Deshmukh, if I say: "You are a wonderful
person," you will be at once tickled. But you will express it by
saying: "Baba, I am just your slave." This apparent humble
statement may imply anything but humility.
The next moment, if I were to point out one of
your weaknesses, you would at once feel depressed, but you would not
express it. You will say: "Baba, after all, I am a human
being." By this statement, you try to conceal what you feel within
you, for ego assumes false appearance. It is very difficult to be
natural and to express what you feel within. The false ego is the
stumbling block.
What is meant by annihilation of the ego? It
means to be fully conscious in sound sleep: fully conscious in the fully
unconscious state! Until the Sadguru bestows his grace, this is not
possible.
"Has not the God-realized One an ego?"
asked the priest.
Baba replied:
He has. But the ego of the God-realized is
altogether different. When you say: "I am so-and-so," it is
the false ego asserting the false self. When you become God-merged [a
majzoob or Brahmi-bhoot], you have no mind; you are only conscious of
being God. This is the state of superconsciousness. But when, retaining
that state, you come down to normal consciousness, you have ego, but it
is the Real Ego. If you read God Speaks , you will know the
details about the different stages and states of consciousness.
Also, you must bear in mind that mere
intellectual understanding has very little value by itself. Whether one
understands the details of the Path or not, it is just the same. Only
love counts.
To learn God is to unlearn yourself. It is a
rare privilege to meet a Sadguru, and still more rare to love him as
God-in-human form. It is well said: "One who has the Knowledge of
God is not known to others."
Baba concluded, "God alone exists."
Goswami said, "If it is so, from where
does ignorance creep in?"
Baba explained:
God is One, Indivisible. The many divisions you
see are only apparent. They are the outcome of ignorance. How can this
be explained? How can ignorance know itself as ignorance? The dream state that you experience will give you some idea about this.