Question: One day while bowling, I felt my consciousness leave myself and become more intent on the ball and pins. And in spite of the fact that I hadn't bowled in a long time, I found myself bowling extremely well. Is that the kind of thing you are talking about when you talk about getting away from that smaller ego?

Sri Chinmoy: When you say that you were all absorbed in the ball and that you focused all your attention on it, I have to say that this is not a matter of ego. It is a matter of your own concentration. It is very good. If we don’t pay attention to what we are doing, then how are we going to achieve perfection? The larger ego, the divine ego that I am speaking about, goes a little further. Here we work with utmost concentration, but also there is something else. We offer the result at the Feet of the Supreme with the same kind of cheerfulness, whether it comes in the form of failure or success. We play our game and then either we will lose or we will win. But if we can offer both success and failure with the same cheerful frame of mind, then the divine ego is playing its role most successfully. Here the loser and the winner are one, and we are offering the result to the universal Oneness. So whether we lose or win doesn’t matter. We don’t feel miserable if somebody else wins, because we feel our oneness with him. Here the divine ego is the feeling of oneness.

But first things first. When you are looking at the ball and focusing all your attention on it, you are doing absolutely the right thing. Then, after you have done the right thing, the result will come. This result you have to offer at the Feet of God. That is absolutely the right attitude, the divine attitude. Otherwise, if you don’t concentrate on the ball, if you just look at your friends, then you are allowing sheer negligence to enter into your life. If you are negligent in anything, then you cannot achieve any success.