Ego is Maya

Ego alone the cause of bondage

VIJAY: "Sir, why are we bound like this? Why don't we see God?"

MASTER : "Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul.  This egotism has covered everything like a veil.  'All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.' If by the grace of God a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a Jivanmukta.  Though living in the body, he is liberated.  He has nothing else to fear.

"This maya, that is to say, the ego, is like a cloud.  The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud; when that disappears one sees the sun.  If by the grace of the guru one's ego vanishes, then one sees God.

"Rama, who is God Himself, was only two and a half cubits ahead of Lakshmana.  But Lakshmana couldn't see Him because Sita stood between them.  Lakshmana may be compared to the jiva, and Sita to maya.  Man cannot see God on account of the barrier of maya.  Just look: I am creating a barrier in front of my face with this towel.  Now you can't see me, even though I am so near.  Likewise, God is the nearest of all, but we cannot see Him on account of this covering of maya.