Our sweetest oneness

God's Vision will not remain unfulfilled

_Question: We are seeing fighting in so many places now. How can we actually create peace on earth?__¹

_Question: How can we tell which leaders are really prepared to work and sacrifice for peace?_

_Question: Given the current political situation, do you believe peace is possible?_

_Question: Would you describe yourself as a peace-maker?_

Many people, out of their boundless compassion and affection, call me a man of peace. Today in public I am saying that if the world calls me a student of peace, then I will be the happiest person. I take myself as a student of peace, not as a man of peace — and ‘peace-maker’ is far beyond my concept. Only a student can learn. If I remain a student of peace, I will be the happiest and the proudest person. Only a student can learn. For him is the ocean of knowledge and the ocean of peace, the ocean of peace. We cannot swim across the ocean of peace overnight. It is not like the English Channel, twenty-two miles which we can swim across in a matter of hours. To swim across the ocean of peace takes many, many, many, many, many, many years.

I am a student of peace. If people call me a student of peace, I will be extremely, extremely grateful to them. Peace is an inexhaustible subject that has no limit, no limit, no limit. If I can be a student of peace, then I shall be able to learn. I shall be able to learn, and I shall be able to enter into each heart and see how sincere a cry each individual has in his heart or her heart to bring about world peace.

Devotion is pure divinity²

Again, even out of fear if you come, one day you will say, “Why am I thinking of undivine things? Since I am here inside the temple, let me think of pure thoughts, pure ideas. Let me think of a flower. Guru always tells us about the heart-garden. Let me think of a rose. Let me think of its beauty, let me think of its fragrance.” All of a sudden, one day if you are illumined, then every week you will be so eager to come. You will forget your other way, the wrong way, which was to come out of fear or embarrassment.

To all of you I am saying, love, devotion and surrender are all needed. If you do not have love, if you do not have surrender — which you definitely need — but if you have devotion, pure devotion, then inside your devotion, either today or tomorrow, in the near future or the distant future, you will see that your love is blossoming, your surrender is blossoming. Devotion is the magnetic power that holds you tight.

Your devotion and God’s Compassion go together. You may feel that your love can be misused, your surrender can be misused. Love can be demanding, and surrender can be also demanding. You may say, “If I surrender, what will happen? My surrender may be misused. And if I offer my whole existence to the spiritual life, what will happen?” Love can be misunderstood, surrender can be misunderstood. But devotion, if it is real devotion, can never be misunderstood.

If it is true devotion, it is purer than the purest, stronger than the strongest. When you offer devotion, immediately you feel it inside your heart, and you are bound to hear the sound of your own heartbeat. In your highest devotion, every time you breathe in and breathe out, you are bound to feel that your life-breath, your life-energy, is like the Ganges flowing, flowing, flowing towards the ocean.

Alas, some of the disciples have lost the magnetic power of devotion. From tomorrow, please try to increase your love, devotion and surrender to your spiritual life. Devotion is pure divinity, your own divinity. If I am one with your divinity, then you will feel my presence inside your devotion. You will offer your divinity to your spiritual life, to God, to the Supreme — and I shall be there. I shall be watching.

The devotion aspect is easier for women than for men. But men have proved that it can be done. Arjuna proved it; Lakshmana proved it; Lord Buddha’s Ananda proved it. Even in modern times, how Sister Nivedita showed devotion to her Master, Swami Vivekananda! In her devotion, her aspiring, self-giving devotion, she was offering drop by drop her blood, her very existence. That is why Swami Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita: one who has consecrated her very existence to God through her Master.

Only one Goal³

It is not a matter of thinking, it is not a matter of feeling; it is a matter of becoming. I hope that each and every disciple of mine wants to become my Transcendental Consciousness. That is my only hope.

Today I hope, and one day I will be able to dare to promise. I hope and I shall promise, that one day you will definitely grow into my Transcendental Consciousness. You will do it, either tomorrow or in the distant future, or in one of your future incarnations.

I may go perhaps one step ahead. If you become my Transcendental Consciousness, then there is no one, there is nothing, either in Heaven or on earth, that will not cherish your divinity. Your divinity will be cherished by the Absolute Highest. Perhaps my Transcendental Consciousness embodies the Highest.

Keep this as the only goal in your life: to grow into my Transcendental Consciousness. That is your only goal, your higher than the highest Goal. Forget about all the lesser goals. You can proclaim, “I have only one Goal, and that is my Guru’s highest Transcendental Consciousness. This is what I am aiming at, and this is my Guru’s hope. My Guru has implicit faith in me and he has promised to me that one day I will be able to grow into that absolutely highest Transcendental Consciousness of his.”

Keep this hope; keep this promise. Your hope will be fulfilled. Your promise will be fulfilled by the Absolute Supreme Himself.

Greatness, goodness and God-oneness⁴

Let us say that somebody has performed some great outer miracles. He is undoubtedly very great. As soon as we hear about his greatness, we get a kind of inspiration. Then, after some time we will say, “Who cares? I did not perform these miracles, so who cares?” Immediately we stop thinking about his greatness.

A prolific author is great. We may not have not written so many books, but so what? First we say that he is very great. But are we inspired to write thousands of poems and songs also? No, we are not getting any inspiration. Only the word “greatness” enters into our mind. We are ready to say, “Oh, he is great.” But does it last? Are we trying to start writing poems like him? No, no, no.

Shakespeare was a great poet. Perhaps we have read two or three poems of his. But do we want to be another Shakespeare? His greatness we can admire for some time, but do we really want to be another Shakespeare? No. We will say, “Enough!”

One can be great on the destructive side. Napoleon had greatness. But this greatness also does not last.

Let us now think of Socrates. Socrates’ quality was not greatness; it was goodness. Plato was great; Aristotle was great. But the goodness of Socrates will far surpass the greatness of Plato and Aristotle. And the goodness of Socrates will last infinitely longer.

Again, the time comes when even goodness we forget. We say to ourselves, “His goodness is doing nothing for me.” We may feel that even a spiritual Master’s goodness is doing nothing for us. Lord Buddha was so good and compassionate, and Lord Buddha was also great. But do we properly value him?

Let us take a Master and disciple: Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. In terms of goodness, Sri Ramakrishna far, far surpassed his disciple. Again, if we are talking about greatness, Swami Vivekananda came to America. He struck the drum so hard for God-manifestation. But do we properly value either the Master or the disciple?

In the inner world, goodness will always be adored and worshipped for a long time. But it does not last unless we value it. If we value goodness, then it becomes permanent. If we value Lord Buddha’s compassion, his goodness, then we shall try to be spiritual. We shall try to make our heart like Lord Buddha’s compassion-heart. Otherwise, as greatness has no value, even goodness has no value. Jesus Christ and Sri Krishna were divinely good. If we value them, if we pray to them and meditate on them, then their goodness remains alive. Otherwise, goodness also, in some respect, is very transitory.

A spiritual Master is good. For five minutes we will have devotion for him and love for him. Then we may not go farther. Greatness does not last even for two minutes, and goodness may last only for a day or two. But if we think of a spiritual Master’s compassion for a whole day, then inspiration will continue to carry us.

Greatness does not last more than a few minutes. We read a book and we say that it is great, and then it is over. Goodness will last a little longer, a day or two. Then goodness also goes away. But if we accept the spiritual life, and if we value goodness, it becomes a daily affair. Then we are aware every day that somebody was good, somebody was kind-hearted, somebody was compassionate — somebody like Jesus Christ or another spiritual Master.

Will Jesus Christ’s forty-five miracles actually make anybody spiritual? Everybody’s curiosity will be fed by his outer miracles. But for people who are really spiritual, when his heart of compassion said, “Let Thy Will be done,” that became the world’s greatest prayer. Like him, we should also say, “My Lord, I want Your Will to be fulfilled.” That prayer is immortal. Outer miracles the Christ did perform. But for those miracles will anybody enter into the spiritual life? Out of curiosity if some individuals want to enter into the Christ’s compassion-aspect to see his divinity, his real divinity, they can. But if anybody follows the Christ only because he performed forty-five extraordinary miracles in three years’ time, that person’s spiritual life will not last.

If people have joined a spiritual path or become disciples of a spiritual Master because the Master has performed miracles, their spiritual life will be very short-lived. Only people who value the inner life, who lead a real spiritual life of love, compassion and other divine qualities, will last. If they value their spirituality and keep it alive in their daily life-activities, then it is real.

