Divine love is true religion

25 December 1999, Christmas, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

1

2

3

The environment and company are mainly responsible for the good or bad in man. A piece of paper does not have any smell of its own. But if the same paper is used to pack or dry fish or jasmine flowers, it produces the smell associated with them. That is why it is said, “Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are.” As your company, so you become. So, you should always join good company. You can attain exalted position only when he joins good company. Man is good by birth, but ruins himself because of bad company. Today man is not making any enquiry as to what is good and what is bad. Such an enquiry is very essential before making friendship with others. declares:

4

By good company, attain detachment.

5

6

7

Bad company is the root cause of man’s downfall (good company) helps you to attain sense control. is that which is permanent and eternal. In this world, everything is transitory. Only Divinity is permanent. Your feelings will become noble and pure only when you associate yourself with Divinity. First and foremost recognise the fact that bad company is the root cause for man’s downfall.

8

9

10

Body is the temple and the Indweller is God.

11

12

Perform activities without expecting reward Embodiments of Love! Of all the gifts of God, Time and Love are the most precious. Man has to make proper use of time in order to experience Divine love. But today, man is wasting three-fourths of his time in mundane pursuits, whether he is (student), (householder) (recluse), or (renunciant). Then how can he expect to have noble thoughts? He is unable to undertake any sacred activity because his mind is clouded with ego.

13

The declares, “ (man has a right over action, but not on the result.)” So perform all your activities without expecting any reward. Do not waste your time worrying over the fruits of your actions. This is what is meant by saying, “duty is God.” Divinity will manifest once you perform your duty with sincerity.

14

Serve with the feeling that you are serving God It is a mistake to consider yourself a devotee if you undertake service activities expecting something in return. You have to render service with the feeling that God is present in all. Realize the truth, “ (God pervades the entire universe).” You may say that you have done rural service or served flood victims. But these cannot be termed service in its true sense if you have the feeling that you served others. Serve with the feeling that you are serving God, for God is omnipresent.

15

Consider, for example, the sacred epic , which speaks of the intense love and devotion of (cowherd maids) for . in Telugu means, “If we study , we shall become good.” That is to say, confers goodness on all. It contains the essence of all . The five letters , stand for (devotion), (wisdom), (renunciation), (penance), and (liberation) respectively.

16

Be one with the Lord, like This sacred epic, , describes at length the (cowherd maids) yearning for when He left for , where He was actively involved in running the kingdom. The were unable to bear the pangs of separation from their dear Lord and were anxiously waiting His return. The entire bore the look of a barren land. There was no dearth of food and comforts in ; yet, the did not enjoy any of them because they thought life was not worth living without , whom they considered as their very life breath. They lost their health and happiness because they were unable to bear the pangs of separation.

17

, being aware of the plight, summoned His friend and asked him to proceed to to console the and pass on His message to them. was a great philosopher and a (one of wisdom). He knew that was omnipresent. As per ’s command, He went to and conveyed ’s message to the and . He told them that they should not limit to a small physical frame thinking that He was present only in . He tried to explain to the that is God Himself and that He is omnipresent. He advised them that since was present everywhere, there was no need for them to feel sorry that He was away.

18

Since the had totally surrendered themselves to , they would not look at or talk to a stranger. So, they took a (bee) as an intermediary and talked to through the bee. Having been used to worship ’s beautiful form, they could not readily think of as a formless entity. Making fun of ’s preachings, they asked, “Do you practice what you preach?

19

You are enjoying the proximity to our Lord but are telling us to experience His attributeless and formless aspect. We don’t want your preaching or philosophy. We are not interested in your formless, attributeless God. Bring our dear to us.” They said, “ has stolen our hearts. We have only one mind, and that has gone with Him to , we do not have another mind to listen to what you are preaching.” One-pointed devotion of The declaration of the that they had only one mind made recognize their one-pointed devotion. He realised that the pure, unsullied, and eternal divine principle can be attained only through fixing the mind on God.

