Passage 17

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In plain words

All God's qualities are in man. But this wretched man tramples down all his good qualities. He brings his bad qualities up to the surface. How great compassion is. How great Prema is! How great sacrifice is. All these are in us. They keep trampling them all down. Anger, hatred, envy: all these they bring upon themselves. So you take on its form. 'Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati.' Whatever we think of, that form we attain. Always hold the feeling that you are Brahman. You will take the form of Brahman. How so? There is an insect. The bee puts it in a nest and circles round it, humming. And the worm inside becomes a bee. In the same way, keep the Name of God within your heart and go on chanting Om with that Prema; you will surely turn into Brahman. Brahman alone is there in the whole heart. Hṛt-daya. A heart without compassion is a heart of stone. It is a poisonous heart. A hard heart, a lustful heart, a hateful heart. Holding on to such a heart, if you say "compassion, compassion", where will it come from? That is no heart at all. When it holds compassion, it becomes a heart. Everyone must make the heart grow with compassion. Whoever you speak with, you must speak with joy. What comes will come. What goes will go. Did you bring anything when you were born? You brought nothing. You did not come wearing even this much cloth. In that state, what did you bring? When you go, you take nothing with you. As you were born, so you will go. Why so much anguish for this? You must not fret about anything when you come. "I came with empty hands. I go with empty hands alone." We must be steeped in such sacrifice. We must live with joy. All these came in between. Passing clouds come and go. They are not Permanent clouds. There is no Permanent person or permanent thing anywhere. All are passing clouds. Recognise this truth. There will be no grief at all. You can be happy. Experience such a happy life. I will give you this delightful life. If you live always shedding tears, when will you experience joy?