R. Chakrapani came to Guruprasad from Talegaon on Thursday, 7 April 1960. He had previously been given certain orders by Baba. He looked like a sadhu, with a long beard and long hair, and he was observing silence. Baba asked him, “Do you permit anyone to fall at your feet?” Chakrapani shook his head no.
Baba gestured, “That is very good.”
Addressing the gathering, Baba continued at length:
The only obstacle on the Path is the ego. Volumes have been written on the nature of the ego. But book knowledge helps very little and by one’s own efforts, the ego remains insurmountable. Whether you fast or feast, whether you become aggressive or humble, the ego goes on nourishing itself. Even the natural tendencies of the ego such as “I see, I read, I sleep” create bindings. So night and day in the very act of expending old sanskaras, you create new sanskaras and get bound.
Then [if] you wear long hair and put on the robe of a sadhu, you thereby are indirectly courting respect. A false sense of advertisement in spirituality is liable to be created when you try to lead a life in some other way than that of the common people. Others begin to look upon you with respect, and you begin to accept homage without the spiritual authority to do so — outwardly in the name of God, but deep within there is nothing but self-gratification. As time passes, the superiority complex is nourished, and the ego craves greater honors. This is a dangerous pitfall!
In the God-realized Master, the Real Ego is established. He sees himself in each and everything, in every being. And his divinity is so complete that he becomes the object of meditation and worship for all. So he has the authority to accept homage. All his actions are non-actions and therefore are non-binding.
To become completely free from all the sanskaric bindings, the intercession of the Master is necessary. The awakening of love is the remedy. Only then does one rare being get released from all the sanskaric bindings through the grace of a Perfect Master.
-www.lordmeher.org, p4653 April, 1960; Guruprasad