In plain words
Sin is not something apart, in some foreign land; it clings to the deeds one does. God is not something apart, in some other land; He clings to the deeds one does.
God, sin, merit: all of them are within us. It is not something someone gives from somewhere. It is not a business of give and take. Each one must come to know Ānanda for himself. Through this Ānanda alone our life turns into eternal Ānanda, golden ones. Grow Prema. In any one matter, come to know it, and through that knowledge enter into it. We must not plunge into needless talk before we even know, because a slip of the foot brings no loss, but a slip of the tongue is hell, friend. If your foot slips and you fall and are hurt, you can show it to a doctor and have a bandage tied. You can take medicine and have it healed. But if the tongue slips and a heart is wounded, which doctor can heal it? No one can heal it. No one knows where the blow fell. So we must learn to speak our words very calmly, with Prema and with forbearance. We must not hurt a heart with harsh words. That is My chief principle of Prema. Everyone must grow this Prema. He said that Swami's sacred qualities must be given to all of us. They are in you. This is not something to be handed over. Nor is it something for you to receive. But you are not making use of it. In our store there is rice. There is dal. There is tamarind. Everything is there. But we do not know how to cook. So we depend on the cook. You see! The provisions are all our own. In the same way, everything is within us. It is only because we do not know how to use it that we come to depend on others. So we must not do that. We must know. Know, and think of Rāma, said Tyāgarāja. We must know, and then act. The virtues are within us. All the virtues are within you. They have not gone missing, golden ones. Keep those virtues as virtues. You will enjoy Śānti, happiness and Ānanda without end. It is only because you came, bearing so much hardship, from so far away, with so much Prema, that the chance has come for you to receive My Prema. Such close ties of kinship must come about. If one stick rubs against another stick a little, just a little one day, that stick breaks into pieces. But if they are rubbed together well, fire is born in it. You see! Fire is born from the rubbing of stick on stick. That is the fire of Jñāna. You must come from time to time. A petromax light has to be pumped now and then, has it not?