Devotion is not for Profit

There was a Brahmin who was always engrossed in devotion to the Lord. He didn’t go to administer ritualistic performances. This naturally affected his income and he became poor. A young man, son of his deceased friend, wanted to help this saintly Brahmin, who was always contented and reposed in his Real Self. One day, early in the morning, he took two thousand gold coins and placed them before the Brahmin saying, “Kindly oblige me by accepting these two thousand gold coins. Please be gracious enough not to refuse.” The Brahmin declined the offer.

The young man said, “You and my father were friends. Both used to go to satsang together and accompanied each other in even other woks. My father is now more. At the time of departing, he said to me, He is my friend. Take care of him.’ This money is well and honestly earned by me kindly accept it.”

The Brahmin said, “Your father was a good-natured man and a devotee at that. He has departed this life. May god-bless him with Self-knowledge! You please take back these gold coins. I don’t need them.”

The friend’s son made persistent entreaties but the Brahmin didn’t agree to his proposal. At last, he had to take the gold coins back.

The Brahmin’s son had been watching all this. He said, “You say you don’t need gold coins but we are at the brink of starvation. I have money for either. What was the harm in accepting the money? And his father had been a friend of yours.”

The Brahmin said, “No, he and I had association in connection with the Lord. He was a friend of mine but only because both of us were fellow travelers on the path of God-realization. And then what right do I have to take money from him? This is stigmatic to devotion.”

The son was not to give in so easily. He said, “We are going to starve.”

“Does it mean we should sell devotion for gold? Should we realize money from sadhana or devotion? If we are going to starve, why don’t you work hard and earn money? You are a Brahmin; go and administer sacrifices and rituals. Is taking money form others the way to ward off starvation and if so, why?”
The Brahmin sounded good advice to his son. ‘What belong to me is mine; let me have a share in what you have’ – this shouldn’t calls for utmost purity and sincerity. A little dishonesty mars it in much the same way as a little of sour substance spoils the milk. The more sincere we are at heart, the more easy of attainment will God be for us.

The Three impediments to God–Realization

There are three impediments to God-realization – attachment to sense-enjoyments, attachment to actions and fickleness.

Lust, greed, delusion, gluttony – this is attachment to sense-enjoyments. ‘I want to have more and more…’ – this is attachment to actions. The third impediment is fickleness. These three are the causes of our downfall on the path to God-realization.

To get rid of attachment to actions, work for the multitude rather than for yourself. Don’t work for fame, for destroying enemies or for pleasing friends; do whatever you do for the lord’s pleasure. Your attachment to actions, one gets repose in god. Reposing in god gives spiritual might and joy. Might and joy rightly utilized makes one free from passion for sense-enjoyments. If one has some faith and dedication he can get rid of the three impediments – attachment to sense enjoyments, attachment to actions and fickleness soon.

Earmark some time from your busy schedule for practicing concentration at any holy place in seclusion, suited to remain free from sense-enjoyments. Do japa and fix your gaze at a point for sometime, your eye balls moving neither left nor right nor up nor down. Take a vow to practice it for forty days. I have no words to describe the benefits that will accrue to you there from. And this you can easily do. You can oblige me by taking a vow to practice it. It will do good not only to you but also to the family you live in. the vibrations of japa of OM will work in the environment around you. ‘OM…OM…Bliss…OM…OM… Sweetness…OM…OM…Salutation to the Supreme Lord…OM….OM Beloved OM…OM…OM…My OM…’ Repeat these pious words with great love and affection and become silent. As a child giggles in joy and then hides itself in the mother’s lap, chant OM… the pious and benevolent name of the Holy Supreme Soul and become silent. Be silent for the duration you take for chanting. Abandon yourself in love. OM…OM…is cry for love and affection. The child cries out ‘Mother! Mother!’ when the mother responds, the child hides itself. The mother alone knows the joy and love this evokes in the mother’s heart. Similarly, cry out OM….OM… and hide yourself in the Lord’s lap. Play hide and seek with the Supreme Lord.

‘O Lord! Give me this … give me that…’ –is this love? Why do you become a beggar? What we need, he know what we would require after birth. And he made provision for milk. How wonderful an arrangement He knows to make! Why then should we make childish demands – ‘Give me this… give me that…’? Take a vow here and now, not to complain or become a beggar.