Goodness definitely will last longer than greatness. But where will goodness last? Goodness will last in the heart of aspiring humanity. Otherwise, if an individual is not spiritual, then goodness is not going to be valued in his life. Jesus Christ came into the world, Lord Buddha came, Sri Krishna came. If one is not spiritual, he will say, “So what?” He will not value the spiritual Masters.

Lord Buddha moved from one place to another, every evening. He would give talks, and people were so moved, so moved. They all came to him. Then again, when another spiritual figure used to give a talk, everybody would go there. When the Lord Buddha gave talks, he collected absolutely hundreds and hundreds of listeners. But when somebody else gave talks, people all used to go to that person. They were not satisfied! They were like flies. If you put a little sugar here, they come here. And if you put a little sugar there, they go there. These seekers did not realise which individual was offering nectar. They did not realise which individual was more helpful to their spiritual life.

No other spiritual Master had the experience of the Lord Buddha. On the one hand, he was admired, adored and worshipped in his lifetime. Again, he was reviled so ruthlessly by some. The Lord Buddha got the most fragrant garland from humanity, and he also got solid stones. He got both in his life.

In general, goodness will always last longer than greatness in humanity’s life. I have written many books. Some say that I am a great man! But if people believe that I have realised God, then they are valuing my goodness. Do you not think that my goodness, my oneness with God, will last longer, infinitely longer than my books, my artwork and all my other creations? Thousands of people, millions of people will not read one single book of mine. But my name, as a spiritual Master, will one day cover the length and breadth of the whole world. At that time, from my very name, Sri Chinmoy, people will get a thrill. They may not read a single poem of mine.

When future generations go to an Indian village or anywhere else, they will see that people will recognise me. They will say, “Oh, he was a spiritual Master.” They may not read even one line out of my thousands of poems, but my spirituality, my divinity or my inner realisation they will value. As soon as they hear my name, they will not take me as a poet, as an artist, as a weightlifter or a runner — no! People will not pay attention to my outer activities. After a few hundred years, people will say, “Sri Chinmoy was a spiritual Master.” Everything will be based on faith, faith, faith.

Again, those who do not go to that height, who do not care for the spiritual life — like some university professors or others who remain in the intellectual world or in the mind — they can be satisfied with reading my writings. Those who want to remain in the artistic world will see my creations and appreciate them. But the real in me, which is my spirituality, my God-realisation, will cover the length and breadth of the world. Immediately my very name, like the names of the Saviour Christ, Lord Buddha, Sri Krishna, Sri Ramakrishna and all the true spiritual Masters, will be enough for spiritual people to know and feel what I stand for, what I am. Other things may even be discarded. You will see! You will be on earth for many years. You will see whether your Master is known more as an artist, as a poet, or as a spiritual figure.

The world is not yet ready to accept me as another spiritual Master of the highest height. That job is for the future generations. After twenty or thirty years, when I am in the other world, people will be more bold, and they will accept me as a spiritual Master. Right now, because my life-tree has so many branches, people are looking at the branches and they are very, very happy and pleased, but they do not want to see the actual tree, the trunk. The trunk is too much for them! One branch is enough for humanity to accept. Even the branches some may not accept, and the tree itself, the trunk, is too much.

Disciples at times remain silent about their Master’s divinity during the Master’s lifetime. Otherwise, they may become an object of ridicule. While Sri Ramakrishna was in the physical, if anybody said that Sri Ramakrishna was the greatest Avatar, people laughed and laughed. So much fighting went on! The disciples of other spiritual figures said, “Who are you to say? My Master is the highest!” Like that it went on and on.

Once the Master is no longer in the physical, you can say anything you like. At that time people are more apt to believe. When the Master is in the physical, people see his bald head. They may see him scolding his disciples. Again, some Masters remain practically invisible. Four times a year, for four seconds, they appear. What those Masters are doing the rest of the time, no one knows. But if the Master plays tennis and volleyball, and spends hours and hours with his disciples, it may be difficult, difficult to believe who he is.

A very divine trick⁵

This trick of mine is a very divine trick. Whenever I appreciate you, you will have to give a love offering of at least a dollar! With your little offering I will not become wealthy or immortal. But if it encourages you to remember the incident — that on such-and-such day you did the best meditation, or something else extraordinary — it will help you considerably.

When you are down, when your consciousness is low and you feel that you have no light, no light, just remember that special moment. Swami Vivekananda always said and I also say that, if you can remember the golden days when you are in the darkest depression, that memory will save you. First you become the victim, and then you become the saviour. You do not need another party to save you. Your own highest life can easily take care of your lowest life.

Alas, we give so much importance to our lowest. We forget that once upon a time we had the highest life.

Meditate before running⁶

Kindly try if possible to meditate for a minute. If that is too much, at least for half a minute invoke the Presence of the Supreme, and then run.

To both the boys and the girls I wish to say that if you are going to run, at least for half a minute pray and meditate.

The psychic beings are most beautiful⁷

The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram gave tremendous importance to the psychic being. About my sister Ahana’s psychic being, the Mother said very, very nice things.

Quite a few times I see the psychic beings, but in my case I usually do not give importance to them. They are so cute! They are like little children. As soon as they cry, either the soul will come or the Supreme will come, like a mother. A little baby is crying. God knows where it is crying, but the mother immediately comes. Similarly, when the psychic being cries, the soul or the Supreme comes.

I do see quite a few psychic beings. All of them cannot have the same beauty, but their beauty infinitely, infinitely surpasses the beauty of human beings. Here on earth, some people are more beautiful than others. In exactly the same way, the psychic beings, in comparison, are more beautiful than human beings. Naturally, it is a matter of individual opinion. But they are so beautiful, so beautiful, these psychic beings. They are extremely beautiful and charming, but they do not develop the power aspect. The soul develops the power aspect.

The psychic being likes to remain all the time cute, very cute, but we do not have to think of the psychic being. The psychic being is full of joy, full of delight, but I give more importance to the soul. That is why I always say, “Soul, soul!”

Hidden capacities⁸

Do not think that you are a bad actor. In informal, spontaneous performances, so-called bad actors give me abundant joy. When people forget their lines, they give me such joy. And when they say somebody else’s lines, and that person declares, “Those are my lines,” at that time also I get such joy!

Sometimes, the less you practise, the better. Spontaneous performances are so good!

I just plant a little seed. You have the capacity to cultivate it. First it becomes a tender plant, and then it turns into a huge tree with countless beautiful flowers and delicious fruits. See how you transform the little seed! The same thing we have to do in our spiritual life.

Only friend, best friends, fair-weather friends⁹

Among the fair-weather friends, there are some who are good. Among the fair-weather friends, there are some who are trustworthy. Again, there are some fair-weather friends who are simply horrible. As soon as they hear that you have done something good, inside them is a burning fire. Outwardly they smile, they congratulate you; but inwardly, jealousy kills them. Some will go to the length of tolerating your achievements, your loftiest achievements, while others — very few — have no jealousy, no insecurity. They say, “How I wish I could also do that! How I wish I could also shine like him!” Those friends are rare.

Always remember: the Supreme, the soul and the Master.

When it comes to the soul-friend and the Master-friend, they are delighted and excited by your achievements. They claim that your achievements are their own, whether they are right or not. When you do something great, I immediately claim your achievement as my own. Perhaps I am greedy, or perhaps I have established that kind of oneness with you, with your soul, heart, mind, vital and body. Of course, your soul is your possessor. The soul is stuck with the body, vital, mind and heart, and specially with the mind, vital and body. The poor soul is like the mother dragging the unruly children. Again, the soul definitely claims the achievements of the children.

From the Supreme we get our capacities, so He has to claim our achievements. When we do something extraordinary, it is because His unconditional Grace descends on us — “unconditional” is the right word. You may say, “Oh, I practised for hours, for days and months. How is it that I have to give credit to the Supreme?” But how were you able to practise for days and months? It was precisely because the Grace of the Supreme descended from Above and entered into you.

Unconditional Grace is like that. When we do something, we say, “I practised so hard for such a long time. Why do I have to give the credit to the Supreme?” But the fact is that we were able to practise, whereas others could not practise. They did not have the capacity to practise. The capacity that we have got has come undoubtedly from our Source, from the Supreme. Always we have to go to the Supreme as the Source of all the good qualities that we have, that we embody and that we are trying to reveal and manifest.

