In English
The Lord is anxious to assuage your pain
The Lord is as anxious to assuage your pain as you are anxious to secure His grace to get rid of it. You may not know this but I know, for I feel it. , a contemporary of , chose to worship the Lord as the manifested, as nature (). He chose to worship the Creator through His creation; he adored the container for the thing contained. In short, he adored , or (mother earth), in reverse, the aspect, the feminine principle of , the Supreme Person (), the inseparable other! His yearning was so moving, his penance () was so compelling, that the following happened. One day, a bangle seller trudging along the bank of the River by the side of the village found a damsel washing clothes in the bathing . The damsel called the bangle seller near and, selecting many pairs of bangles, wore them all. When he asked for the cash, she said, “Oh, I forgot all about the money that is due to you; please go to ’s house in the village; anyone will point it out to you. Tell him that his daughter purchased them, and he will surely pay. Or, wait, tell him that he will find the cash behind the picture of in his shrine room.” The man took her at her word and hurried to the village and the house. was amazed at the tale, for he had no children. In fact, he had not even married. But the bangle-seller insisted on his looking behind ’s picture because, he said, the girl was incapable of deceit. denied having ever placed any cash there. How could he use that space, of all places, to keep cash! But just to satisfy the bangle-seller, he peeped there and, lo! He found a knotted piece of cloth containing just the cash needed to pay for the bangles. Then, in a flash, he realised that it must be herself who had sent the man, and he fell at the feet of the pedlar and ran with him to the bathing place, overcome with joy and thankfulness. For an instant, he saw a glorious vision above the waters: the right arm of , with the bangles scintillating in the morning sun. He knew the arm was raised to bless him; he felt it was calling him; and he flew out of the mortal coil into Her lap. You can worship even nature. There is no harm, provided you realise that the Lord is immanent in it, giving it name and form and value; that the cloth is just yarn, the pot is just mud, the jewel is just gold. Why, you can worship your parents and realise the Lord through that spiritual practice. They are your creators and guides and teachers and protectors, and by idealising them, you can grasp the Truth of the Lord, the Primeval Parent.