Take a vow and resolve instead, ‘O Lord! I shall love you… you are my very own whatever you do is meant for my good alone whether I know it or not.

‘Our Lord and Master is the One who acts, and causes others to act.
He is the lnner-knower of all hearts.’

Once you take such a vow, your miseries will vanish leaving no trace.
Then you will realize that sorrow is the other name for ignorance and useless desires. The folly of desiring for the insentient though being the consciousness, of craving for the transient while being the Eternal and of crying for perishable things and circumstances while being the imperishable, will come to an end.

Devotion is not for Profit

There was a Brahmin who was always engrossed in devotion to the Lord. He didn’t go to administer ritualistic performances. This naturally affected his income and he became poor. A young man, son of his deceased friend, wanted to help this saintly Brahmin, who was always contented and reposed in his Real Self. One day, early in the morning, he took two thousand gold coins and placed them before the Brahmin saying, “Kindly oblige me by accepting these two thousand gold coins. Please be gracious enough not to refuse.” The Brahmin declined the offer.

The young man said, “You and my father were friends. Both used to go to satsang together and accompanied each other in even other woks. My father is now more. At the time of departing, he said to me, He is my friend. Take care of him.’ This money is well and honestly earned by me kindly accept it.”

The Brahmin said, “Your father was a good-natured man and a devotee at that. He has departed this life. May god-bless him with Self-knowledge! You please take back these gold coins. I don’t need them.”

The friend’s son made persistent entreaties but the Brahmin didn’t agree to his proposal. At last, he had to take the gold coins back.

The Brahmin’s son had been watching all this. He said, “You say you don’t need gold coins but we are at the brink of starvation. I have money for either. What was the harm in accepting the money? And his father had been a friend of yours.”

The Brahmin said, “No, he and I had association in connection with the Lord. He was a friend of mine but only because both of us were fellow travelers on the path of God-realization. And then what right do I have to take money from him? This is stigmatic to devotion.”

The son was not to give in so easily. He said, “We are going to starve.”

“Does it mean we should sell devotion for gold? Should we realize money from sadhana or devotion? If we are going to starve, why don’t you work hard and earn money? You are a Brahmin; go and administer sacrifices and rituals. Is taking money form others the way to ward off starvation and if so, why?”
The Brahmin sounded good advice to his son. ‘What belong to me is mine; let me have a share in what you have’ – this shouldn’t calls for utmost purity and sincerity. A little dishonesty mars it in much the same way as a little of sour substance spoils the milk. The more sincere we are at heart, the more easy of attainment will God be for us.

The Cow – Its Need and Importance

A journey started after the darshan of cow comes out successful. Even the shadow of the cow is considered to be highly anspicious. Darshan of a cow suckling her calf is particularly beneficial.

(Describing the auspiciousness of the mount, Tulsidasji says) ‘The cows were suckling their calves.’

The cow is supremely holy; even the wind touching her body becomes pure and hallowed. The service to cow by itself purifies the heart.

There is no fertiliser equalling the manure prepared from urine and dung of the cow. The benefits we get from the cow cannot be enumerated. Bullocks have Sattvic strength. Tractors are not as efficient in ploughing the fields as bullocks are. Seemingly, tractors and chemical fertilisers finish the work in much shorter time, but quality is lacking. The food-grains produced with the help of bullocks are hallowed and so are the food-grains produced using the manure prepared from urine and dung of the cow.

The cow and farming are closely related. The grass etc. growing in the fields provides food for the cow and the cow’s dung and urine nurtures the fields. Chemical fertilisers damage the productivity of the soil and make it completely barren in a few years but the manure prepared from urine and dung of the cow keeps the productivity of the land intact. That is why in olden days, there was a custom of not using any kind of fertiliser at all and the land produced food-grains for a hundred years or more. In other countries, many lands have been spoilt by the use of chemical fertilisers. Manure is being used to bring the productivity back to such lands.

Army horses are given cow’s milk, which makes them extraordinarily fast. Once, the army people carried out an experiment. Some horses were given had to cross a river, they sat down in water as a buffalo does. This buffalo trait had travelled into the horses as well.

