- When the ego vanishes, all troubles cease. You may reason a thousand times, but the ego does not disappear. For you and me, it is good to cherish the ‘I’ of a devotee of God.
- The very ego of man is maya. This egotism has veiled everything. ‘All troubles cease when “I-ness” dies.’ If by the grace of God a man realizes, ‘I am not the doer,’ he becomes a jivanmukta. Then he has nothing to fear.
- Money is also a great upadhi. As soon as money comes to a man, he becomes so different – he is no longer the same man.
- A frog had a rupee which he kept in a hole. One day an elephant walked over the hole. Rushing out angrily, the frog raised its foot at the elephant and cried, ‘How dare you walk over me!’ Such is the pride money breeds!
- The ‘I’ that makes one worldly and attaches one to ‘lust and greed’ is the ‘rascal I.’ Because of it, the individual soul and the Atman appear apart. If a stick is put on water, the water appears to be divided into two. In reality the water is one, but it appears to be two because of the stick. ‘I-ness’ is the stick. Remove the stick and the water will become one as before.
- If ‘I’ does not go, let the rascal remain as the ‘servant-I’: ‘O Lord, You are my Master, I am Your servant.’ Live with this attitude. ‘I am the servant,’ ‘I am the devotee’ – there is no harm in this kind of ‘I-ness.’ Sweetmeats cause acidity in the stomach. But sugar candy is not counted among sweetmeats.
- It’s like drawing a line on the surface of water without placing a bamboo stick on it. You find that the water has been divided into two parts – but this line does not last. The feeling of the ‘servant-I’ or the ‘I of a devotee’ or the ‘I of a child’ is only like a line drawn on water.
- People are proud of wealth, possessions, property, honour, rank, and so on. But these last for only a few days; nothing will accompany you at death.
- You shouldn’t be proud of your money. If you think you’re wealthy, another is wealthier than you, and still others wealthier than he.
- There is no harm in the ego of a child. A five-year-old child says, ‘I, I,’ but that ego doesn’t harm anybody. Iron becomes gold by touching the philosopher’s stone. An iron sword becomes a sword of gold. It keeps the shape of a sword, but can’t hurt anybody. You can’t cut or kill with a sword made of gold.
- Krishna spoke to Arjuna, ‘Brother, listen. If a person has even one of the eight occult powers, he cannot attain Me.’ Because with occult power comes pride, and when there is even a trace of pride, a person cannot reach God.
- Pride is characteristic of the tamoguna and comes from ignorance. It becomes a veil through which one cannot see God. All troubles cease when the ego vanishes.
- Whether a judge or anybody else – all this is for two days only. So give up pride and ego.
- Only the person who has no pride can attain knowledge. Rainwater flows down from a higher level; it stands at a lower level.
- As long as you have egotism, you cannot gain knowledge. You also can’t attain liberation. You will have to come again and again to this world. A calf bellows ‘hamba hamba’ (‘I, I’), so it has to undergo so much suffering!
- God is the inner controller. Pray to Him longingly with a pure mind. He will make you understand everything. Give up egotism and take refuge in Him. You will get everything.
- And then there is the ego of an old man. Old people have a number of bonds such as caste, pride, shame, contempt, fear, worldliness, calculation, and deceit. If he has any grudge or ill will toward someone, he can’t get rid of it easily – perhaps even as long as he is alive. And then there are pride of learning and the pride of wealth. An old man’s ‘I’ is an ‘unripe I.’
- A few people cannot gain spiritual wisdom. People who have the ‘I of learning,’ the ‘I of knowledge,’ and the ‘I of wealth’ do not attain spiritual knowledge.
- I say, ‘Mother, I am a machine, You are the operator; I am the house, You are the indweller; I am the chariot, You are the charioteer; I do what You make me do; I speak as You make me speak; I move as You make me move. Not I, not I. You, only You.’ She is ever victorious. I am merely an instrument.