DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

THE NATURE OF THE EGO AND ITS TERMINATION : II 69Every thought, feeling or action which springs fromthe idea of exclusive or separate existence binds. Allexperiences small or great—and all aspirations—good or badSlimming down ofego through lovecreate a load of impressions and nourishthe sense of the "I." The only experiencewhich makes for the slimming down of theego is the experience of love, and the only aspiration which makesfor the alleviation of separateness is the longing to become onewith the Beloved. Craving, hatred, anger, fear and jealousy are allexclusive attitudes which create a gulf between oneself and therest of life. Love alone is an inclusive attitude which helps bridgethis artificial and self-created gulf, and tends to break through theseparative barrier of false imagination. The lover too longs, buthe longs for union with the Beloved. In seeking or experiencingunion with the Beloved the sense of the "I" becomes feeble. In lovethe "I" does not think of self-preservation, just as the moth is not atall afraid of getting burnt in the fire. The ego is the affirmation ofbeing separate from the other, while love is the affirmation ofbeing one with the other. Hence the ego can be dissolved onlythrough real love.The ego is implemented by desires of varied types. Failureto fulfill desires is a failure of the ego. Success in attaining desiredobjects is a success of the ego. Through the fulfilled desires asEgo made of desireswell as through the unfulfilled ones the egois accentuated. The ego can even feed uponthe comparative lull in the surging desires and assert its separativetendency through feeling that it is desireless. When there is realcessation of all desires, however, there is cessation of the desireto assert separativeness in any form. Therefore real freedom fromall desires brings about the end of the ego. The bundle of theego is made of faggots of multi-coloured desires, and the breakingof these faggots