A she-camel too gives milk but curd or butter is never prepared from it. its milk is Tamasic and takes one to a fallen condition (therefore camel-milk should not be given even to others). The scriptures ordain that the camel, the dog and the ass etc. are impure and should not be touched.the goat’s milk is easily digestible and health-giving but it is not Sattvic like the cow’s milk nor does it strengthen intellectual analytical faculties like the cow’s milk does.
The ghee prepared from cow’s milk is considered equal to Amrit, the divine nectar. When Urvashi, the celestial damsel, came to King Pururava on earth, she preferred the ghee prepared from cow’s milk to Amrit.

‘Give me ghee prepared from cow’s milk.’

Question: Why is the spirit of saving the cow waning in the society?

Swamiji: Many allopathic medicines are prepared from the cow’s liver, flesh and blood. By taking these medicines, people have ingested cow’s flesh and blood etc. this has corrupted their intellects and they have lost the reverence they had for the cow.

Then, people earn wealth by evil means and eat the food bought there from. How can their intellect be pure; and without a pure intellect and made it Tamasic in nature. These perverted minds suspect the good advice given to them.

‘That which, enveloped in darkness, views Adharma as Dharma and sees all things perverted - that intellect, O Arjuna, is called Tamstic!’

How to Realize God?

Sunderdas Maharaj was a Self-realized saint of very high order. One a baron came to him and bowing before him said, “Babaji! Kindly bless me with the Self-bliss that makes you blissful; kindly help me attain. Self-realization like you the realization that has filled you with contentment and by virtue of which you remain reposed in your Supreme Self. It is said that the wish for darshan of a Self-realized saint is the result of religious merits of past seven births coming to fruition, fruition of religious merits of another seven births helps only in so much as to reach his door. And it is only when the religious merits of another seven births fructify that we can have darshan of the saint otherwise even if we reach his doorsteps, we will not have darshan of the saint. We may return from the door itself; the saint might have left for somewhere; or he may be expected but we may lack the patience to wait. So until and unless the religious merits of our past twenty-one births fructify, we can’t have darshan of the saint nor can we have faith and conviction in his utterances.”

‘None with scanty amount of religious merit can have darshan of a Self-realized saint nor can he have faith and conviction in his utterances.’
Tulsidasji says:

‘Saints for their part are inaccessible without a stock of meritorious deeds.’

The baron says, “I have got the opportunity of having your darshan. Now I want to experience the Self-bliss and Self-Knowledge that has made you accomplished and perfect.”

Sunderdas got a bronze bowl filled with clear water and some ash brought before him.

He mixed the ash in the water and said to the baron, “See your face in this water.”

“Sir! It is not possible to see my face in the muddy water.”

Another bowl of clear water was brought. Sunderdas stirred the water by pushing the bowl and told the baron to see his face in the water.

He said, “I do see my face but it looks queer in the stirred water.”

“Now see your face.”

“No see your face.”

“Now I am able to see my face clearly.”

Sunderdas spilled the water and sat quiet. The baron reiterated his request, “Your Holiness! What is the way to attain Supreme Self? Kindly enlighten me.”

Sunderdas said, “Instead of philosophising, I have given practical demonstration to you.”

“Your Holiness! I have not been able to grasp your message; kindly elaborate it.”

Sunderdas said, “At first, I told you to see your face in muddy water, which you couldn’t do. Acts done out of desire unwisely and in an unenlightened state make the heart dirty. Self-bliss cannot be experienced in such a heart.

If somebody is non a plum post where he can collect crores of rupees in bribes and yet refrains from corruption, know that the Lord is particularly kind to him. People may call him a ‘fool’ or a ‘naïve’ but he is wise in the real sense of the term. Not indulging in corruption, in spite of an opportunity therefore, not deceiving others or usurping upon others’ rights in spite of there being an opportunity therefore, cleansed, you cannot behold the Lord within. Purity of the heart is essential but is not sufficient.

The chitta is afflicted by three vices-impurity, restlessness and ignorance of one’s Real self. Purity in actions accompanied by Knowledge and awareness purified the heart. Work devoid of Knowledge, of satsang, of meditation rather enhances bondage. And equipped with satsang, meditation rather enhances bondage. And equipped with satsang, meditation and Knowledge, the same activity provides joy to oneself and to others and opens the doors to salvation.

Aspirants who desire to attain God-realization, must meditate for four hours, while householders who are too busy must mediate for at lest 2 hours everyday. Purity in action purifies the heart. When the heart becomes pure, it becomes one pointed with the help of meditation. And if the impressions of Knowledge of Ultimate Truth are properly imbibed by the one pointed mind, one attains Self-realization. Then one is always in Samadhi even with open eyes.

