The furious race for armaments by the Christian world, evincing an utter disregard for the commandment of Jesus that if one cheek is smitten, the other should be offered, shows clearly what I mean by the ego. In the evolutionary ascent from the mineral, vegetable and animal life, the latent mind gradually expands and develops until full consciousness is reached in the human form. To create this very consciousness, the universe emanated from the Infinite Ocean of knowledge and bliss ā namely, God the Absolute.
However, in the human form with the mind fully developed, a difficulty is confronted which Prophets and spiritual Masters have periodically visited this earthly plane to remove. Besides the development of full consciousness in the human form as a result of previous conditions of life, the ego, the “I,” has evolved.
The ego is composed of fulfilled and unfulfilled desires and creates the illusion of feeling finite, weak and unhappy. Henceforth, the soul can only progress through the general suppression of this finite ego and its transformation into the Divine Ego ā the One Infinite Self ā by retaining in full the consciousness of its human form. When man realizes this state of divine consciousness, he finds himself in everyone and sees all phenomena as forms of his own Real Self.
The best and also the easiest process of overcoming the ego and attaining the divine consciousness is to develop love and render selfless service to humanity in whatever circumstances we are placed. All ethics and religious practices ultimately lead to this. The more we live for others and less for ourselves, the more the low desires are eliminated and this in turn reacts upon the ego, suppressing and transforming it proportionately.
āwww.lordmeher.org, p1643
[Press conference, Hollywood, May, 1932]