One of the great dangers on the spiritual path is that the ego becomes spiritualized. The ego loves to think of itself as spiritually evolved. It is just another way that it manages to feel important and in control. It is very difficult to free yourself from an enlightened ego.
Interpretation
The quote warns against the ego's tendency to adopt a facade of spirituality, which can hinder true enlightenment.
Leonard Jacobson emphasizes the deceptive nature of the ego on the spiritual journey. He argues that individuals may mistakenly believe they are spiritually advanced when, in fact, their ego is merely presenting itself in a more refined form. This self-deception creates a barrier to genuine spiritual growth, making it essential to recognize and confront the ego to achieve authentic enlightenment.
In practice
In a speech about personal growth, you might use this quote to illustrate the pitfalls of inflated self-importance.
Once you have found yourself and accepted your aloneness, then the greatest blessing is to share the love that arises within you. Each new moment presents the richest opportunity to be loving. And you can share love in the simplest of ways. Be soft and gentle. Be caring and kind. Be loving in an ordinary way, without any sense of wanting anything back, Life offers you the most precious gift. The gift of allowing you to be present and share love.
Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth, and every other good thing which men have comes from virtue.
Learn to reverence night and to put away the vulgar fear of it, for, with the banishment of night from the experience of man, there vanishes as well a religious emotion, a poetic mood, which gives depth to the adventure of humanity.
All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive.
A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones
Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul-destroying or a degradation to man, a peril to the peace of the world or to the well-being of future generations: as long as you have not shown it to be "uneconomic" you have not really questioned its right to exist, grow, and prosper.
The soil out of which such men as he are made is good to be born on, good to live on, good to die for and to be buried in.
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