I always tell you that I am not your priest, but I am your oneness-heart and oneness-soul, oneness-soul. If you have bad qualities, if you have been doing something wrong, you know it. You write to me immediately and tell me, and I offer you my infinite compassion and affection. When you confess something, my love for you immediately increases, my concern for you immediately increases. I identify myself with you wholeheartedly. I am one with your so-called weaknesses, and I try to help you with all my heart, with all my soul, with my heart’s love for you, with my soul’s concern for you. You do not have to worry. When you say something, I am there to hear it. One person is there to be of service to you, to be of help to you, and that is your Master. When you tell me that you have done something wrong, you get more love from me, more concern and more oneness from me. You definitely feel that there is someone who is trying to help you, someone who is also struggling with your problems.

But if you have been doing something wrong for twenty years or thirty years or forty years, do not try to conquer it all at once. That will tell upon your health. It will disturb your mind. You may revolt and say, “How sincerely I tried to conquer this weakness! How is it that God has not cured me?” Then you may turn against God. Immediately your love for God will disappear, your devotion to God will disappear. Everything divine will disappear. For years and years you have been doing something wrong, and then you think that overnight God will cure you. But God has His own Hour. We human beings have ruined so many hours by doing something wrong. But God has His own Hour to save us.

In life it is always advisable to take the positive approach. We should say, “It could have been worse, it could have been worse. I could have been infinitely worse than I am now. Now I have stopped doing the wrong thing. I have now taken the right course. Before I was walking on and on along the wrong course, but suddenly I stopped.” If we have walked for years along a wrong course, and now we are walking on the right course that is a great consolation.

Again, if the thoughts and memories of the wrong course come to your mind, only try to decrease them, decrease them, decrease them. Always try to decrease negative thoughts little by little. Overnight if you want to conquer wrong forces, you can become practically insane. And what is worse, you may lose faith. You may say, “I cried and cried and cried to God to save me, to protect me, to illumine me, but He did not come!” God will say that He has His own Time. Then we revolt against God, because our desires are not fulfilled. We feel that we are sincere, and definitely we are sincere. When the farmer sows the seed, is he not sincere? But if he expects that the following day the seed will germinate and immediately he will get a bumper crop, it is absurd.

God has His own Time to cure us, but we have to walk along the right path. Otherwise, our sincerity lasts for only one day, and then we revolt against God, we do not think of God, and finally we give up the spiritual life. All this happens out of frustration. We want to become good, but by hook or by crook we cannot become good. It is by loving God more, by loving spirituality more, by loving ourselves more, that we can become good. If we love ourselves more, we shall have to care for the lotus or rose within us. The lotus petals or rose petals should not be destroyed. Overnight we must not try to conquer all the wrong forces.

If you have been taking tea and coffee for years and years and you want to stop, then gradually you can decrease the quantity. You are spiritual people, so you do not smoke, you do not drink. But let us say that you take coffee eight or ten times a day. Some people do it — otherwise they do not get inspiration! Just decrease, decrease the number of times.

Like that, anything negative that you see inside yourself, just decrease, decrease. One day it will all be gone, gone. But do not try to overcome weaknesses overnight. As we do not collect divine power, divine love and divine blessings overnight, even so it is not possible to get rid of negative qualities overnight. Slowly, steadily and confidently we have to go forward. The fact that you are on the spiritual path is something most significant. Many have given up. Always be proud of yourself that you are still on the path. That is the right track.

As long as you are on the spiritual path, you are on the right track. Slowly you can go forward. Some people can run fast, some faster, some fastest. Others are going slowly, but their destination is also secure. Your destination is secure. To all my spiritual children I am saying, your destination is secure if you are on the path. If you are not on the path, at that time you become your own boat, you become your own goal. But now you are the journey, you are the pilgrim. And your Goal is destined, destined.

Again and again I am advising you to be very careful. Do not mix with the negative forces. Do not bring poison into your system. God has enemies. The sun has enemies. The moon has enemies. Everybody has enemies! But if we pay attention to our enemies, then we are only weakening ourselves. We are only going away from our own divinity. If someone is speaking ill of your path or ill of your Master or ill of your spiritual life, absolutely avoid that person. Take it as a serious spiritual mistake to mix with negative forces. Do not burden yourself with this kind of mistake.

Again I am coming back to the subject of friends. Your only Friend is the Supreme. Your best friends are your own soul and your Master. These best friends will always think of you as their own, very own. Every moment they are carrying you, carrying you to the Highest, to the Absolute Supreme. And I see that among ordinary friends also there are categories. Some friends can be very good, very good at times. Again, tomorrow jealousy may come, insecurity may come. A friend can be a victim to those weaknesses. You also may be a victim to jealousy and insecurity. As I have been saying for the last thirty years, when you feel that you are down, when you are low in spirit, speak to a friend, to someone who is in a high consciousness. And if the other person goes down, then you will help him.

One day a disciple said to me, “Guru, someone is telling me please, please to pray for him. He is not doing well. Now what shall I do?”

I said, “You see, he has such faith in you, such love for you! The very fact that he has told you means that he has now got such strength. You will give him more strength, and nothing will happen to him. He has told you, and you have told me.” Now that disciple is doing very, very well. It was not that he knew his friend would tell me about his problem — far from it! But he felt that his friend would help his present situation. His friend has a very, very good heart. His friend told me the story, so I said, “You do not have to worry. You have told me. Now both of us will give him strength.” And that person is doing so well now.

But when you see that a friend of yours has descended, you have to be very careful. Somebody may descend spiritually and ask you for help. If you are his friend, then you are the right person. Again, somebody may descend and try to take you away from the spiritual life. That individual is descending and trying to take one or two more persons with him. You have to be so careful. When somebody is descending and asking for your help, you are the right one to help. But if he is not asking — on the contrary, if he is descending and trying to take you away from the spiritual life — then he is only trying to justify his action.

Recently a disciple descended and wanted to take somebody else away from the path. Luckily, a family member of the second person took the side of spirituality, and he became furious at the culprit. His concern saved his relative’s spiritual life. Again, when someone descends, you have to see whether that person needs your help or wants your help. Instead of taking your help, that person may be trying to take you away. In that case he will say, “I am leaving, so you also come with me.” You have to be very careful! That kind of friendship you do not need. Please see if the person needs your help to stay on the path. Do not keep the friend who is trying to recruit you to leave the path because he says the path is not good, the Master is not good.

In this particular case, one disciple gave up the spiritual life, and his friend was suffering. Luckily, that friend had a family member who absolutely took the side of spirituality. Now the one who was struggling when his friend descended is so grateful.

You have to be sure that there is no harm involved. If somebody needs your help, he may say, “Save me, save me, save me!” But if the person does not need your help — on the contrary, if he is trying to take you down — then you are digging your own grave if you mix with that person. Of course, for him it is not a matter of going “down”; he only wants to take you away. Always think of the friend who is lifting you up, and whom you are in a position to lift. You have the capacity to help him because that particular friend needs your help, and you feel there is no harm. This is called mutual help.

If somebody is trying to take you away from your spiritual life in the name of giving you good advice, immediately kick the idea and kick the person out of your mind. Friends who are in our boat, who are in our family, are real friends. Among those if some are struggling and need your help, go to help them. But while struggling if they decide to give up the spiritual life and they want you to join them, then you are absolutely the wrong person, wrong person, wrong person. You have to save yourself. You came here to take advice from me, and not to take advice from others. Good people will be on earth to save those who are struggling to remain on the path. Alas, there will be some who decide to join the negative party.

You have to be very, very selective. Be careful in choosing your friends, because so-called friends can take you into the abysmal abyss.

Again, friends can lift you high, higher, highest, and you can do the same for them. If you are a good disciple, you will carry your friend to his own highest.

Today I am speaking so much about friendship, friendship, friendship. You have to see where you stand with regard to your friends. Today’s friend can tomorrow become your worse than the worst enemy. Millions of sad stories we know. Again, on rare occasions, enemies become friends. Enemies become friends once in a blue moon. But friends easily become enemies. Every second we hear those stories. We cannot make any comparison between friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends. In your own life, you will see how many friends have deserted you and gone out of your life, and how many so-called enemies have become friends. Alas, there is no comparison! To get one enemy to become your friend is the most difficult task. But friends can immediately change — immediately.

