All Are Embodiments of Brahman (Alternative Translation)

30 July 1996, Guru Purnima, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

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Stars are , the sun is , The moon is , water is , Heaven is , is , Mother is , father is , All wealth is , love is , Living beings are , individual souls are , Creator is , Protector is Destroyer is , housewife is , is , (physical body) is , (Nature) is , (life principle) is , Everything is , this assembly is , , who is declaring this truth, is also . (Telugu Poem) A tree born out of soil is same as soil in its nature. Similarly, the creation born out of is not different from , But it appears to be different to the naked eye. This is the mystery of this world. (Telugu Poem) Embodiments of !

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Everything is a manifestation of Seeing a rope at a distance in darkness and suspecting it to be a snake, a man shouts in fear. Soon, another person arrives and assures him that it is not a snake but a rope. The moment he knows the truth that it is only a rope and not a snake, his fear is gone. It was a rope before he saw it, it was a rope when he mistook it for a snake, and it was only a rope when he realised the truth.

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The rope symbolises (Impersonal Supreme Being, God, ), which, due to delusion, humanity mistakes for nature. One realises the truth when a person of true knowledge (a ) comes and tells one that it is not nature but the manifestation of itself.

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All that we see in the visible world is nothing but . But people, out of ignorance, think, “Where is , and where are we! We are ordinary mortals, whereas is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.” It is a mistake to say so.

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You are verily the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient . But because of a worldly outlook created by delusion, you think you are a mere mortal. You aspire to see God, thinking He is different from you. All that you see around you, all that you experience is . But still you want to see .

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One is a fool who sees yet does not recognise the reality (). What a great delusion it is! But nobody believes this truth so easily.

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Just as there is an intimate and inseparable relationship between the ocean and waves, the same type of relationship exists between individual souls () and . From the infinite and unfathomable ocean of ExistenceKnowledge-Bliss (), innumerable living beings emerge like waves. While is the embodiment of truth, wisdom, and eternity (), mankind is the embodiment of ExistenceKnowledge-Bliss.

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The knower of becomes Embodiments of divine !

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The colour of glasses that you wear determines the colour you see all around you. Similarly, when you fill your vision with love, the entire creation will appear divine to you. As the feelings, so is the result ().

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In the visible world you find diversity, but in reality there is no diversity. You should make efforts to know this divine principle of unity. Both and illusion () are immanent in every individual.

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and are not different from each other. symbolises faith (), and symbolizes confidence and trust (). Every man is endowed with faith and confidence. [ and are names for ; is ’s consort.] Similarly, illusion () and are both present in every individual. In this way, every person is the embodiment of (a composite form of and , i.e. and ).

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You must enquire: What is and what is illusion? A person is a combination of Existence, Knowledge, Bliss (, , ), name, and form. , , signify , whereas name and form signify illusion (). Name and form are visible to the naked eye, which is the cause of delusion.

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Just as waves are formed in the ocean with the power of wind, the waves of individuals originate in the ocean of due to the effect of illusion (). Wind is illusion, individuals are the waves, and the ocean is . Therefore, the individual that has originated from is also an embodiment of .

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When you recognise this truth, you become divine, as stated in the Vedic dictum: The knower of becomes verily ().

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Today, you are carried away by the diversity of names and forms. You think of diversity and experience diversity. The principle of is joined with illusion (). However, this illusion gradually disappears. The same power that separates waves from the ocean will again make them merge with the ocean. Whatever emerges from the ocean is bound to merge with it.

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Only name and form have birth and death, but has neither birth nor death. That is why signifies infinity. It has no end. Wherever you look, is present there. There is nothing in this world that is not . The entire cosmos is .

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Due to the limitations of your intellect and understanding, you are unable to understand this eternal and infinite principle. Just as you create a snake in the rope, likewise, you create diversity of beings in the unity of and thereby subject yourselves to misery.

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All are embodiments of . Do not belittle yourself, saying you are a mere human being based on differences of names and forms. To see diversity in unity is a sign of ignorance. Not being able to understand the truth is also ignorance.

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Knowledge lies in the realisation of truth. Both knowledge and ignorance are not present in books. Everything in this world is permeated with knowledge (). Every individual, every society is endowed with knowledge. This knowledge is the very form of God. That is the truth.

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That is why it is said: is the embodiment of truth, wisdom, and eternity ().

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This air can be compared to illusion (). You think is harmful to you, but in fact, does not harm anyone. People criticise , saying that it holds them tightly in its grip and troubles them. But how can catch anyone? It has no hands and no legs.

