WRITINGS BY THE MOTHER
© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

The ego

The ego was necessary to form the individual being. Its destruction is therefore difficult. There is a much better, though more difficult solution: to transform it and make it an instrument of the Divine.

Egos that are converted and wholly consecrated to the Divine become especially powerful and effective instruments.

The endeavour is difficult and demands an absolute and steadfast sincerity, but for those who have a strong will, an ardent aspiration and an unshakable sincerity, it is well worth undertaking.

The method for each individual is worked out as the activity proceeds, for each ego has its own character and needs a particular method. The only qualities indispensable for all are absolute perseverance and sincerity. The least tendency to deceive oneself makes success impossible.

9 December 1971

Collected Works of The Mother, First Edition, Volume 16, p. 423