20

The lamented their separation from , “We want to see nothing but ’s beautiful form, hear nothing, but the melodious music of His flute, and experience nothing but His Divine Love. We have cried for so much that our eyes are swollen and there is not a drop of tear left in them. How can the ship of your message sail in the barren lands of our hearts! So, take your ship and go back to the place you came from. We are not interested in the formless aspect of Divinity. We want to see the enchanting form of our Lord.” Hearing the words of the , realised that all his (wisdom) was worthless. He considered himself to be totally ignorant since he had underestimated the love and devotion of the for .

21

He stopped preaching and tried to hand over a piece of paper to the , saying that it contained ’s message for them. He wanted them to read it. They refused to accept the letter, saying that they could not read it as they had no knowledge of (alphabet). But their minds were merged in the (immortal form) of Lord . was a bit angry with the , thinking that they had no respect for even ’s message.

22

Then one of the started explaining, “There is no point in accepting ’s letter since we, being illiterate, cannot read it. There may be one or two amongst us who can read. But we are afraid that our tears may drop on the letter and wash out the words written on it. There is another reason. Our whole body is heated up on account of separation from . So, it is possible that the letter may get burnt to ashes if our hands were to touch it. You are unable to understand our plight.” They sent a message to , addressing the bee,

23

O bee, why don’t you go back and tell That He should look at us at least once? Can you not tell to illumine Our dark hearts with His resplendent form? Our life has become like a dried tree. Please tell that He should look at us at least once. Can you not tell to illumine Our dark hearts with His resplendent form? Our life has become like a dried tree. Please tell to put some life into it. [Telugu song]

24

prayed,

25

O , we are anyway going to die Because of separation from you. Please allow us to be with you At least in Your next incarnation. If you take the form of a tree, Allow us to be creepers that twine around You. If you stand like mountain, Let us be like a stream flowing from it. If you become the mighty ocean, Let us become the rivers ready to merge in it . [Telugu Poem]

26

Thus, the always craved the Divine proximity. That is the sign of true devotion. Truth philosophy consists of establishing a relationship between the individual and God. The never gave scope for narrow individual feelings. They aspired for the intimate relationship with God.

27

The best way to love God is to love all and serve all. Have the firm conviction that God is present in everybody. There is no place where God does not exist. But you cannot see God as long as there is the sense of ‘I’ (ego) in you. The had absolutely no sense of ego. Their ‘I’ had merged with . As long as there is ego in you, you will find only multiplicity. Once you realize that you and I are one, you will find unity everywhere, which is true and eternal.

28

Dedication of the ‘Messengers of ’ The old student association of Campus, the Messengers of , is celebrating its anniversary today. They are serving society and spreading ’s message in accordance with the sacred name of their association. You have listened to the report of their activities. Truly speaking, they have done much more than what was mentioned in the report. In fact, I instructed them to make the report as brief as possible. Though their report is brief, they are doing yeoman service to society. Not only here, but also in various other countries like Japan, Canada, America, and Germany. They are undertaking service activities, upholding the ideals of the Institute of Higher Learning. They are spending their earnings in service activities. When questioned by their parents, they reply, “ has given us free education and free medical care. We owe our wealth and health to . So, all our earnings should be directed for the service of society. We are not misusing even a .” Thus they are bringing about transformation even in their parents.

29

Never underestimate the capacity of women You all know that there is a lady doctor, an eye specialist, by name in our General Hospital. She is a widow. Her daughter studied in our college and now she is living in Australia with her husband. She has brought about a transformation in her husband and, as a result, he is also actively involved in various service activities. Both the husband and wife spend their earnings in service of the society. They do not have children.

30

Dr. prayed to Me that her daughter be blessed with a child. Her daughter said that is everything for her and she does not want to get entangled in bondage by having children. She said that she considers all children as her own. She prayed that she should have the freedom to render service activities to her satisfaction.