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You have hands and legs. Therefore, you have caught , and has not caught you.

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Instead of catching , you should catch . It is the wind of that creates the waves of various beings in the ocean of . In fact, is responsible for the entire creation.

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People are born and brought up in but are so foolish that they do not understand what is.

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Life is , worldly attachments are , family is , and even death is . Knowing full well that life is full of , one still gets trapped in . How strange it is! (Telugu Poem)

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Ignorance is the root cause for your getting trapped in illusion (). What is the root cause of ignorance? The root cause of ignorance is actions performed with attachment. From this action (), one gets birth (), and birth gives rise to delusion (), which in turn leads to ignorance. Therefore, action is the basis for everything. As your action, so is the result.

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It is wrong to think that it is natural for a human being to lead such a life. Instead, give up worldliness () and enter the path of spirituality ().

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You perform various types of spiritual practices to attain . In fact, cannot be attained through such practices. Only through enquiry can you understand the principle of . Use your sense of discrimination and enquire.

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But even enquiry is not a proper term in this context. You may enquire about something that is not present before you, but why should you enquire about something that is everywhere? is present in you, with you, and around you. Why should you enquire about it? It is a sign of ignorance. All spiritual practices are performed only for mental satisfaction.

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The mind is like a lotus flower. A large black bee () enters the lotus and drinks its nectar. How does a lotus flower sustain itself? It draws its sustenance only from ‘’.

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How can you understand this? Divide this word into two parts, and . means water and means rays of the sun. Sunrays from above and water from below provide sustenance to the lotus flower. Just as () enters the lotus flower, (delusion) enters the lotus of the mind.

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This delusion gives rise to desire. Desire is the cause of your happiness and sorrow. Do not pursue mind’s cravings. When you follow the vagaries of your mind, you will be a victim of illusion ().

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The mind is a combination of positive and negative thoughts. It has no form. ( showing His handkerchief.) What is this? It is a cloth. It is not a cloth but a number of threads woven together. It is not a number of threads but cotton. When you enquire along these lines using the process of negation, you realise that desire is nothing but an illusion.

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You have to understand a subtle principle. You say, “My body, my mind (”). What does it mean? Here, means no. Therefore, means “I am not the body, I am not the mind.” Similarly, when you enquire deeply, you will realize: I am not the intellect (), I am not the senses (), I am none of these. Then who am I? I am I.

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There are four profound aphorisms () in the four :

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is Supreme Consciousness (), I am (), That Thou Art (), This Self is ().

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Though these aphorisms convey the highest truth, they speak of duality. In fact, the entire Veda conveys only duality. Then where can you find non-duality ()?

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The purpose of the is to teach one what one is supposed to attain in this world. How can one attain happiness? What path should one follow? How should a celibate (), a householder (), a recluse (), and a renunciant () conduct themselves? This is all that the teach. Therefore, the convey only duality.

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But teaches non-dualism. The constitute the . The do not support the statement, “I am ” as the ultimate truth because it speaks of two entities, namely I and .

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God alone is the true You say that today is , but truly, this is not the correct name of this sacred festival. Some fake , in order to receive some favours from their disciples, may have given the name to this festival.

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The real name of this festival is , because it is the birthday of Sage . It is on this day that he classified the into four parts and gave them the names: , , , and . He is also the composer of eighteen . However, the name was changed into with the passage of time. Sage was one of great knowledge.

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It is not possible for an ordinary human being, with their limited life span, to study the infinite . Therefore, he exracted the (sacred verses, chants) from the and called it . are the that protect one when one chants them with steadfastness and devotion.

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. It means: contemplation on what is heard and putting it into practice.

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Sage extracted all the , which are useful for the performance of rituals () and sacrifices (), and called it .

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He put together all the (sacred hymns) from the and called it , since it is related to music and literature.

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Finally, he compiled all the relating to weaponry and health sciences and called it .

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Because Sage did a great good to humanity by this classification of , he is considered . You find many teachers in colleges, each of them teaching a particular subject like chemistry, mathematics, botany, etc. Likewise, in the field of spirituality, one who imparts spiritual teachings is considered a .

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What is the inner meaning of the term ? One who dispels the darkness of ignorance is a ().

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Not only this, the term has another meaning: One who is attributeless and formless is the true (). Only is beyond attributes and forms. Therefore, is the only true .

