When the soul goes further in the path of knowledge it begins to find: "Yes, there is something which feels itself, which feels the inclination to call itself 'I'." There is a feeling of "I"-ness, but at the same time all that the soul identifies itself with is not itself. The day when this idea springs up in the heart of man he has begun his journey in the path of truth. Then analyzing begins, and he begins to find out: "When this is 'my' table and this is 'my' chair, all that I can call mine belongs to me, but is not really myself." Then he also begins to see: "I identify myself with this body, but this is 'my' body, just as I say 'my' table, or 'my' chair. So the being which is saying 'I' in reality is separate. It is something which has taken even this body for its use; this body is only an instrument." And he thinks: "If it is not this body which I can call 'I', then what else is there that I can call so? Is it my imagination with which I should identify myself?." But even that one calls "my" imagination, "my" thought, or "my" feeling. So even thought, imagination, or feeling is not the real "I." What affirms "I" remains the same even after having discovered the false identity.

We read in the tenth Sufi thought that perfection is achieved by the annihilation of the false ego. The false ego is what does not belong to the real ego, and what that ego has wrongly conceived to be its own being. When that is separated by analyzing life better, then the false ego is annihilated. A person need not die for it. In order to annihilate this body, in order to annihilate the mind a person has to analyze himself and see: "Where does 'I' stand? Does it stand as a remote, exclusive being? If it is a remote and an exclusive being then it must be found out." The whole spiritual process is to find this out.

Once this is realized, the work of the spiritual path is accomplished. As in order to make the eyes see themselves one has to make a mirror to see the reflection of these eyes, so in order to make this real being manifest, this body and mind have been made as a mirror: that in this mirror this real being may see itself and realize its being independent. What we have to achieve by the path of initiation, by the way of meditation, by spiritual knowledge is to realize this by making ourselves a perfect mirror.

In order to explain this idea the faqirs and dervishes have told a story. A lion roaming through the desert found a little lion cub playing with the sheep. It so happened that the little lion had been reared with the sheep, and so had never had a chance or an occasion to realize what he was.

The lion was greatly surprised to see a young lion cub running away with the same fear of the lion as the sheep. He jumped in among the flock of sheep and roared: "Halt, halt!", but the sheep ran on, and the little lion ran also. The lion pursued only the cub, not the sheep, and said: "Wait, I wish to speak to you." The cub answered: "I tremble, I fear, I cannot stand before you." "Why are you running about with the sheep? You are a little lion yourself!" "No, I am a sheep. I tremble, I am afraid of you. Let me go. Let me go with the sheep!"

"Come along", said the lion, "Come with me. I will take you and I will show you what you are before I let you go." Trembling and yet helpless, the lion cub followed the lion to a pool of water. There the lion said: "Look at me, and look at yourself. Are we not closer, are we not near? You are not like the sheep, you are like me."

Through the whole spiritual process what we learn is to disillusion this false ego. The annihilation of this false ego is its disillusionment. When once it is disillusioned then the true ego realizes its own merit. It is in this realization that the soul enters the kingdom of God. It is in this realization that the soul is born again, a birth which opens the doors of heaven.