Buddha called this stage “the powers of Mara,” and in Christian language it is called “the devil tempting.” In Vedic language we would say, “Don’t stop being humble.” Humility is a very great shield against temptation. The mind will tell you, “What is wrong with enjoying my privileges and status? This is what I deserve. What’s evil about that?” Not every temptation is evil—it could be virtuous also—but it will still be a snare. After you have developed persistence, humility is an essential virtue on the path. Persistence gives you mental powers and mental control, which can easily produce occult powers, and this is where humility suffers. Remind yourself that the more the tree is laden with fruit, the more it bends. Ego often creeps up so imperceptibly that you will not even notice you are being haughty or self-righteous or obnoxious. If you maintain humility you will not allow yourself to succumb. You do not need to suppress it, you will simply see the nature of what you are doing.
      Humility does not mean weakness. True humility is a sign of greatness. It will raise you higher, where you subscribe to God’s will: “By Your grace I have received all these things. Make me remain humble and not succumb to temptation.” Humility will give you greater depth of insight because insight has many degrees on the way, from intellectual rationality to ultimate Pure Consciousness. Insight is in between; it is subtle or astral. It has its own time and space, though higher and more accelerated than the intellect. And, of course, our ego continues. Because new vistas open up, ego will tend to enjoy high privileges under the self-deception—“This is now the pinnacle of my Enlightenment. I now have mastery of things.” This is the last temptation on the level of insight.

      Five or ten years back you may have been craving spiritual progress and laboring hard but not achieving it. Now that is before you in abundance. But you have yet to reach the core of knowing the nature of things. Since you have not reached that depth, remain humble. Avoid arrogance, haughtiness, personal vendettas, jealousy and making impersonal issues into personal ones. Otherwise you will fall back to the level of rationality where you think and analyze, discuss and argue—the same old jargon. It is like the game of Snakes and Ladders—you fall back down from number seventy-eight to number twenty-three, and again have to climb up.¹ If you land on a ladder you climb to where the ladder ends, rising toward one hundred. If you land on the snake’s mouth you are bitten by the snake and go down to the end of the tail. You never know when you will touch a snake or a ladder.
      The higher you go, the more powerful you become, the more bounties God gives you, maintain humility. This is the next step after persistence. It will keep you safe. It will prevent your ego from “raising its hood,” like a cobra. Make issues impersonal. Avoid revenge. Forgive. This is the step of virtues, which safeguards your achievements. As in mountaineering, you have to make each step firmly in order to safely take the next step. Virtues, including humility, allow you to proceed on the path safely with stability. We call virtues dharma. Through dharma you achieve a good life of peace, no dearth, less ailments and fewer wants. Your mind will not crave too much if you follow dharma. It gives you a kind of withdrawal from mundane values, therefore you have less distractions and diversions. This is not the same as renunciation, which is for monastics. By following dharma you automatically reach the next step: concentration.