In plain words
Above all, you must put an end to the wavering Manas and the deluded sight.
When a marriage is to be settled today, people look at the beauty of both, the girl and the boy, and come to an opinion. Then they inquire into the matter of their property and possessions. After that they look into the education of the two, their character and their castes; that is to say, they try to make a match merely by looking into outward matters alone! Deluded by outward attractions, a great many people are living their lives like dogs. All these are only gross foundations! If married life is founded on them, it will not stand eternal and real, steady and pure. All of those are passing, things of the world. That does not mean I have told you to neglect them. More than those, a longing for likeness of nature, for good character and good conduct; faith in the Ātma; purity of heart. You must note that these are what matter.
The worship of God too is just like this. You must not set your Prema and faith, in the least, on having your wishes met. If your wishes are not fulfilled, you must not give up worship. Today faith in God has turned into a fashion. “Come into my dream tonight! If You come, You are Sai Baba! Did You not come? You are not Sai Baba, You are Rāyi Baba!!” A change by which I am Sai Baba when worshipped and someone else when not: there is no such change in Me! I am always none other than Sai Baba! This is not what worship means. If you journey on this path, all is simply in vain; however many hardships and losses, sorrows, afflictions and griefs may come, you must at least keep your faith firm, unmoved and unshaken. That itself is Bhakti; that itself is true prapatti. When the Ātma-svarūpa is held fast in the citta, there is no sorrow. Taking God as your support, you must enter into all your actions. With pure Prema you must reach the Paramātma. Know that Manas alone is the cause of joy and sorrow; if you shape it and make it pure, the fruit too becomes pure. The one who hands you joy and sorrow is not God. Nor are others. The cause of everything is nothing but each one's own Manas! So if you turn that Manas towards Mādhava, every kind of well-being will come to you. You must fill Manas with breadth of feeling; Sarva bhūta hite ratāḥ, said Kṛṣṇa, in the Gītā. You must live with care, doing no harm to anyone in any way and causing no pain. If you are not able to do good, it is enough just to refrain from doing harm; that itself is as good as doing a great good!
You must practise doing your karmas too with Viveka and Vairāgya. To acquire the things one wants, to give up the things one does not want: these two aims alone set man to his karmas. That is, the gaining of Ānanda and the ending of sorrow. Those who strive for the gaining of Ānanda are not devotees alone; every individual, every jīva has the hope and the longing to attain Ānanda. But instead of following the right path they fall into the crooked path and become a target for sorrows, that is all. If you put the body and your time to good use, with an eye to duty and without desiring the fruit, that itself is the most sacred right path.