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don’t give initiation into a mantra () to anyone. What is the need for such initiation when you are established in the Self (in the )? You yourself are . Where is the need for you to have a separate initiation in a mantra?

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Only those who don’t realise this truth give mantra initiation. Such in turn received mantra initiation from their own .

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In fact, a true is one who has no other . God alone is the real . is , is , is . is verily the Supreme . So, salutations to the . ; .

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In this modern age, people are being taught that the is , the is , and the is . No, no. These modern are not , , and .

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Then who is the ? himself is the , himself is the , and himself is the .

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, , and represent the three qualities (), namely passion, serenity, and sloth (, , and ), respectively. In fact, the entire world is made up of these three qualities.

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Every human being is endowed with these three qualities. , , and are present in everyone’s heart in the form of these three qualities. So far, no one has seen , , and with their physical eyes.

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Who is your ? You yourself are your . Your mind itself is your . The moment you realise this truth, there will be no need for you to have any other .

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Giving up such an easy path, people are wasting their lives by following a wrong path due to their misunderstanding and doubts. The so-called of today give a mantra to their disciples and ask them to worship the . I don’t want to criticise anyone, but the truth has to be revealed to you. They whisper a mantra into the ears of their disciples and extend their hand before them for money as an offering to the (). This is not proper for a .

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What is an offering to the ? The real offering is to know that you yourself are the . You are the , you are , you are the divine power, everything is in you.

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That is why from time to time I tell you the significance of the , ...

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People think these three terms connote three different worlds, namely earth, space, and heaven (, , and ). The reason for this wrong thinking is that today there are no great scholars capable of dispelling the doubts of people by giving their true meaning.

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refers to , the material world. This represents materialisation. is the life-force, which makes the material world vibrate. Therefore, it represents vibration. represents the knowledge for which the Vedic statement stands - this is called radiation. Materialisation, vibration and radiation, all three are within us. They are not present elsewhere in some other world.

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Follow Me There is nothing else to do if you perform good actions and do good to others. What should be your attitude when you help others? You should have the feeling that the one who helps is and the one who receives the help is also .

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That is why in (India), people use the term while feeding the poor. Lord has two forms: (poor) and (rich). has no dearth of wealth and has a lot of people to serve him. But has neither wealth nor people to help him.

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You should help and empower such poor people so that they also become . That’s why I always say, “Help Ever, Hurt Never,” which is the essence of eighteen . Help everybody.

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Helping others amounts to helping yourself. Whatever you do to others will come back to you manifold. That is why the declare: Whomsoever you salute, it reaches God ().

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What is the inner meaning of this? The inner meaning is that all are . One who offers salutation is , and the one who receives is also .

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Having taken a wrong path for a long time, your life is in turmoil due to many doubts and disbeliefs. You are unable to judge what is right and what is wrong. The reason is that you think you are a separate entity ().

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But, in fact, you are not an individual () but a part of society (). Further, society is a part of creation (), which is nothing but the manifestation of the Creator (). Hence, you yourself are . Therefore, all are embodiments of God.

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No one is greater or lesser than the other. You may think, how you can attain the powers that has? Follow Me. Certainly you will be endowed with such divine powers. In fact, all the powers are already present in you, but you do not realise it.

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You are the embodiment of . Consider yourself as . Always live in the constant awareness, “I am , I am .” When you develop this awareness, you will become .

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When you focus a camera on Me and press the switch, you will get My picture in it. Your body is the camera, your mind is the lens, your feelings are the film, and your intellect () is the switch. When you focus the lens of your mind toward God with all concentration and press the switch of the intellect, God will manifest in you. Then your vision will become divine vision and you will become a divine being.

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always advises you, “My dear, do this, don’t do that.” What for? It is not for My sake; it is only to make you divine. It is only to teach you the truth of and to make your life ideal and divine.

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Everyone should become an ideal person. Just as God is the eternal witness, you should also become the same. It is not possible for anyone to understand the divine mystery that is hidden behind the veil of illusion (). You see only the effect, but the cause is hidden from your view.

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How happy one would be if the entire world were pure, sacred, and full of divine feelings! You would not have hatred toward anyone. You would realise that criticising others amounts to criticising God. Whomsoever you criticise, it reaches God ().

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Consider God as your only . In fact, He is the of all (). Why should you worry about anything when you have such a great ?

