DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

68 DISCOURSESEgo feeds uponexclusive feelingsexistence intensely. The feeling of separationfrom others is most acute where there is greatand unrelieved craving. In hate and anger alsothe other person is, so to speak, thrown out of one's own being andregarded not only as a foreigner but as definitely hostile to thethriving of the ego. Fear also is a subtle form of affirmingseparateness and exists where the consciousness of duality isunabated. Fear acts as a thick curtain between the "I" and the "you"and it not only nourishes deep distrust of the other, but inevitablybrings about a shrinking and withdrawal of consciousness so as toexclude the being of another from the context of one's own life.Therefore, not only other souls but God should be loved and notfeared. To fear God or His manifestations is to strengthen duality;to love them is to weaken it.The feeling of separateness finds most poignant expressionin jealousy. There is a deep and imperative need in the human soulto love and identify itself with other souls. This is not fulfilled inComplications ofjealousy strengthenegoany instance where there is craving or hate,anger or fear. In jealousy, in addition to thenon-fulfillment of this deep and imperativeneed for identification with other persons,there is a belief that some other soul has successfully identifieditself with the person whom one sought. This creates a standingand irreconcilable protest against both individuals for developing arelationship which one really wished to reserve for oneself. Allexclusive feelings like craving, hate, fear or jealousy bring about anarrowing down of life and contribute to the limitation andrestriction of consciousness. They become directly instrumental inthe affirmation of separateness and the ego.