At what point you may lose a friendship, you have no idea. Do something very good, and see how jealousy comes into the picture, insecurity comes into the picture. Then, immediately, friendship disappears. You are marching and running, marching and running fast, faster, fastest towards your goal, and you thought that your friends would appreciate and admire you. Alas, instead of appreciating you, they may start deserting you. Be very careful with friends, very, very careful. Smiling, without offering any concern or taking any responsibility: that, everybody can do.

The time has come for our lotus to blossom¹⁰

Dear ones, sometimes it is really, really good to be sincere to oneself. Now, what will you do? On a regular basis you should run. Please remember, you are making a promise to your Master, so there should be some sincerity involved. We shall have our cut-off time, but if you have friends to handle you, to take care of you, you will have no problems. Six-thirty-three is my worst marathon time, so I am giving you one more hour.

The first time if we can have seven hundred runners, I will be thrilled! Seven hundred people if we can get for our first attempt, then gradually we shall become very well known. Participants from the running world will see our treatment in comparison with the treatment they receive at some other races. Our treatment will be excellent in every way! We shall give the runners the utmost attention and concern.

With me, in me, for me¹¹

Please stay here for a few days. Receive something from me and assimilate it. Then you can go out for sightseeing. But to come here and then go immediately for a whole day — that is too much. It is a painful experience for me when you do not value my presence.

There are disciples who have been with us for thirty years or more who belong to the small percentage who are fast asleep, fast asleep. They are in my boat, but they do not realise that they are fast asleep on my path. Some disciples are wholeheartedly with me and wholeheartedly for me. Again, many are with me, but they are not wholeheartedly for me, I know. And some are fast asleep. They have been on our path from one year to thirty-five years. These kinds of disciples I have.

Ask yourself where you stand. Millions of things are happening. Some people are siding with negative forces, and yet they are pretending to be good seekers. A God-realised person can never, never be fooled, but he pretends that he is fooled, he is fooled. Who is with me? Who is for me? Nobody else knows better than I do, but please do not try to fool me. Be sincere to yourself.

Always, always, there are so many enemies inside our own heart, inside our mind, inside our body. Why do we need more enemies? Those inner enemies we are trying so hard to get rid of. Shall we welcome negative forces from the outside world? Please make it a point to avoid those negative forces. People who are criticising the spiritual life, no matter who they are, in the tug-of-war are not with us.

Again, it may happen that some former disciples will prove — not now, but eventually — that they have been unimaginably faithful to me. “Unimaginably” is the right word. They will come forward.

This is my request to you all: either be wholeheartedly with me and wholeheartedly for me, or know where you stand. Obedience, obedience! If I request you all not to do something, some of you will feel, “No, I am allowed, I am allowed.” But if you are on the path, every day and every moment I expect obedience from you. Please see if you want to please me every second, in every aspect of your life.

In the outer world, in your outer life, if you cannot please me, are you going to please me with your inner life, with your thoughts? It is so difficult to control the mind! Inner obedience is extremely difficult — much more difficult than outer obedience. If you cannot please me with your outer obedience, how can I ever expect that you will please me with your inner obedience? It is absurdity.

This boat is mine. I am the owner of the boat, I am the boat and I am the boatman. Do not indulge in undivine friendships. Spiritual people have infinitely more important things to do on earth. Our whole life is founded upon peace, but so many problems are threatening the whole world. Who is responsible? God alone knows, God alone knows.

If you are with me, be one hundred per cent with me, with your prayers and meditations. To all of you I am saying, if you wish to remain on our path, please be wholeheartedly with me and for me.

Give value to your devotedness, your faithfulness to your Master. If you leave the path, you can have another Master, another life. Then you can be devoted to that life. But as long as you are going to stay with me for even one minute more, be inwardly and outwardly for me, wholeheartedly.

Again, some disciples are wholeheartedly with me and wholeheartedly for me. Other disciples fool themselves by thinking that they are extraordinary. They always think that they are first-class, but they do nothing, nothing, nothing. They are only fooling themselves.

Please judge yourself. See if you are among my first-class disciples. If you use your heart, not your mind, your heart will definitely tell you if you are third-class, fast asleep. If you pray and meditate sincerely and ask your heart which category you belong to, your heart will tell you if you are third-class, fast asleep, no matter when you joined the path. If you are only with me physically, but not wholeheartedly for me, then you are in the next category, those whom we call fair-weather friends. Again, there are a few people who are super-excellent, who are really for me. Some are super-excellent, some are sleeping, and quite a few are fair-weather friends.

If you want to be in my boat, twenty-four hours a day be with me, in me and for me. Otherwise, the wrong forces may take you away in the twinkling of an eye.

Mine is nothing but a tiny world, but this world of ours is very, very vast. Some spiritual people are on earth, some spiritual Masters are on earth. How hard we are trying to save this earth-planet, only God knows.

Scientists and God¹²

Some scientists believe in God, but scientists who do not believe in God are more in number. One of my early supporters, whom I call my dearest sister, lives in Minneapolis. Her second or third husband was a scientist. He did not believe in God — not at all! But he said that when he and I were talking, he did believe in God. When I was not there, he did not believe in God; but when he looked at my eyes, he believed in God. The moment he was not with me, he did not believe in God!

Obedience means God-importance¹³

When you obey me, you transport me immediately to the highest realm of bliss. The gardener always hopes that there will be some roses! Today I said that God counts only the flowers in my heart-garden, and I measure my boundaries.

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My Lord counts only

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Here and there, East, West, North and South, I measure my boundaries, while God only counts the flowers in my heart-garden. In my small heart-garden He expects a few beautiful, most beautiful flowers.

I can talk for hours and hours and hours like a beggar to inspire you and lift up your consciousness so that you will listen to my request. I take you to Heaven with inspiration, encouragement and enthusiasm. Alas, the moment I make a simple request, what happens? Some people cannot fulfil my simple requests. They say, “Oh, if you ask me something more difficult, infinitely more difficult, then I will do it.” At that time they feel that they will be able to show the world their obedience!

Let us say that I ask a disciple to bring me a glass of water, but he says, “You are a spiritual Master. You need flowers. My devotion will increase if I bring you flowers, not if I bring you a glass of water.” If I am thirsty, at that time I do not need the beauty and fragrance of a flower!

Some disobedient disciples make the world feel that they are very, very, very close to me. They try to convince the rest of the world that they are my most obedient disciples. And there are many who believe them. Many, many believe that these people are my best, most obedient disciples.

I talk and talk and talk to some disciples to convince them to do the right thing. But it is like trying to straighten the tail of a dog. You hold it; you straighten it. Then, the moment you release it, it goes back to its original shape. You can hold it for hours and then say, “Now that I have held it for so many hours, it will remain straight.” But alas, it does not.

Once we lose obedience, it is very, very, very, very difficult to get it back. Other things if we lose, we may get them back sooner or later. But once we break our obedience, it is almost impossible to bring it back. It may take years and years to regain obedience. Again, if a disciple is one with the Master’s will, it is easier than the easiest to have obedience.

In every way, when the Master speaks, he can be misunderstood. If the Master asks someone to sweep the floor, and he asks someone else to bring him a beautiful flower, the one that is bringing the flower thinks the Master is being very clever. He thinks, “The Master is teaching the disciple who is sweeping the floor humility, so he will make faster progress. Then I will be behind him.” At the same time, the one who is sweeping thinks, “I am useless. That is why the Master has given me this job, to sweep the floor. That person is so pure and so spiritual. That is why the Master asked him to bring a flower. I am farther than the farthest from the Master. I am lower than the lowest. This is all I can do: sweep.” Again, at the very same time the other person is thinking, “That disciple is making such progress because the Master is giving him the humility-lesson.”

What can you do? Everybody can misinterpret. To interpret means to misinterpret the Master’s way of thinking.

There are some disciples here who have overcome Himalayan obstacles to be with their Master on the Christmas Trip. Some disciples had to borrow money. They begged their relatives to give them money or lend them money, and the relatives were kind. Look at these disciples! They wanted to come here to be with their Master, to spend hours and hours with their Master. They value their Master’s outer presence, while others are enjoying the pleasures of wealth. Perhaps they cannot be here because there is too much light!