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When you have the wish-fulfilling tree () right in front of you, why do you desire trivial things? When you have the wish-fulfilling cow () with you, where is the need to buy a cow? (Telugu Poem)

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When the wish-fulfilling tree () and wish-fulfilling cow () are with you, why should you extend your hand before others and seek their help? All are children of God. All are aspects of God. All are embodiments of God.

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Lord propounded the same truth in the : The eternal in all beings is a part of My Being ().

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There is nothing in this world that is not . That is why the declared: His hands and feet are everywhere ( ...).

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Scientists say that everything is made up of atoms; there is no place without atoms. propounds the same truth when it says: is subtler than the subtlest and vaster than the vastest (). Just as atoms are everywhere, so also is all-pervasive.

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All names and all forms belong to the same God. One God has many names ().

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There are many sweets like , , , etc., but the same sugar is present in all, which provides sweetness to them. People may have different tastes, and the sweets may have different names, but there is no difference in the sweetness of sugar.

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The word has an important meaning associated with it. actually means that which has innumerable limbs and innumerable hands. That is why it is said: (The entire universe is the embodiment of Lord ). Never give scope to differences.

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The same Lord is worshipped in different names and forms On this occasion of , I want to tell you something very important. Because of differences, you are deluding yourself and becoming victims of ignorance. Here is a small example.

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You consider as the one who wields the conch, discus, mace, and lotus (, , , and ). What is the inner meaning of this?

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There are eight attributes of Divinity: embodiment of sound, mobility and immobility, light, speech, eternal bliss, perfection, delusion, and wealth (, , , , , , , and ).

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’s conch symbolises sound, the discus signifies time, the mace signifies strength, and the lotus stands for heart. Therefore, God is the master of sound, time, all the powers, and the heart of all beings. This is the inner meaning of depicting Lord as the one who carries conch, discus, mace, and lotus. Devotees, out of their innocence, take the literal meaning of these attributes without understanding their inner meaning.

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Here is an example. Vaishnavites worship Lord ; Saivites worship Lord and chant the . Both groups go to to have the of the Lord of seven hills. Vaishnavites worship him as ; Saivites as . The names are different, but the Lord whom they adore is the same.

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means one who pleases. This is a Vaishnavite name. The Saivite term means the master of all types of wealth. Out of their imagination, devotees attribute names such as or for their own satisfaction.

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Lord is described as , meaning the master of all living beings. The equivalent term for is according to Vaishnavism. Both and are one and the same. Since cows were dear to Lord , He is described as . Here, both cows and symbolise all living beings.

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is considered to be one who wields the and , which symbolise sound and time respectively. Just like ’s conch, ’s symbolises sound. In the same way, ’ and ’s symbolise that they are the masters of time. ’s symbolizes the unity of three periods of time - past, present, and future.

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The musical instrument has a number of strings. Each string gives out a particular sound. If even one string is not in pitch, the music is not pleasing to the listeners. Strings are many, but is one. Music will be pleasing to the ears only when all the strings join together in harmony.

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The nation is like the , and different religions are like strings. Only when there is unity and harmony between various religions can there be peace and harmony in the country. You should develop faith in the principle of unity.

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used to ask for an offering () of two from devotees who came for his . Here, two symbolise faith and devotion. They are like two shoots of the same seed. Only when the two shoots join together can the seed grow into a sapling. When the shoots are separated, the sapling cannot grow. Similarly, steadfast faith () and devotion () should join together like the two shoots of a seed. Only then can you get the sapling of happiness. Never observe differences between religions.

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Religions are many but the goal is one. Clothes are many but yarn is one. Jewels are many but gold is one. Cows are many but milk is one. Beings are many but breath is one. Castes are many but humanity is one. Beings are many but is one. Flowers are many but worship is one. (Telugu Poem)

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You perform worship of idols with various types of flowers such as jasmine, rose, and marigold. But is there any difference in worship? Worship is the same. All the differences are created by the delusion () of the mind. Therefore, give up delusion and develop the principle of ().

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All are embodiments of , all are embodiments of God. Everyone has ultimately to merge with the Divine. Develop such broad-mindedness. Do not observe differences such as ‘I am different, you are different, and others are different.’ People talk of the Brotherhood of Man and Fatherhood of God. What does this Brotherhood of Man mean when one brother fights with the other and goes to Supreme Court to settle property disputes? Today you don’t find unity even among real brothers.

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Therefore, you should go beyond this state of Brotherhood of Man and develop the feeling of oneness (). The same is present in you, Me, and everyone. Once you realise this, you will not observe any differences whatsoever.

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