31

32

Since ancient times, many noble women have taken birth in this sacred land of (India), women who have set an ideal to the world with their exemplary character and devotion. You might have heard of , who brought her dead husband back to life; , who extinguished the wild fire in a trice, demonstrating the power of truth; , who came out of blazing fire unscathed; and , who burnt a wicked hunter to ashes with the power of her chastity. All these noble women have brought name and fame to this sacred land of . Not only , the whole world will progress because of women of character and nobility. So never underestimate the capacity of women.

33

Women symbolise and men stand for The 75th Birthday of this body is approaching. The Messengers of have chalked out elaborate plans for the 75th Birthday and have already started executing them. They have purchased 1000 bags of rice for free distribution of food for 10 days to the devotees during the 75th Birthday celebrations.

34

There are nearly 3000 members in their Organization. Their faith is unwavering, and their devotion for is becoming stronger and stronger day by day. They are preparing to distribute 75,000 saris. They want all the saris to be of the same design, so they have already placed an order in this regard. Such devotion and sincerity are present more among women than men.

35

In fact, women symbolise (devotion) and men stand for (wisdom). The one with devotion has the right to enter even the inner chambers of the divine palace, whereas the one with wisdom has access only to the audience hall of God. You may be aware that kings of yore would convene meetings in their royal audience hall, where only men would assemble. Men had no entry into the (inner chambers of the palace). Only women who symbolize devotion have the access to the of God.

36

What is the of God? What is ? (Indwelling Spirit) is the . It is only devotion, not wisdom, that has entry to .

37

Most of the men who have assembled here today are here only because of the inspiration of their women. Women are responsible for men treading along the path of devotion. In My opinion, the Messengers of should take the lead in spreading the divine message throughout the country. Mainly by the effort of women will the country progress. Not only , the whole world should progress. The ancient culture of our country should be revived.

38

The heart of , who was considered one of wisdom, transformed on seeing the love and devotion of the for . He approached with a prayer that he may be blessed with at least a fraction of their devotion. The said they had only one mind, and that was centered on . But men have many minds! The statement of the is in itself the highest philosophy.

39

True Christmas spirit in If you look at the world with material view, you see variety. If you look at it with an understanding of Divinity, all of it will appear to be the form of God. (as your feelings, so you become). , Jesus, Zoroaster - all these are names for the same Divinity.

40

Today (Christmas) is mainly celebrated by Christians, but do not make the mistake that it is only for Christians. It is a holy and happy occasion to be celebrated by the entire mankind. Get rid of religious and philosophical differences and enlarge your (religion) and (mind). There is only one God, and He is the indweller of your heart. If you realise this truth, the entire humanity becomes a single race. There is only one religion in the universe and that is divine love ().

41

The one without this principle of love in his heart is neither a nor a Christian nor a Muslim nor a . He is no better than a demon. Complete unity of all religions can be seen only in . Imagine what a phenomenon it is that Christians from 64 countries in this world have assembled here to celebrate Christmas.

42

This principle of unity is the sign of true devotion. reiterates that it is not a celebration for Christians only but is a holy occasion for the entire humanity. It is the desire of that such differences be completely eradicated.

43

There are several tasks in front of the Messengers of . Mere distribution of food and medicines and conducting programs is not enough. Of course, all these are necessary, but along with these activities, spiritual teachings are also essential. If the spiritual element of life is lost, life is a waste. Therefore, all of you ensure that your spiritual life is in the forefront of all your activities. These words are addressed not only to the ladies of the Messengers of . Young men should take up similar activities.

44

45

46

Accumulate , not It is more important to achieve virtues () than to accumulate wealth (). Wealth is accumulated by so many persons. What have they taken away with them when they leave this world? Nothing. Of course, one has to earn wealth. But, accumulation of wealth should be within limits. All your faculties should be at the disposal of society. Only then your country will also advance.

47

48

is pleased with the services that you have performed so far. But, it is the desire of that you should all perform much more. You know how a mother blesses you. It is necessary for you to act in such a way as to get your parents’ blessings and approval. Tomorrow you may also become mothers. Serve your parents today so that in turn your children may serve you in times of your need. As you sow so you reap.

49

50