A great man once wrote that he is not afraid of darkness; he is afraid of light. Can you imagine that? He said that he is afraid of light, not of darkness. When I read it four or five years ago, I said, “It is so true!” Some people are terribly afraid of light. They are not afraid of darkness because they are already inside darkness, whereas light is something new. They get frightened by light. Something new frightens us, but if something is old, we have long been associated with that old thing, so we do not have to be afraid of it. Others, who are dying to have an iota of light, get frightened when they see darkness. For them it is just the opposite.

I call Paree’s group a children’s group. I take you as children because many of your parents are with us. You are my grandchildren, because your parents are on the path. We had many years ago a question-and-answer book with children who came to the path with their parents. These children were four years old, six years old, eight years old. Alas, alas, some of them have left us. It is very difficult to remain in the light. Again, some disciples have been with me for so many years, but do they have a glimpse of who I am? Perhaps no one will ever have a glimpse of who I am.

Always keep your promises. If you break them, start again to keep them. If you promise to get up at six o’clock, and you do not get up, tomorrow try again. Tomorrow is coming again and again. If you find it difficult today, start again and again and again. Once you give up, the story is finished. The same applies to obedience also. The best thing is to obey, obey. But if you have forgotten to obey, then immediately wake up, wake up, wake up! Do not wait for tomorrow. When you disobey your Master, do not wait for tomorrow. Immediately, immediately, immediately rectify the situation.

_Question: Guru, I know you say that outer obedience is much easier than inner obedience. Do you feel that disciples should be able to develop obedience to you in their thoughts and feelings immediately if they really want to make their life totally for the Supreme?_

Inner obedience is so difficult. The Master is telling you, “Conquer your jealousy, conquer your insecurity!” Early in the morning you promise that you will not be insecure. Alas, alas, the first person you see makes you feel insecure, because that person has done something special. Jealousy, insecurity and all the other undivine qualities go together. They belong to the same family. How difficult it is to conquer these inner weaknesses! Outer weaknesses are easier, much easier, to conquer.

Disobedience means self-importance — nothing else. Obedience means God-importance. Disobedience can be defined in one word: self-importance. Again, obedience is God-importance. Obedient people say, “God is more important in my life than my own opinion of myself.” As soon as somebody disobeys the Master, that person is more important than the Master in his own life. Let us start with outer obedience. If we can do the easier thing, we get joy and we get the capacity to do the more difficult thing.

How nicely you all have written about obedience and disobedience! How mature you are in writing about the world of obedience and disobedience! They say poets have no character. They fly and fly with their words, but when reality comes, they cannot even walk. Now let us see if you can practise what you have written. You have said such nice things! All are nice, and some are so good. If you can practise what you have written, then the God-realisation-door is wide open.

Never hate anything, never hate anybody¹⁵

Never hate anything. Never hate anybody. If you hate someone, then all his bad qualities will enter into you. The best thing is only to see the good qualities in human beings. The bad qualities if you see today, tomorrow they will come into you secretly. Then they will devour you.

Again I wish to say, never, never speak ill of others. Alas, we human beings speak ill of others, and then we suffer.

An antidote to jealousy-snakebite¹⁶

The answer is to establish oneness, oneness, oneness. If the affected party had established oneness, there would have been no problem. But jealousy started. What can you do when the problem has been going on for some time?

If you are very conscious, you will see that even the fingers are jealous of each other, the eyes are jealous of each other. If one eye has better vision, the other one becomes jealous. They do not want to work together, but they are forced to work together. If you concentrate on your little finger, your thumb and all the other fingers, you will see that there is subtle jealousy in your own fingers. They are like a family. The sisters and brothers live together, but one is jealous of the other. This is life.

Oneness, oneness, oneness!

Frustration is such a bad disease¹⁷

Frustration can be so dangerous! It gets malicious pleasure by harming others, causing trouble for others. Frustration is nothing but self-torture — that is to say, it starts as self-torture. Then it goes to other human beings as well. It is simply torture, torture, torture.

The esraj is the source¹⁸

Although I played harmonium before, I claim the esraj to be my most favourite instrument.

Spiritual music and singing "The Invocation"¹⁹

Every year at Christmas time, I am offering hundreds of new songs. And I sing every day between seventy and one hundred songs. Fifty-nine songs I sing at a stretch, and then again I sing at different times. There is not a single day that passes without my singing up to one hundred songs. I am telling you the truth! And every day I sing “The Invocation,” always. I wonder how many of you sing “The Invocation” daily? Alas, there are many who do not sing “The Invocation.” In my case, I play and sing.

Those who are not singing “The Invocation,” kindly do so every day by ten o’clock in the morning. That is our mantra. You do not have to carry the tune properly, as long as you know the words. You are invoking most soulfully and most seriously our Lord Beloved Supreme. Those who are not doing it regularly, kindly start doing it. Do not miss, do not miss. Whether you meditate or not, kindly sing “The Invocation.” And “The Invocation” has to be sung in front of your shrine.

Also, please sing “My Lord Beloved Supreme” every day. If you can sing both “The Invocation” and “My Lord Beloved Supreme” one after another, I will be very happy. By ten o’clock in the morning, please sing “The Invocation,” and if you cannot sing “My Lord Beloved Supreme” at that time, then during the day please sing it.

You do not have to be a good singer. Far from it! You can recite it.

I do not miss one day.

Value your spiritual name²⁰

I give spiritual names. To me, they have a very special value. Those who have got spiritual names have to take their names as soulfully, as devotedly and as sacredly as possible. I gave each of you the name. I meditated on your soul. I do not want this spiritual name to be desecrated.

To my great sorrow, some disciples are not abiding by my request. I gave them spiritual names. Some of them received their spiritual names twenty or thirty years ago, perhaps, but now their spiritual names are not being used. Hundreds and hundreds of disciples are crying inwardly and outwardly to receive spiritual names. If the spiritual names that I have given you are not used, and you use your old names or some endearing names, this I cannot accept. Endearing terms you can use in your private life, at home. You can call your family members anything you like at home. Use these endearing terms in your heart, but not outwardly, in public.

Again and again I have been telling you all that there is no such thing as insignificant disobedience. You can write it down on the tablet of your heart in golden letters: “There is no such thing as insignificant disobedience.” This so-called insignificant disobedience — you will perhaps call it very insignificant — may lead to your departure from the spiritual life. We have seen that many excellent, super-excellent disciples over the years have left the path because of disobedience.

You can do whatever you want to do at home with your family members. If your parents or your dear ones have a different name for you at home, who is going to know? At home what they are calling you secretly, we cannot change. But in public, you have to be very careful. In public, your parents and your brothers and sisters who are disciples have to call you by your spiritual name. You have to value your spiritual name. You cannot modify spiritual names or create your own names. I am telling each and every disciple here and elsewhere, please, please, if you have a spiritual name, never use a different name.

If your parents or your brothers and sisters are not disciples, or if you have friends who are not disciples, they have every right to call you by your previous name. They are under no obligation to call you by your spiritual name. Anybody who is not a disciple can definitely call you by your original name. But if your parents or other relatives are disciples, then they should not call you by a different name in public.

I have shown you over the years infinite affection, love, sweetness and fondness, but if you cannot abide by my express request, what can I say? This strictness is absolutely necessary.

It is easier than the easiest to call people by their spiritual names. Please do not desecrate your spiritual name, the one that I have given you.

Work together, together, together²¹

Whenever I make someone the leader of a project, if you are willing to work happily, cheerfully, proudly and self-givingly under that individual, I get boundless joy and pride. Today, under the direction of one particular individual you have worked, and I am so grateful. For different projects, when you work under other leaders, I am also extremely grateful.

In every field there is a leader. Unfortunately, it happens that, when we make someone a leader, some others — not all — do not want to work happily, cheerfully, proudly and self-givingly. This is a very painful experience for me. But whenever you work very happily, cheerfully, proudly and self-givingly under the leadership of someone whom I have chosen, it gives me boundless hope, boundless joy and boundless divine pride. I feel that here we do have a oneness-family, a oneness-heart-family. This is what we need. This is what the entire world needs: a oneness-heart-family. And we are trying to create that oneness-heart-family.

All of you kindly work together, together, together. In every field, in everything that we do, there is a leader. The actual Leader is the Supreme, our Lord Beloved Supreme. We are His mere instruments. But on the physical plane there should be someone to guide us, to help us, to inspire us. When we abide by his requests, then we do fulfil the Vision of our Lord Supreme.