‘Kabir says – Whatever I do, wherever I go, I am at the same place (the state of Supreme Being).’
He alone knows the true meaning of Dharma, whose four organs-stomach, reproductive organ, hands and speech are free from evil i.e. only he is considered to be truly righteous, who observes restraint in eating and sex, who performs pious and altruistic activities, and who has sweetness in his voice.

Three Questions

Once Akbar asked Birbal, “Where does God live? Where does God look at? What does God do?”

Birbal brought at bowl of milk and asked Akbar, “Is there ghee in the milk or not?”

“There is.”
“Is there fat?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“It pervades all milk in this cup.”
“So also does God pervade the whole universe.”

“Where does God look at?”

Birbal lit a lamp and said, “Look, now in which direction is this lamp radiation its light?”

“All around.”

“That’s it. God is everywhere looks everywhere.”

“What does God do?”

“If you want to attain knowledge, you have to give dakshina. You are learning Tattvajnana from me. You wont’ be able to assimilate it for free. Give some dakshina.”

“What shall I give? I will give you whatever you ask.”

“Tell the ministers that for one hour they will obey my commands. I will be you get knowledge.”

“Well, Ministers! Let Birbal’s order be carried out for one hour.”

Birbal said to the ministers. “Dethrone the king. Bring a crown for me and enthrone me.”
Akbar said, “Well, if you want knowledge, do as he says. Dethrone me.”

Akbar got down. Birbal was enthroned. Akbar asked Bribal, “Say now, what does God do?”

Birbal replied. “This is what He does. He transforms a king into a pauper and a pauper into a king. That is exactly what happens in His divine sport. Ups and downs are ever there.”

A drop of semen ejaculated by a man can either go down into a drain, or get aborted after staying in the womb for two to four months. If at all it is conceived, it may either be born as a fool, a beggar, an illiterate, a layman or even a prime minister. The same prime minister may be relegated to infernal regions after death.

A king des, his astral body enters a grain, a creature eats the grain and through the semen formed out of it, goes down a drain. Now imagine a king going into a gutter, or a sperm which would have otherwise gone down a drain becoming an emperor! There nothing surprising in this! It is the divine sport of the Lord.

Persistent Practice is the Key

A wrestler was capable of lifting a he buffalo. A saint came to him and expressed his surprise, “How come you lift such a big animal?”

He replied, “Babaji! To tell you the truth, when a buffalo gave birth to a calf, I picked it up. Then I started lifting it everyday. It went on growing and continued to lift it. That practice has grown to a big he-buffalo, though it looks like a miracle to the people.

So this miracle is the result of practice. Mind is a servant of yours. God has given you ten maids and one manager. Five organs of action and five organs of action and five organs of perception these are ten maids; and mind, the manager who controls them, is your servant. The mind is your servant and you are the master. But when you get wrong things done through you r mind, it knows your weak points. When it sees your weaknesses, it becomes dominant, whimsical and disobedient. It makes you dance to its tunes. In reality, the mind should do our bidding but by getting it to do wrong things, we have made it self-willed and wayward. Then we go where it leads us to; we do what it wants us to do, we think what it wants us to think. What the mind deems good is good for us and what it considers bad is bad for us. The fact is that we are overpowered by the mind and it rules over us. In the Gita, Lord Krishna tells us how to control our mind.

‘The mind verily is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Krishna! I deem it as difficult to control as to control the wind.’

‘Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless; but, by practice and by dispassion it may be restrained!’

I one has developed dispassion but does not resort to practice, that detachment leads to frenzy. The behaviour of such a person becomes rather eccentric and foolish. Practice is the first requirement. What will you can the man, who wants to reap a Similarly, those who want to develop dispassion in their lives without practice, miss the real joy of detachment. There is a distinctive joy power and competence in dispassion but that comes only after doing practice.

So practice has great power. What looks difficult without practice becomes easy after sustained practice. Similarly, Self-realization or darshan of God, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death, becoming one with God, the Bliss Absolute – all this appears difficult to you. But if a wrestler can, with constant practice, lift a he-buffalo, what wonder if you attain Supreme Bliss by endeavouring on path of God-realization according to the instructions of scriptures and the Satguru! Selfless service, meditation and satsang are all that is needed!