September 3, 2025
What exactly is an "evil thought"? (I'm not asking why it arises. That is endless inquiry!) What is the thought made of, i.e. what is the material and who made it, i.e. who is the thinker of the thought?
I know the answer, not verbally but immediately, experimentally. I know what it is made of and who made it. The asking itself is the answer. Since I know the stuff of which the evil, painful thought is made, and that it is the ego which hurts like mad, I throw it away.
Each must arrive at this point himself as he continues watching vigilantly from moment to moment, the ordinary things he says and does. It needs the toughest activist to be really vigilant. When the thorn is in one's foot, one does not resignedly say, "This is not my business, leave it to God." One does not "accept" as accepting leads to justification and defending. Facing the cobra, one does not stay motionless, but does everything one has to do — except one will not step on it. Similarly with a thorn in the foot, one carries on one's normal movements, but does not step on that part of the foot.
Aware of the thorn, of the venomous snake, one is constantly on guard, one-pointedly, this above all! Vigilance until the last breath!