In this rain, so many people worked! Perhaps it was a very difficult task. But we are always aiming at doing difficult tasks, difficult tasks. Then only can we value our achievement. Otherwise, if everything is easy, like drinking water, then nobody values it. But to climb up the Himalayas is the most difficult task, and we do value it.

I am very, very grateful to you all. Those who have worked tirelessly, please forgive me if I have not mentioned your names. Do not think that I am deliberately ignoring you! It is just that your names are not coming to my mind. I do know that there are many, many who are working very selflessly in various ways. These last few days all the Aspiration-Ground servers have worked so hard, so hard, so hard. Each one deserves my very special blessings and very special gratitude, and specially one individual. That individual has worked very, very hard to overcome some unfortunate experiences.

All those who have served the Supreme in me sincerely, soulfully and self-givingly definitely deserve my boundless love and my boundless gratitude, gratitude and gratitude.

Start practising right from tomorrow!²²

Please start practising right from tomorrow. Now you can run two or three miles each day. Do it! Daily you can run or walk two, three or four miles, and once a week seven miles. Then, after the second month, from seven miles once a week you can try to increase it to ten miles. After another month you can bring it to thirteen miles. Once a week if you can complete thirteen miles, after four months you will be qualified. After thirteen miles you will have the strength, stamina and energy to run fifteen or sixteen miles.

The last four months of the year, you will try to do sixteen miles or seventeen miles once a week. You do not have to run twenty-six miles before the marathon. A maximum of seventeen to eighteen miles if you practise during the last four months, you will be able to do a marathon.

Once a week take rest, either Saturday or Sunday or any day you choose. And one time if you can do twenty-two miles, you will be ready, I assure you.

I am saying this from my personal experience. I may have been slow in running the marathon, but I was able to finish it, except perhaps once or twice. You people are quite young and energetic. Right now you can do this! Two miles, three miles or four miles you can complete daily, and once a week from now on try to run seven miles. If you are capable of running three miles or four miles almost every day, then seven miles easily you can do. I will be very, very happy. It will give me such joy if from seven hundred participants we can eventually go to 1,300 — and at least one thousand next year.

Only very good runners need to think of their timing. So-called bad runners should just think of finishing the race. But remember what your previous time was, and try to make it one minute better. If you did the marathon in seven hours this time, try next year to do it in 6:59.

At least one Indian disciple has to run! And if there are four or five members in a family, I would like at least one member to run the race. To my greatest joy and highest pride, all the members of one big family participated. And in another family, mother, sister and brother ran. I do not know if all the members of any other family ran.

The marathon was so beautiful, so peaceful! Mother Nature was so kind to us. There could not be a better, more ideal situation than this one. It was so nice, absolutely! The weather was super-super-excellent. The servers were super-super-excellent. The organisation was super-super-excellent. Everything was super-super-excellent. I was there for six or seven hours, and I was enjoying the panorama of nature’s beauty immensely. There we saw water. Water means life-energy. And there we saw sky-vastness. Everything gave me absolutely unimaginable joy. Again, this joy came mainly from your participation.

So, dear ones, practise, practise!

My universal heart²³

Austerity versus wisdom²⁴

What good does austerity do? If I want to go to God, shall I cut off my legs and say, “See how much I love You, God! See, I have cut off my legs! Without legs I am coming to You.” God will say, “Why did I give you legs?”

God has given us air. Some people meditate while practising severe breath control. God will say, “Why did I give them air? Why did I create things that are not going to be used?”

In every aspect of life God says, “Be normal, be natural. Be normal and natural. Then go forward, go forward, go forward and enter into the divine life.”

Not by cutting off our legs, not by practising austerity shall we go forward. Those days in the Himalayan caves belong to the past. Those austerities do not apply now.

Sri Ramakrishna said, “You have to cross the water. The boat is in the water, but the boat is not affected by the water.” The boat is carrying people across the water. The boat will not sink. Do we need to go under the water in order to prove that we care so much for our destination? No! Wisdom saves us by telling us to enter into the boat.

Again, wisdom may tell us, “Recite this prayer fifty times or seventy times once a year.”²⁵ But it may happen that even that we cannot do! Then God says, “I need a special kind of yoga for these people.” He is simplifying, simplifying and simplifying the course to the extreme, but we want more simplification. God is so kind to us. He has already simplified the game for us to such an extent. Even so, He says, “All right, all right, you people are not serious enough in your spiritual life, but at least do this much.” Even that if we do not do, God says, “I shall have to create another course for you that is easier than the easiest!”

God-devotion, God-realisation²⁶

My Guru is my Lord Beloved Supreme. Your Guru is the same Guru, the Lord Beloved Supreme. Everybody’s Guru is the Lord Beloved Supreme. The Guru of the entire Universe is the Lord Beloved Supreme. From our soulful and prayerful songs, we come to learn how to increase our devotion to our Absolute Lord Beloved Supreme.

No God-devotion, no God-realisation. No God-devotion, no God-realisation. No God-devotion, no God-realisation.

Synthesizer-joy²⁷

Usually people speak about freedom of speech. Now I wish to speak about freedom of performance. I have enjoyed this performance far beyond my own imagination. I happen to be a poet, and poets have a free access to the imagination-world. But today my performance has far surpassed my imagination. I enjoyed it very, very much, very much!

I count this performance as my masterpiece. The joy that I felt while playing was unparalleled. Immensity’s joy I felt while playing, and now also, while I am listening.

I shall inform our Centres that whenever they have Joy Days, they should play this synthesizer performance of mine. They will have real joy! I will be happy if all the Centres can have a copy. Then they can play it once a month.

Joy, joy!

Inner blessings are of paramount importance²⁸

Inwardly I have blessed everybody. Unfortunately, this year I could not observe outwardly the birthdays of many, many disciples, and some of them are very close to me. Their hearts have to forgive me, because their souls know how much I love them, how much I care for them. So many disciples had birthdays recently. I could not observe them outwardly because I am dealing with so many problems.

There are many, many disciples and many dear ones whose birthdays I could not observe outwardly. Do not feel sad, do not be upset if I have not been able to observe your birthdays outwardly.

Inner blessings are of paramount importance. Inner blessings, inner love, inner affection and concern — these are the most important things. They are infinitely more important than the outer blessings you get when you are standing in front of me and we are singing the birthday song for you.

All the branches of the life-tree²⁹

This moment, music-world; next moment, wrestling-world; the following moment, spiritual world. The birds fly from one branch of the tree to another. Flying gives birds tremendous joy. Like the birds, we shall never remain always on the same branch of the life-tree.

The life-tree has many, many, many, many branches. With our aspiration and dedication, we shall be covering all the branches of life. We shall have to nourish them and give them joy. We shall have to make them feel that we are always ready to be part and parcel of all the branches of the life-tree.

These branches make us not only perfect, but also complete, complete, complete in every sense of the term.

Human freedom and divine freedom³⁰

When God gives us freedom, alas, we may misuse it. We may not use it in a divine way. We may bring about all kinds of problems, unnecessary sufferings and misunderstandings. Everything negative we may invoke.

About a year ago I composed a song called, “Give Me No Freedom.”³¹

That song I really want you to sing. You are holding meditations here twice a week. Wednesday is your most important day. “The Invocation” is, of course, compulsory for all my disciples to sing. Towards the end of your Centre meditation, please sing “Give Me No Freedom.” The message of this song is, “O Lord Supreme, do not give us freedom, do not give us freedom! If You give us freedom, then we shall feel that You do not care for us. But if You do not give us freedom, O Lord, then we shall know that You claim us to be Your own.”

When we tell God not to give us freedom, God is very pleased with us. God says, “You really care for My Way of life, My Way of life!” If God wants us to run, we will run and run and run. If God wants us to sleep, we will sleep. If God wants us to swim, we will swim. Whether God asks us to sit down or stand up, we know that to execute God’s Will is our freedom.

One freedom is to separate myself from God and then make my own choice. I separate myself from Him and I lord it over others. Another freedom says, “No, I want to cling to You, my Lord Supreme! I want to cling to Your Feet. I want to be Your own, only Your own.” With that freedom also I am making a choice. With one choice, I am going away from God. My mind is taking me away from God so that my mind can rule the world. The other freedom is divine freedom. I have made the decision. I have made the choice: “My Lord, I want to be Your own, I want to be Your own! Please accept me as Your own. Consciously, sleeplessly, I want to feel You as my own.” That is my divine choice.

