DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

GOD-REALISATION 37emancipation of consciousness. In sleep the mind temporarilyforgets its identity but it does not finally lose its individualexistence. When the person awakens he finds himself subject to hisold limitations. There is a resurrection of consciousness, but it isstill mind-ridden.The limited mind is the soil in which the ego is securelyrooted, and this ego perpetuates ignorance through the manyillusions in which it is caught. The ego prevents manifestation ofObstacle of the egoinfinite knowledge which is already latent inthe soul; it is the most formidable obstacle tothe attainment of God. A Persian poem says truly, "It is extremelydifficult to pierce through the veil of ignorance; for there is a rockon the fire." Just as a flame cannot rise very high if a rock is placedupon it, a desire to know one's own true nature cannot lead to theTruth as long as the burden of the ego is placed on consciousness.Success in finding oneself is rendered impossible by thecontinuation of the ego which persists throughout the journey ofthe soul. In old age, an aching tooth can give untold troublebecause it is not easily uprooted, although moving within itssocket. In the same way the ego which might become feeblethrough love or penance, is yet difficult to eradicate. It persists tillthe very end. Though it becomes looser as the soul advances on thePath, it remains till the last stage which is the seventh plane.Ego is the centre of all human activity. The attempts of theego to secure its own extinction might be compared to the attemptof a man to stand on his own shoulders. Just as the eye cannot seeDifficulty of overcomingthe egoexistence. It flourishes on theitself, so the ego is unable to end its own existence.All that it does to bring about selfannihilationonly goes to add to its own