November 14, 2023
What prevents integral perfection? The “me”, that is all. The entire universe is pervaded by God, by the divine, though you may call it God, Isvara, Christ, Brahma, Atma, Allah. Somehow I am caught up in this diversity - I, you, he and this is the obstacle. This “I” was originally the infinite. Probably the letter “I” actually stood for the whole word ‘infinite’, but we use the word “I” to refer to the finite, to the absurdly little thing, a dot, a point.
This littleness must go. This “me” must go, must disappear. How? By practicing self-denial, self-sacrifice. That is called Karma yoga. You can practice self-surrender. That is called Bhakti yoga. You may have self-realization. That is called Jnana yoga. But do we or do we not see that eventually all these have the same significance, all these mean the same thing? Whether the self is denied, whether the self is surrendered, whether the self is sacrificed, whether the self is realized, it is all the same. The self, this little self, this “me” is the problem.