The divine choice is coming from my heart. The other choice is coming from my mind. The mind says that if I can get a little freedom, then I can do whatever I want to do. And what do I do? I do everything wrong, everything wrong! I create more and more problems for myself when I use my freedom in my own way. But if I can use my freedom to become inseparably one with God’s Will, then God says, “You are mine.” If He asks me to do something, I will do it.

When we please God in His own Way, we get real joy. When we please ourselves in our own way, temporarily, for one day or for ten days, we get a kind of joy. But deep inside our heart we shall feel miserable. Our heart is so pure, so pure. It is all for God. We will say, “Why did I exercise my freedom in my own way? That is absolutely wrong!” Once we enter into the spiritual life, at every moment we have to say, “God, Your Way is the only Way. God, Your Way is the only Way.”

Our God is the Supreme. It is the same God, but I like the term “Supreme” much more than the term “God.” It is the same in our human life. When the child sees his mother and father, he calls them Mama and Papa, and they get tremendous joy. Somebody else will call them Mr. and Mrs. In the same way, one person addresses you in one way, a second person in a different way and a third person in another way. Each one has a way of approaching you and calling you. Similarly, each person has to get joy by calling God in his own way.

I am your teacher, your Guru. I feel that when I say “Supreme,” I get much, much more joy than when I use the term “God,” but it is the same Person, the same Being. Since you are my disciples, when you pray I would like you to say, “Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme.” All your prayers and meditations have to be for the Supreme. Everything has to be for the Supreme. You are offering your prayers and meditations to Him. At times if you want to say, “Guru, Guru,” immediately your prayer will go to the Supreme. I cannot keep anything! If you say, “Guru,” your prayer will go directly to the Supreme. And if you pray directly to the Supreme, using the term “Supreme, Supreme,” I will be very happy.

Again I am speaking about the freedom of becoming one with God. This is my choice. If I use my mind, my choice will be separation from God. I want to lord it over the world. I want this; I want that. That is our human freedom. The divine freedom is also my choice, and my choice is that I shall be always faithful, devoted and surrendered to God’s Will. That is my divine freedom. I have to choose. I can choose ignorance, or I can choose knowledge, wisdom. When I choose God to guide me, to shape me, to mould me in His own Way, then I make the right choice.

If we make the wrong choice, using the mind, then after two weeks or two years we shall feel miserable. We shall say, “What have I done, what have I done? I have gone so far away from my God, from my Lord Beloved Supreme.” Once again when we are awakened, the Supreme comes and takes us as His own, very own. But why should we make that deplorable mistake at the beginning of our life? No, no, no! Always we should surrender, surrender to God.

I always say that divine surrender is not the surrender of a beggar or a slave. The slave surrenders to the boss. Why? If he does not surrender, then he will suffer. If the boss discards him, then he has no way to stay on earth, to meet with his material needs. But divine surrender is offered out of love. God does not compel us to love Him, whereas an ordinary human being may compel us to surrender to him. God does not compel us to surrender to His Will. God waits indefinitely for us to become wise enough to feel that we are ready to surrender to God’s Will. As soon as we accept the spiritual life, we must feel that God’s Way is our own way, our only way. The Way of our Lord Beloved Supreme is our only way, only way.

You want to know how much you as an individual can love God. But you do not need to show your love for God to anybody, or to make others feel how much you love God. This love is so secret, so sacred — your love for God and God’s Love for you. It is so secret; it is so intimate. That love you do not have to exhibit. You do not have to show the world how deep your love is. In ordinary life, human beings are always expressing love, artificial love or emotional love. But the divine Love is sacred, sacred, sacred. In divine Love, you will love God because without loving God, you cannot breathe, you cannot exist even for a fleeting moment. That kind of love has to be yours.

If we use one freedom, we become the so-called lord. If we use the divine freedom, God becomes the Lord. The Supreme becomes our Lord. When we keep the Supreme as our Lord, we are always safe. We do the right thing and we become the right person. When we become our own lord, at every moment we make mistakes, and we make ourselves miserable. When the Supreme is our Lord, it is all joy, all joy, all joy. When we want to become the lord of our life, then we make a Himalayan mistake. Misery after misery we go through. We have to be wise. We have to make the right choice.

In the song, “Give Me No Freedom,” we are saying to God, “If You give me freedom even for a fleeting moment, I will do the wrong thing.” Again, it is a matter of our choice. God’s Freedom we can choose as our own. When we enjoy our human freedom, like a mad elephant we go here and there, and we do not see any danger. We see a wall, and we feel that it is so beautiful. But when we dash against it, we break our head! The other freedom is to choose God’s Way. With this freedom we are always flying in the sky, swimming in the ocean of love, sweetness and delight.

At every moment we have to make the choice: right or left. The right side, let us say, is God. The left side is ignorance. We have to choose the right side, always the right side. Then we shall get tremendous, tremendous joy. If we do something divine, we get joy, innocent joy. If we eat a piece of mango or smile at someone, or somebody smiles at us, we get joy. On a particular day when we pray and meditate well, we get tremendous joy. But the day we can claim God and God’s Will as our own, we will see that we will get infinitely, infinitely, infinitely more joy.

Claim God! Cling to God! The way a child clings to his mother, in exactly the same way you have to cling, cling to the Heart of the Supreme or to the Feet of the Supreme. We all are beggars for one thing: joy, joy, joy, joy. This joy that we get from claiming God is everlasting joy. Other joy is fleeting, fleeting, fleeting.

I am carrying your hearts deep inside my heart. You, too, are doing the same. You are carrying my heart inside the very depths of your hearts.

When the feeling of indispensability goes away³²

I wish to say that the eyes can hear and the ears can see. It is absolutely true! The eyes can hear — that is perhaps easier to imagine. At times if you look at a person, your eyes may have the capacity to hear what is happening inside him. Look at the person using your concentration, your concentrative will, and you can hear a whispering message. Again, the ears can also see. It is very easy! Somebody may be entering into you while you are in a higher consciousness. The person is not in front of you or within your eyeshot. He is somewhere else, but you will be able to see the person. It is not that you are expecting to see that person, so naturally you will see him; but your ears actually have the capacity to see. As soon as you hear a sound, you will see that person. It may not be the person whom you were expecting. If you go a little deeper, you will notice that, through your ears, the sound carries the face or the body of the person.

Believe it! It is all true. I have done it countless times. Somebody is coming; that I can see with my third eye. But the ears also have the power to see, the way the eyes can hear. Everything is possible. The organs that we have can replace each other, the way individuals can replace each other. If one person is not doing well, somebody else can replace him. All the limbs can do that kind of thing. There are things that you expect your legs to do. If your legs are injured, your hands can do those tasks. The job was given to the legs first, but if something goes wrong, the hands can do it. Similarly, if the hands cannot do their job, then the legs can do it.

God has not made anybody indispensable. We say about an individual, “He is indispensable.” Let him go to the other world! In a second, somebody else will come forward to do his job. Somebody else can do it. In this world God does not want to make anybody indispensable. He has not created any indispensable human being. One instrument may be more important, let us say. In a printing press, one machine may be more important; but we cannot say that it is the only indispensable machine in the press. If it is that kind of press, nobody will go there.

The very word “indispensable” I can never appreciate! At the same time, I laugh and laugh. I know that no one is indispensable. I know that at this moment if I leave this world, my vision and my mission will remain on earth.

When the feeling of indispensability goes away, we make so much progess, so much progress! It is not that we are not needed; we are needed, but we are not indispensable. “I am needed, I am needed” — that is our great joy, our divine pride. But to say, “I am the only one” — that is absurdity on the face of it.

Never think of your indispensable existence on earth — never, never, never! Sometimes the replacement may be even better, far better. If one who thinks that he is indispensable is fired, or if something else happens, then his successor may be even far better as an instrument. Again, if bad luck prevails, the successor may not be as great or as good or as successful as his predecessor. But the feeling of indispensability must go away from each and every human being. When one loses the feeling of indispensability, he will become humble, and he will make very good progress.

I identify with you³³

“God with His Smile

To shatter my ego-pride

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No, after God-realisation you do not beg for yourself. If you beg, it is because you are identifying yourself with humanity. Thousands of times in my poems I have done it.

