In plain words
Attachment to the body too has to be there, but we must not let it grow beyond limits.
Seeing God in all is spirituality
The universe is the form of Viṣṇu. “Sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣa sahasra pāt”. This is the very form of the cosmic Virāṭ. In those days, when the brahmins studied the Veda, the whole world together held only three crores of people. Since every person is the very form of God, they were called the three crores of gods. Now the world's population has grown to 500 crores. Even so, to this day we still say three crores of gods. That is a mistake; now there are 500 crores of gods. All are the very form of God! The Veda said, “Sarva jīva namaskāraṃ keśavaṃ pratigacchati.” To whomever you bow, it goes to Keśava. Not only that. “Sarva jīva tiraskāraṃ keśavaṃ pratigacchati”. So we must not revile anyone; we must not mock anyone. We must believe all to be the very forms of God. This is true spirituality. Doing pūjā, doing japa, doing dhyāna: none of these is spirituality. To think that God is attained through these is great foolishness. If you firmly hold the faith that God is in all, you will surely reach your goal.
Danger from Manas comes only to those without faith in God
When it rains, hailstones too fall now and then. If water falls on you it does not hurt, but if hailstones strike you, they hurt. Yet what is in these hailstones too is only water, is it not! Then how did they come by such force? In them many drops of water have become one. That is why they have so much force. So we greatly need unity. If unity is to come, we must develop purity. Then divinity will surely be ours. Today full faith in God is not to be seen in anyone. One minute it seems to be there, the next minute it is not. Just as the wind cannot be caught, so too Manas slips away, trickles away and runs away as well! Long ago Arjuna too said, “Cañcalaṃ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇā pramādi balavaddṛḍhaṃ.” For whom is this dangerous? For those without faith in God! For those who have faith in God there is no danger at all from Manas. We take hold of Manas of our own accord and suffer many troubles.
You are the ones gripping saṃsāra and tormenting it!
If you grip some object tightly with your five fingers, after a while your hand begins to ache. The pain comes only from holding on; if you let go, there is no pain, is there! Many people: “Swami! This saṃsāra has caught hold of me and torments me. What am I to do?” So they say. All these are ‘stunt’ words! You yourselves have caught hold of saṃsāra; it has not caught hold of you. Saṃsāra has no legs, no hands, no nose, no mouth. You alone have all of these. So you yourselves grip saṃsāra and torment it; it is not gripping and tormenting you. Of your own accord you seize it, cannot let it go, and fall into many plights. On top of that, you justify your own mistakes. This itself is the great sin!
Do not forget the mahāvākyas
Yet to blame yourselves and to belittle yourselves is not good. Look upon yourselves as great. “Tat tvam asi”, “That (God) is what you are, my friend!”: so Vedānta teaches. “Ayamātmā brahma”, “Ahaṃ brahmāsmi”: what great words these are! You are forgetting words like these.