In plain words
We cannot see the heart. But through these two, words and deeds, we can recognise what kind of heart a person has. For both of them are nothing but reflections of the inner feeling. The divine values of humanness can be told in three words: ‘prīti, bhīti, nīti’. Prīti: when there is love of God, Satya and Dharma both arise in us. Bhīti: when there is fear of sin, Prema and Śānti both come. And nīti: when there is morality in society, Ahiṃsā arises in us. If we nurture love of God, Satya, Dharma, Śānti and Ahiṃsā all follow it. One who has prīti does not stoop to violence. He does not stray into adharma. He remains calm always. So prīti is like the very life in all of them. All human values are held within prīti alone.
Prema is like a compass. Wherever you set it, its needle keeps pointing north. In the same way, in every situation Prema turns toward God alone. So the foremost human value is love of God itself. That very Prema is in every human being. This is the ‘special grace’ God has given to man. The Veda has proclaimed the principle that God dwells in all beings. ‘Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānām.’ Who is Īśvara? ‘Prem Īśvar hai, Īśvar prem hai.’ Prema itself is Īśvara, and Īśvara Himself is Prema. On this very basis it has been said, ‘Love is God, God is love.’
Once, with his mother's permission, Jesus did tapas for 42 days on a mountain in the desert. Then he had the vision of his own true Self. ‘O Father! I am asking for three boons. Grant them to me,’ he prayed to God. What were they? ‘Since You have given me this life, bless me to serve everyone without causing anyone any pain. I am always ready to forgive the faults of others, but untruth I will not accept. So set me on the path of Satya. This is my very first wish,’ he said.
What was the second? ‘However much the envious torment me, revile me, mock me or hurt me, grant me a heart that stays patient and a mind that stays calm,’ he asked. People in the world grow envious at the sight of goodness. They rot within at the sight of those who prosper and those who live in comfort. These are the marks of a petty mind. Truly, even animals are not envious in this way. But since selfishness has grown so great in man today, envy has kept growing along with it.
And what was the third wish Jesus asked for? ‘O God! Your Ānanda is my Ānanda. You are the embodiment of Prema. I too am the embodiment of Prema. The whole must become one with the whole itself. So I offer my perfect Prema at Your feet alone. My life must be offered in Your service alone,’ he said. God is perfect. To that Perfect One alone we must offer our perfect Prema.
When Jesus was born, three Arabian kings came there. The first king said, ‘This one looks like a child who loves God.’ The second king said, ‘This one will grow into a child whom God loves.’ The third king said, ‘This one is God Himself.’ One who loves God is a messenger of God. One who is loved by God is a ‘son of God’. That is why Jesus said first, ‘I am the messenger of God.’ Then he said, ‘I am the son of God.’ At the end he said, ‘I and my Father are one.’
Man has three forms. 1. The physical form. 2. The mental form. 3. The form of the Ātma. The first is the one you think you are. The second, the one others you are. The third, the one you really are. ‘In the Ātma, I and my Father are one,’ said Jesus. Hanumān told Śrī Rāma this same thing: ‘Rāma! With the sense of the body, I am Your servant. With the sense of the jīva, I am a part of You. With the sense of the Ātma, I and You are one.’ With this feeling every man must first enter the path of karma as God's messenger, and do good deeds with all his heart. The second is the path of Bhakti. That is, worshipping God, serving, singing bhajans, doing japa, and yearning for God. Next, the third is the path of Jñāna. ‘Work, worship, wisdom’: that is, man must begin with karma and end in Jñāna.
That God is the indweller of all is something even simple people understand. But today, for the intellectuals, everything is a doubt! ‘If God is everywhere, our eyes do not see Him!’ they argue. In these times, people with no learning at all are far better than the intellectuals. Where is the butter in milk? It is in every drop, in every particle. But it is not seen. Then when does it become visible to us? When you turn it into curd and churn it with the churning stick, the butter comes up to the top. God is everywhere, like butter in milk. Then when is He seen? Offer to God the milk of Prema that is in the vessel of your heart. Offering your Prema to God is the sādhana you must do.