Any thought, feeling or action which savors of the separative ego springs from unqualified ignorance. It is not a form of ignorance that one may comfortably wear, or not wear, like an overcoat. It is an ignorance that binds. It is an ignorance that commits the self to unrelieved and degrading suffering, not necessarily of the physical body, but always and inevitably of the spirit. It is an ignorance attendant upon the betrayal of Truth and is, therefore, a form of self-betrayal.

It admits of no superficial and temporary remedies or bedridden compromises. It is an ignorance which shuts the soul from love and beauty, joy and freedom, conscious divinity and true Self-fulfillment. It is an ignorance which persists like a thorn in the flesh unless it is uprooted by complete acceptance of the Truth.