He has come to a clearer knowledge of what the Quest means and what it will demand of him. The Quest of the divine soul has become his pole star. It was natural for him to feel repelled at first by the idea of overcoming the ego but now he sees its desirability. This will not mean giving it up in practical life however; for while he is in the flesh the ideal is to find a proper balance between egoism and altruism because he needs both. But because the individual's egoism is apt to be too big already and his altruism too small, religious teachers have usually deliberately over-emphasized subduing the ego. That is the moral side. On the philosophical side it is simply a matter of finding the Overself and letting it rule the ego thenceforth. Thus the ego is not killed but put back in its lower place. But first he has to become conscious of the Overself, he has to feel it as a living presence, and he has to do this throughout the day and night, awake or asleep. That is the goal. It is not really as hard as it sounds. For the divine self is always there within him, it is never absent from him, not even for a second. It is the unfailing witness of all his efforts and aspirations. When he has tried hard enough and long enough it will suddenly shed all its Grace upon him.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 5 : Self-Development > # 89
