Part I

The seeker, the aspirant and the God-lover¹

I would like to speak about the difference between the seeker, the aspirant and the God-lover. The seeker can pray or meditate from the heart, the mind, the vital and the physical. But the aspirant wants to pray and meditate only from the heart. The aspirant feels that the prayer and meditation that is in the heart and from the heart offers the shortest and quickest way to the Goal.

There is also a difference between the seeker and the God-lover. The seeker prays and meditates most devotedly and soulfully to reach the highest Height, where he will be able to see God face to face. But the God-lover wants God to come and stay in his heart-garden so that both of them can sing, play and dance there.

The difference between the aspirant and the God-lover is this: the real aspirant has a set goal, but if he becomes a victim to unaspiring forces and comes down one step from his level of consciousness, then his whole world collapses. He wants to overcome all the unaspiring forces in his life. But if he fails, he does not want to be exposed in front of others; he does not want them to see his shortcomings. He wants to maintain his spiritual height in their eyes and keep his spiritual dignity. So if he makes a mistake, if vital forces attack him and he descends, then he is miserable and embarrassed to the extreme.

The sincere God-lover also has his highest Goal. But unlike the aspirant, the God-lover is always happy and cheerful no matter what happens. Even if he fails every day in various things, he does not get sad and depressed. As long as his love of God is solid, he is happy; his love of God is more important to him than anything else. He is running fast, faster, fastest. If he stumbles and injures himself because of his carelessness or negligence, he does not give up. He knows that in due course his injuries will be cured and he will be able to run again. So no matter how many times he fails, no matter how many times he does stupid things or enters into undivine worlds, his love of God is so great that he is ready to stand up again. He feels that his only job is to love God devotedly, self-givingly and unconditionally. He knows that if he really loves God, then his millions of failings and shortcomings will never make God sad, for it is God’s bounden Duty to perfect him.

The aspirant does not feel this way. If the aspirant is injured, he curses and blames himself. If something goes seriously wrong with his aspiration, if he has not achieved his goal by a certain date that he has set, then he becomes displeased with himself and angry with God; he feels that God has not been just to him. Then he is ready to leave the spiritual life and enjoy a short or a long vacation. But the real God-lover goes on and goes on, no matter how many mistakes and Himalayan blunders he makes, because his love of God is infinitely stronger than his multifarious weaknesses. In every possible way, the God-lover is far superior to the God-seeker and the God-aspirant. We should all try to be God-lovers.