning of the sadhana starts with the renunciation of the ego and ends when it is sublimated. It is not possible to destroy the ego, since it is in the form of an element. Egoism also can be called one kind of nature or good quality since it can be the propeller and inspiring element for the progress. It is not possible to destroy nature or the characteristics. It can be only sublimated. So it is never destroyed. It is proper if we mean sublimation as complete purification. As the ego gets subtle its hold on us also gets stronger and subtler. It is much harder to identify the ego at this stage and it becomes impossible to catch it. It is possible that obviously egoless person may be full of ego. It is like a top that is circulating fast appears to be not moving at all. If some intellectual persons say that 'we will reduce and sublimate the ego with the help of the intellect', it is mere useless illusion. In fact, the subtleness of the intellect makes the ego more subtle. It is not possible to reduce ego with intellect. If we want to forget ourselves there is only one way and that is of Love and Devotion. It is possible to forget ourselves in someone because of intensity of the Bhavna of love towards other person and that is the way of sublimating or purifying the ego. There is no other way to achieve purification. Some Jivas may get absorbed in the given work for certain period of time. We find many people being engrossed in certain particular work like scientists absorbed in search of new things in the interest of their subjects. We notice businessmen engrossed in the business, children in their sports, students in their studies with intense concentration. But their forgetting themselves is for short time and only in the particular subjects. There is never a change in the nature of the mind. It is one thing to forget for a short period of the time and another to change the nature of the mind. Not only that such incidents of temporary forgetting the self may result in increase in the ego. It is entirely possible for this to happen in Sadhak. Please know that, the people who have intellect with knowledgable, sense of discretion and are full of love and devotion for Chetan (consciousness) can reduce the ego to a great extent.
Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Sandesh
Edition 3; Pages 293 - 294.
———to be continued
