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This cultivated character becomes the source of development of pride, just like earned money. Character also assumes the form of collections and wealth.
In fact, whatever is earned and collected puffs up the ego; because collection takes the form of the victory of ego. How surprising it is that the collected renunciation also takes the form of the collections and the collected humility also has ego? Do not you often observe in the heads, bowed in so-called humility, the heads raised in pride?
I met a monk once and he told me: I have spurned property worth lakhs of rupees. I was surely surprised to hear it. Then I asked him: "When did you do this"? He said, with a sense of achievement about thirty years ago." After meeting him, and on my return, I was thinking that what was renounced had not taken him out of pride. One day, he must have been proud of the fact that he possessed lakhs; today he was proud that he had spurned them!
Renunciation is all right if it comes naturally, but if it is attempted and done, it is not all right; and this is true in respect of all aspirations in relation to religion. The paths of pride are very subtle; they are very mysterious; and pride call be found even in those places where its presence cannot be suspected and where outwardly it is not at all visible. Its thicker forms are visible, and therefore they are not so dangerous; but the subtler forms are very dangerous because they are not normally visible, and therefore they lead to lot of self-deception. The pride of being religious, renouncing, learned and non-violent belongs to the latter form.
Good conduct is the inspiration of religious knowledge and those who get puffed up with the so-called transplanted good conduct become devoid of that supernatural inspiration of religion where even the shadow of pride cannot enter. Just as the dew-drops disappear in the sunshine similarly in the light of self-realization, pride evaporates. That is a companion of ignorance and darkness. Its life and breath are made of it. The the absence of ignorance, its life is not possible.
Ignorance is pride; knowledge is freedom from pride. conduct of ignorance goes with
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