In English
Every devotee must aspire for friendship towards God
Of what use is all the reading of scriptures and epics? Very little of it is put into practice. The overseas devotees know only a few things. An American artist declared' " is my great friend." This means that he had developed this friendly attitude even before coming here. How did he accomplish? Friendship towards the Lord is one of the nine forms of devotion. Starting with listening to the glory of the Lord, friendship forms the penultimate stage before (utter self-surrender to the Lord). Every devotee must aspire to reach the stage of (friendship). What kind of friendship is it? It is not something new. It is an old friendship. Only such friendship can bring about familiarity and intimacy with the Lord. You maintain formal relations with a friend, But, because God is an ancient friend, the devotee can experience an unrestrained intimacy. When you recognise this truth, you can behave with natural ease and freedom towards God. You are free to confess your lapses to such a friend. You have to receive His counsel. You can then get your heart purified. Offering your sullied heart to the Lord is like presenting a soiled currency note to the Reserve Bank for getting a new one. A note which is not acceptable to others will be accepted by the Reserve Bank. Only God can accept it and replace it with a new one. Therefore, offer all your bad qualities to God and receive from Him all good qualities. Don't pass on your bad qualities to others.