In plain words
God is not far from man, somewhere apart. In the Purāṇas, the Itihāsas and the Upaniṣads, in all of these we hear as though God were somewhere apart and this devotee tried to attain Him. This is not right Bhakti. As long as there is the feeling of difference, ‘God is separate, I am separate,’ this person stays filled with nothing but some selfishness and self-interest. We must push this feeling of duality far away. We must grow the feeling of the one Ātma. Life must be brought to its end in divinity alone.
Someone came. Swami! The Upaniṣads say ‘Brahma satyaṃ jagatmithya,’ do they not? I answered. “I do say Brahma satyaṃ jagatmithya. Catching hold of this world, whether it is unreal or real: what is that to you? You have not taken that world on rent. You have not taken it on contract. Leave this world to the world itself.” I told him first to inquire whether he himself is real or not. When we come down to argument and counter-argument over such things as whether the world is unreal or Brahman is real, without recognising for ourselves the truth of whether we are real or not, we are nothing but people who have lived a wasted life. We must not enter into such inquiries at all. Only those with nothing to do take up all these tasks. Still others live under a delusion that they must perform pūjā. Whom is one to worship? Who is it that worships? What I mean by this is: personal pūjā, vrata, dhyāna, japa, you may do as you like. But if we are to understand God on the path of Satya, for God there is no such thing as pūjā. He is not one who receives it. You are not one who does it. If you have a great longing to do pūjā, worship yourself. That is very great. Where is there a God who is not in you, apart, outside? If you try to go searching for God, asking where God is, God is as far from you as you are from yourself. As close as you are to yourself, so close is God to you. To one who has gone far from himself, God stays far. That is why: be near to yourself. Only then will you understand what divinity is.
Still others try to restrain this Manas and bring about the destruction of Manas. All this has come about through karmas, so ‘I must give up these very karmas,’ they say, and call themselves ‘one without karma.’ What does akarma mean? Is it to stay without doing karmas? No, no. This is foolishness. Akarma means just this: giving up Ahaṅkāra. To do karmas free of Ahaṅkāra, that alone is akarma. And still others say, ‘We are striving for Mukti.’ Putting Ahaṅkāra far away is itself Mukti. As long as this Ahaṅkāra remains, it is nothing but bondage for you.