As we look at people in general, we see that some of the most common characteristic weaknesses are ego and possessiveness. These two are so close they could be considered “brothers.”

Careful observation of any complicated, unsolved problem reveals that the reason for it almost always lies in these two “brothers.” For example, there are some public officials who cling to their offices instead of resigning at the proper time, and because of their ego and inordinate attachment to their offices they are eventually forced to quit in disgrace.

There are also some businessmen who, because of their extreme regard for money itself and their sole interest in making profits for themselves, incur the dislike of their business associates, so few of their transactions go smoothly. Even though they seem to make the desired profits temporarily, they often lose money in the long run.

In a love affair, one of the couple sometimes loses interest simply because of the other person’s over-possessiveness. We have often seen an example of this in an affair in which one person has attempted to cling to the other too tightly, thus causing trouble between the lovers.

There are also individuals who make others suffer because of their egotistical inclinations and these cause suffering for themselves as well. Such characteristics are often the cause of conflicts, too. Anyone who looks back into his own past will realize how true this is.

In this sense, one of the major goals of religion is to help us rid ourselves of our individual egos and extreme attachments. Since I learned this truth, I have been doing my best to free myself of any self-assertive tendencies and any undue possessiveness. As a result, I have found myself being freed from a great deal of mental suffering, and in every area I have experienced good results. There is a very worthwhile injunction, “Do not worry about either the past or the future.” These are really wise words.

After an individual passes from the physical word into the spiritual realm, the first and greatest lesson he has to learn is that he must discard any inordinate attachments he may retain for people or things of the physical plane. As he frees himself from these more and more, he is elevated to progressively higher levels.

In the spiritual world, husbands and wives do not ordinarily live together. This is because their spiritual positions are different. They are allowed to be together only when both have been raised to one of the highest divisions. Those who have completed a certain amount of spiritual training are permitted to meet with their mates, but this is only temporary. They are given permission to do so by the divine being in charge of the strata to which they belong. When they have received permission and do meet, they are never allowed to embrace although they may not have seen each other for a long time. If they should have any earthly desire of this nature, their entire spiritual bodies become stiff and lose freedom of motions. This shows how bad undue attachments are.

Thus, as a person is freed more and more from extreme ties through training in the spiritual world, he is elevated to higher and higher levels. Then it becomes easier for him to meet his mate. Obviously, this is very different from a like situation in the physical world.

In your effort to guide others to our faith, you usually do not succeed if you try too insistently, even though you may be very persuasive, the result is not good, because you are forcing others to accept our faith and such an attitude is blasphemous to God.

When you wish to guide someone to this path, at first it is best to talk about your teachings only a little. If the individual shows interest in what you say, it is all right to give him more information. But if he shows no interest at all, you should stop talking to him about our church and wait until another opportunity appears.