Children should be allowed to develop their egos. In fact, it is impossible to prevent their egos from developing. A loving parent can only stand patiently by and watch their children stretch ego-fantasies to the limit, playing their silly war games, Cowboys and Indians, and the like—all to the purpose of making their ego-minds and bodies grow.

Only as the ego approaches physical maturity can children understand the foolishness of pride and be guided through a delicate period of adjustment by a non-egotistical parent.

Children cannot see anything wrong with vanity any more than they can feel embarrassed over being naked—but when they are mature, then they do!

Developing to physical maturity, we all reach a crucial moment when we begin to be uneasy over continuing to build our ego; we experience a distinct sense of danger, guilt or fear over doing something that only moments before seemed quite innocent and normal.

The sincere or seeking soul is more perceptive than his earthy brother or sister, and in the full blossom of youth he comes to know very deeply that continuing in his present lifestyle (ego-building) will lead him inexorably to a dreadful abyss, a disastrous and tragic end.

But what alternatives do we have? Some of us would abandon the ego trip if we knew how, but our more ambitious “brothers and sisters” seem possessed with a mysterious power to push our ego growth past that point, to make us as wild beasts—and likewise possessed.

Egocentric development is necessary to a point; without it we might never grow at all—spiritually, mentally or indeed physically. The infant body houses an embryonic soul, and when the soul and body have fully grown up together they will have become what Adam came down to become—this is the crucial moment of life for us all.

"When we first begin to notice ourselves, we have the odd sensation that something is wrong, but we can’t see what it is"

When we first begin to notice ourselves, we have the odd sensation that something is wrong, but we can’t see what it is. Because the present moment begins to whisper of our past (sin) and our future (death), our ego can become afraid to look honestly at what we are.

Before the Presence in the present moment, we look upon our form and feel an ancient shame and the curse of the ancient death penalty upon it. An egotist will be afraid to look back at the cause or forward to doom. Pride, to maintain itself, dares not look at error or at the consequence of error. Pride—assuming the role of an infallible god—forbids itself to see its beginnings in error—or its end in death.

We have grown up in the likeness of the fallen Adam, naked and ashamed. But in most of us there remains a carry-over of ambition for glory and power. Before we can “get down” to the business of achieving, all conscious inhibition and guilt must first be removed so we can begin to enjoy the dubious advantages of vanity without guilt.

To our bitter regret, we escape the present moment by embracing temptation into the pleasures and glorification of the physical world.

Calling up the forgotten, selfish, childhood games, we renew them with great zest and build a “real” world from the memories of fantasy play—so that now the war games become real bombs and bullets that inflict the final judgment on others.

From that very moment onward, whenever we draw on excitement to escape or to make an ego-dream come true, we find the dream begins to materialize—into a nightmare!