Om Swami
Can I overcome ego just through rituals, pilgrimage and japa?
Outer rituals without a changed heart
Pilgrimage is done so that our ego lessens. If the mala is turned but the heart stays the same, the same anger and ego remain.
The same: they kept turning the mala (prayer beads), but the heart did not turn. The heart stayed the same, with the same faults, the same anger, the same ego.