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What is the meaning of sádhu [saint]? Really sádhu means those in whose contact others become good. One is not a sádhu simply by wearing saffron dress. Those who have the capability of attracting others alone are sádhus. One can be a sádhu even in a suit.
There are many persons who have energy but do not work. They are lethargic. But there are also persons who work hard even if they do not have energy. They are persons who die working. This is very good. But better would be to work even while dying.
It is action that makes a man great. Be great by your sadhana, by your service and by your sacrifice.
Where mind is operative in a structure, that structure is controlled by the mind; but structures in which mind is not expressed are controlled and operated by the mind of the Supreme Being. A man, for instance, moves from this place to that place by his mind; but the wind blows, and water flows according to the dictates of the Cosmic Mind. The movements controlled by the Supreme Being are all from inanimate to animate, and from crude to subtle. In other words, they are movements towards God. We may say that the Supreme Being is drawing everything unto Himself.
Human beings are moved and guided by their own unit minds, but even here where matters of collective importance are concerned, they are not absolutely free – there the Macrocosm asserts Its mind.
When a man moves in a line opposite the pull of the Supreme Being, this is movement towards degradation. Movement is a must, whether it is towards progress or degradation – whether towards hell or supreme. Those animals and inanimate objects whose minds are not developed have no chance of being degraded since they have no choice of movement except in the direction of the Supreme. But man has the freedom of choice between progress and degradation.
If only the movement according to the will of the Supreme Being is movement towards progress, the question arises how to ascertain the desire of God. Man’s small mind, enclosed in a box of bones, is incapable of knowing the secrets of the Cosmic Mind. It is difficult to know the unexpressed desire of the Supreme Self. But wherever there is difficulty, the solution lies nearby. Every disease has a curative herb near the source of the disease itself.
Suppose you have to ascertain what Mr. X would like to eat – rasagollas or gulabjamun [two types of Indian sweets]. How would you know this? Being a gentleman he will not express his desire. And God is also a gentleman – His desires are not all on the surface. A villager may blurt out his desires, but a refined man will not – and God is refined.
But there is one way out. Start loving Mr. X and your minds will meet and you will know his desires. This is the path followed by the devotees. They love God and know His mind; they tune their minds in the same wave-length and direction.
The difference between a sádhaka and a philosopher is this: the sádhaka learns philosophy for the sake of convincing others, not for himself. He is content to love God.
Imagine a devotee and a philosopher being in a mango grove. The philosopher will start counting the trees, their branches, and the mangoes in the orchard. While he is thus wasting his time, the devotee is enjoying the sweet juice of the mangoes. The devotee says, “God is mine – I shall love Him and understand His will and act accordingly.”
Those who do not love God are also not completely free to act. They have to follow the Divine Will perforce. Some follow Him out of love, others out of fear. There is some element of fear in love also. My slightest mistake may pain the person I love, and hence this fear keeps me straight on the path of love. Man alone has the chance to follow God with love; other beings have to do so compulsorily.
Those who are afraid of God are not sádhakas. All want to avoid fear. God is fear to fear. All are afraid of the terrible – and God is a terror to the terrible. Thus being our enemy’s enemy, God is our best friend.
Movement is life. God is the movement of the innermost vital energy [prána]. If God removes himself, one will no longer exist.
Even if a boy says something logical, it should be accepted; and even if the lotus-born Brahma [the mythological creator of the universe] says something illogical it should be rejected like a straw.
God is one who purifies the purification. He is the Purity of the pure. People consider a dip in the Ganges as a purifying act. If this were true, the fish and animals who live in the Ganges would be the purest of beings, since they live 24 hours a day in the Ganges!
God lives in every heart, and He is the Purifier of purity. So all that you have to do to be pure is to search your heart, contact the Supreme Being there and be pure. Why need you go outside for purification??
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Power without devotion is a force leading to degradation. You should not forget that God is the source of all ultimate power. He can snatch your power from you in a minute. This body of yours wherein you are a tenant belongs to the Supreme Law. He can evict you in a moment, without prior notice.
Knowing oneself is the real knowledge, serving all with the ideation of God is the real action, and the vow to please God the real devotion.
Now this sádhaná which is sádhaná for complete merger, for unification, starts with fearful love. Love must be there. Unless and until there is love there cannot be unification. So love must be there but it starts with fearful love and ends in fearless love; and the space between fearful love and fearless love is the space of sádhaná. What is sádhaná? Sádhaná is the transformation of fearful love into fearless love.
When the devotional depth comes, love, too will be brimming with high sentiments, full and over-flowing. In that stage alone will come your final realization of the Supreme Consciousness. Where “I” is, “He” is not… where “He” is, “I” is not. Remember, devotion is the prerequisite of sádhaná. Maturity of devotion is love, and maturity of love is HE
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