The Little Ego
This puppet ego the World-Mother made,
This little profiteer of Nature's works,
Her trust in his life-tenancy betrayed,
Makes claim on claim, all debt to her he shirks.
Each movement of our life our ego fills;
Inwoven in each thread of being's weft,
When most we vaunt our selflessness it steals
A sordid part; no corner void is left.
One way lies free our heart and soul to give,
Our body and mind to Thee and every cell,
And stepped in Thy world-infinity to live.
Then lost in light, shall fade the ignoble spell.
Nature, of her rebellion quit, shall be
A breath of the Spirit's vast serenity.
26 and 29-9-1939
Sri Aurobindo
This puppet ego the World-Mother made,
This little profiteer of Nature's works,
Her trust in his life-tenancy betrayed,
Makes claim on claim, all debt to her he shirks.
Each movement of our life our ego fills;
Inwoven in each thread of being's weft,
When most we vaunt our selflessness it steals
A sordid part; no corner void is left.
One way lies free our heart and soul to give,
Our body and mind to Thee and every cell,
And stepped in Thy world-infinity to live.
Then lost in light, shall fade the ignoble spell.
Nature, of her rebellion quit, shall be
A breath of the Spirit's vast serenity.
26 and 29-9-1939
Sri Aurobindo