In plain words
If you do not honour others, how can others honour you? First of all, you honour others. Only then will you be able to receive honour from others. The oneness in all is itself divinity. The Veda said, “Ekaṃ sat viprāḥ bahudhā vadanti”: however many names one gives, God is one! However many forms He takes, God is one! You must install in your heart that divinity, endowed with such oneness. There is no other truth beyond Prema. That which is in all as oneness is Prema alone! So offer your worship to Prema. Give the Prema in your heart to others. Receive their Prema in turn. For Prema, Prema alone is the onlooker. There is no fruit beyond Prema, no comfort beyond Prema, no Ānanda beyond Prema. So fill your heart with Prema. You need not go searching, asking where the Paramātma is. Where Prema is, there the Paramātma dwells. So worship the principle of Prema. Hate no one. Hatred is the worst of enemies. When you develop the principle of Prema, enmity moves far away. Even if your adversary comes face to face with you, greet him with Prema. He too will answer with Prema. If you do not give Prema to others, how can you receive Prema from others? Sai's message and teaching are the principle of Prema alone! There is no wealth beyond Prema, no riches beyond Prema. There is no setting a price on Prema. As for what God hopes for from you, He hopes for Prema alone.
In this Devī Navarātri you must offer your Prema to God along the nine paths of Bhakti. What are those nine paths?
Hearing, singing, remembering Viṣṇu, serving His feet, salutation, worship, servitude, friendship, and offering of the self.
Prema alone must be given to God! Worldly matters are like branches and twigs. They sprang up in between. Prema, though, came into being of itself. Without turning it towards worldly matters, you must make it flow straight towards God. You must fill your heart with compassion. Only then can you be called devotees. ‘Speak the truth; walk in Dharma’: if you practise these two, God will be right behind you and beside you.
Embodiments of Prema! The chief purpose in celebrating this Navarātri is that you must turn into embodiments of compassion. You must grow into embodiments of Prema. A heart without compassion and Prema is like a desert. As soon as you rise at daybreak, you must keep the principle of Prema in mind. You must take a vow to follow the path of Prema. In all your daily activities Prema must flow as an undercurrent. Only then will the Paramātma, the embodiment of Prema, appear before you.
Brahman is of the form of Prema, made of Prema; to join Prema with Prema becomes the discipline; so one who holds Prema firmly becomes fit to reach the One without a second.
By Prema even a hard rock can be turned into butter. Swami ceaselessly teaches Prema alone! Call ‘Bābā’ just once, with Prema. That Prema itself will stand by you as life-breath. If there is no Prema in your call, it is of no use. Prema must be ‘heartful’, not ‘artificial’. You must move with everyone as a friend. Smiles must dance on your face. Only when you fill your heart with Prema does this become possible. Prema alone is life. Without Prema you cannot stand in the world even for a moment. Believe that Prema alone is the form of the Paramātma, and develop Prema. What is the inner meaning of the Devī's worship in this Navarātri? You must put the bad far away and develop the good. The farther you put the bad away, the nearer Prema comes to you.