56. On Self-deception

We should not deceive ourselves in any way. There are bitter truths, but it is best to know them and face them. To live in an imaginary paradise is only to shut ourselves out from the real Elysium. It is true that if we carefully examine ourselves to see if we still have a trace of separation or personal desires, any desire to act against the course of nature, we must find some reason, some motive for such self-assertion and desire. Although we know that the idea of isolation is a mere product of Maya, that ignorance and all personal desires flow only from this sense of isolation and that they are the root of our misery, we cannot, by mere reflection, generally see through this false and illusory opinion. But if we analyze the real facts, and watch ourselves every day and observe the different ways we are, as they vary according to different circumstances, then a very different conclusion will impose itself on us; we will find that the actual realization in our own life is still far from coinciding with our knowledge and our faith, that it comes only for those brief moments when we forget our body and its surroundings completely, and are completely absorbed in the contemplation of the divine word, absorbed in the divine self.