In plain words
Whatever troubles and losses come, whatever anyone says, we must not give up God. Only when such steady, pure Bhakti stays firm in us do we become devotees. Otherwise, if the mind wavers, you are no devotee at all. ‘Devotion’ must always stay undiminished, like the ‘ocean’. On one side, water keeps turning to vapour. On the other side, rivers keep flowing in. So the ocean always stays the same, with no rise or fall. We must keep our heart as an ocean. We must not stir up turmoil in it with the waves of desires. However many waves come, the ocean remains the ocean. In the same way, you must live keeping your heart always sacred, pure and selfless.
Our Rajan is working very hard. He is trying to make many, many changes in the books. For the eightieth birthday they produced very good books. But do not cherish any kind of expectation. Whatever single thing you do, you must do it as an offering to God. You must work with the feeling, ‘Sarvakarma bhagavatprītyarthaṃ’. That itself is true Bhakti. Do not make distinctions such as, ‘This is my work, this is Swami's work, this is the Mandir's work, this is public work.’ Everyone's work belongs to the one God alone. The one who wrote the book, the one who printed it, the one who reads it: all are one. So do not keep up distinctions. Only then does true, steady Bhakti take hold. Bhakti must be ‘steady’; if it merely wavers, there is no use. What comes of a wavering mind? The result too changes. So we must give no room in the mind to wavering. Desires and thoughts will come. There we must use discrimination. ‘Is this good? Bad? Is this wrong? Right?’ This is the enquiry we must make. When your conscience says, ‘That is right’, be sure to act on it. We must never act against the ‘signal’ the conscience gives. When it occurs to your conscience, ‘This is right’, then, whatever anyone may think, be sure to follow it. Those who talk will go on talking. But our mind must always be steady.