This morning I scolded someone so seriously! Then I identified myself with the person and gave this prayer. You can easily misunderstand me, but God absolutely did not descend upon me. God descended upon somebody else to smash the ego-pride of that person. In that way, thousands and thousands of times I have written poems with the words “I” and “my.” Again, I have begged, begged for humanity, begged for everybody. But when I write as an individual, when I say I am useless, hopeless and helpless, I am identifying myself with somebody else.

In the case of the Saviour Jesus Christ, his enemies will declare that, before he said, “Let Thy Will be done,” he said, “God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” His enemies will say, “If he is God-realised, how can God forsake him?” Always there is misunderstanding, misunderstanding. So many millions of people cannot understand why the Christ said that God had forsaken him. He identified himself with humanity. He died for humanity. But when he said that God had forsaken him, it was not that God had forsaken the Christ himself. No, not even temporarily did God forsake the Saviour Christ.

Many times, millions of times, spiritual Masters identify themselves with the rest of the poor, suffering humanity. They become one with humanity. If I can pray with you according to your standard, in you and through you, then you receive more, and I get the divine results. Today I have composed this particular prayer. If you have pride, let us say, and you recite this prayer, it will help you considerably.

But again, if you are a rank fool you will say, “My God, that means pride really entered into Guru this morning! If early in the morning pride and ego enter into Guru, and we are not as developed as Guru, then where is the hope for us?”

That is called the mind’s philosophy.

Once again I am telling you, and please remember it: I identify with you. I identify with you entirely. I do it millions of times. But if you are not advanced enough or developed enough, you will argue with your mind. You will say, “O my God, if Guru suffers from ego, then how can we, his disciples, get rid of our ego?”

Ego is bad, very bad. But definitely there is an ego that we need, all of us need. There is a divine ego that says, “I am God’s child. It is beneath my dignity to make friends with darkness and ignorance.” That pride is called divine pride. It says, “I am God’s child. God has chosen me to serve Him. How can I descend? How can I stoop to ignorance?” That pride is good. I claim God to be mine, the way God claims me to be His own. That divine pride only expands and expands. I tell myself, “I am God’s pride. I am God’s child, His chosen child. How can I enter into ignorance? How can I do undivine, stupid things?” That ego helps us tremendously. Our ignorance stops there. That ego is divine ego. It is totally different from the human ego. That ego is oneness with God. It tells us, “I cannot do this, I cannot do that, I cannot say that.” We need divine ego.

Even from this message you can get a prayer!

When I give you a job<sup>35</sup>

If I specifically mention a name, then that person should come. In some cases, if there is a team working together, I may mention the team. Then one team member should come. If they are unable to do the job, if they are not available, then one of them will come and report to me.

If I request you to do something, please try to do it yourself. If you do not do the job that is meant for you, if you delegate the job to somebody else, you may create serious problems for me, very serious problems. Obedience, obedience! If I ask you to do something, please do it yourself. Do not give the task to others. Usually I do not say that if you cannot do it, you should let somebody else do it.

It is not the most difficult thing on earth to obey me. If you take it as having to obey me, then the uncontrolled vital may either revolt or do the job unwillingly. But if you take it as my request, as my plea, I hope you will do it divinely. Please take my requests very, very seriously.

When I request you to do something, do not wait and say, “Oh, it can be done tomorrow.” No, no — it has to be done as soon as possible. If it is not done immediately, what can I say? True, there are things that cannot be done in the twinkling of an eye. They may take time. That I know. But there are specific things that can be done immediately. Those things I may not want to give to somebody else, and I do not want you to delay.

Your own so-called little mistake can create very serious problems for me. It is a very painful experience. You may call it a mistake, or minor negligence or carelessness, but it can create very serious problems for me. And when you make a mistake, many, many other people may also be involved. At that time they will be forced to make those unconscious or conscious mistakes also.

We pray to God for His Victory<sup>36</sup>

“My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!

When I pray to You,

When I pray for You,

Most powerful Smiles

“My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!”<sup>37</sup>

Why do we have to pray for God? God is Omniscient, Omnipotent;

we are praying for His Victory.

If we pray to God, then we always say, “Give me this, give me that.”

pleased with us.

We shall pray to God to give us what we need. But we shall pray for

Our philosophy<sup>38</sup>

The Lord Buddha did not speak about life after death, but he said many things about his previous incarnations. He was a duck; he was a goat; he mentioned many incarnations. About life after death he did not speak; but from what he said about his past, we can easily know his philosophy about reincarnation. If he was this animal and that animal, then naturally, after one life ended, the next one came. From the reincarnation point of view, he made his philosophy very clear.

After Lord Buddha came the Christ. The Lord Buddha said, “Keep quiet; remain silent.” But the Saviour Jesus Christ went one step forward. He said that if somebody strikes you on one cheek, you should give him the other cheek also.

I follow Sri Krishna’s philosophy. He said, “If somebody attacks you unnecessarily, you have to fight for the right.” In the Mahabharata, in the whole Kurukshetra war, he practised what he believed. In common language, people say “tit for tat.” In our case, we shall not do anything against others. But if somebody unnecessarily strikes us, and we allow him to continue, then we feel that we are helping him to increase his ignorance. In this way our philosophy has a different approach.

Our sweetest oneness<sup>39</sup>

Father’s Day Prayer and Song

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Gives his children earth-affection.

Gives His children Heaven-Delight.”⁴⁰

I am useful only when my sweet children are with me, in me and for me. I had aspiration, and with your dedication you have made me known throughout the length and breadth of the world. My aspiration is all gratitude to your service, unprecedented service. I am very, very grateful to you, extremely grateful to you all, and extremely proud of you, proud of you, proud of you.

You have made me what I am today. A tinier than the tiniest village is where I saw the light of day. I saw the light of day in Shakpura. Now you have offered to the world my inner light. It is simply a miracle. With your aspiration and your dedication you have brought my inner light to the fore, and you are helping me unimaginably to spread my inner light here, there, everywhere, everywhere.

Today I am telling you that I am your spiritual father, and throughout Eternity you will remain my spiritual children. Once my soul has accepted you, you can rest assured that you belong to me and I belong to you. I belong to you; you belong to me. There is no third party in between you and me. My children, there is nobody to block our sweetest oneness. You are for me, and I am for you. This is not only our conviction, but also our realisation.

At times the father can be strict. But again, the same father has ever-glowing and ever-growing affection, love, sweetness and fondness for his children, and I am that father. I am that father to love you every day more and more and more and more. And if you have a little bit of imperfection, I gladly take it as my own, very own. Never be afraid of your imperfections or your weaknesses. Just throw them into me, as you throw garbage into the garbage can. Everything that you have, good or bad, my universal heart is more than happy to accept from you. Your good qualities and bad qualities just offer to me. My Universal Consciousness — which I have and which I am, believe it or not — will gladly accept and house all your qualities, good and bad.

Once more I am telling you, my heart’s infinite gratitude, gratitude and gratitude I am offering to each of you. Infinite, infinite, infinite — I repeat — infinite gratitude I am offering to each of you, for you have made me what I am now for world service.

Realise me⁴¹

So, either in this incarnation or in one of your future incarnations, try to realise me. Then only your earthly journey will be fruitful. Otherwise, many times you have come to earth and many, many more times you will come in the future, but it will all end in vain.

Dear children, always keep one thing in mind, and that is to realise me, realise who I eternally am. I am not this body; I am something else. That something else you will realise if you stay in my boat and please me always, always, always in my own way. Think only of me: what I say, not what others say; what I do, not what others do. If you please me, then you have pleased the Real in me; you have pleased the Supreme. If you do not please me, then no matter whom you have pleased, or whom you are going to please, your life will be a barren desert from the beginning to the end. But if you please me in my own way and if I am satisfied with you, then our Absolute Beloved Supreme is pleased with you. And if He is pleased with you, then there is nothing either on earth or in Heaven that you need. Everything is useless, everybody is useless except the one Reality: the Supreme in your Guru, the Supreme with your Guru, the Supreme for your Guru and the Supreme as your Guru.

Realise me. Then only you will discover the meaning of your life. Realise me. Then only satisfaction — Eternity’s satisfaction, Infinity’s satisfaction, Immortality’s satisfaction — will all be yours.

Realise me... Realise me...