DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

180 DISCOURSESsince, when the time comes, it can be thrown away like a garment.There are thus two types of ego—one which can only add to thelimitations of the soul, and the other which helps towardsemancipation. The passage through the limiting ego of the worldlyman to the egolessness of the infinite life lies through theconstruction of the provisional ego generated throughwholehearted allegiance to the Master. The construction of a newego which is entirely subservient to the Master is indispensable tothe dynamics of spiritual advancement.The aspirant has been accustomed to derive zest in lifefrom his limited ego, and an immediate transition from the life ofegoistic action to that of egoless action is impossible and un-Sudden transition toegoless life impossibleinspiring. If the aspirant were to beimmediately required to avoid all forms ofego-consciousness he would have to revertto a state of negative passivity, without anyjoy of expression. Or, he would have to seek expression throughactivity which is merely automatic, like that of a lifeless machine,so that he could not derive any sense of fulfillment. The realproblem is that the aspirant has to abandon his life of the limitedego and enter into the limitlessness of the egoless life withoutlapsing into a coma, where there would be an ebbing of all life.Such a coma might give temporary relief from the limitation of theego-life, but it cannot initiate the aspirant into the infinity ofegoless activity.This is the reason why, in most cases, spiritual advancementhas to be very gradual and often takes several lives.Where a person seems to have taken long strides in his spir-Spirital advancementis gradualitual advancement he has merely recapitulatedthe advancement already secured in previouslives, or there has been special