← The Gospel of Swami RamdasHis talks, as recorded by Swami Satchidananda

1957-10-30

Chapter 58

Anandashram, October 30, 1957

590. 'Tired of writing letters'

The two platforms under construction beneath the banyan and peepul trees were being raised. After some consideration Papa decided that they must be made into one long cement platform and it was done accordingly. When Papa came up that way, after visiting the office, he remarked: "You see, we want money in thousands. Money coming in driblets won't do. Ram has now to wake up and send the necessary money. He is sleeping now. That won't do.”

Papa had been reading from various books to the Hamiltons between 2 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. In the afternoon he started reading from the November issue of The Vision just received from the press. Krishna Iyer and Ganga were also present. Before reading, Papa remarked: "There is a poem written by John Roebuck, in which he says that God has given us the power to see how others see us. We are always looking at us only from our own angle. We must know how others look at us. Ramdas is going to read out something written by Prasanna (Mrs Jean Herbert) of Geneva about Ramdas. Ramdas did not like very much to read it out himself as others might consider him a conceited fellow. So saying he burst into laughter in which all joined.

Papa read out the long article and a few others from the journal. After he had finished reading, Ralph Hamilton took it from him. On opening it he found a slip of paper pasted to it, on which was printed the following:

"The readers of The Vision are hereby informed that Swami Ramdas' general health continues to be fairly good. He is not observing mouna or silence. He is normally active, but as complete rest is considered necessary, he has stopped touring for three years and correspondence for the future."

RH: You say you have stopped touring for three years and correspondence for the future. Do you mean to say you are not going to write letters at all in future? That will be terrible for the devotees!

Papa: Ramdas has been writing letters for the past twenty-six years to friends and the copies of all these thousands of letters are kept in hundreds of files. He has given in his letters and books whatever he has to say. He has exhausted himself and he has nothing more to say. The same people are writing over and over again on the same subject. They just do not follow the instructions but go on asking him more questions. Ramdas feels that they should now, instead of writing letters, have Ramdas in their mind and be in tune with him. When friends come to the ashram, Ramdas will talk to them and they can ask him all the questions they have. Ramdas is tired of writing letters.

MH: What about the new devotees to whom you have not written so far?

Papa: Let them come here and see Ramdas.

MH: But all cannot afford to. They just don't have the means to come.

Papa: That is not correct. If they have intense aspiration, God will help them to come.

MH: As in my case.

Papa: Yes, Ramdas had some time ago decided not to give lectures or speeches. He felt that people should get spiritual strength and get transformed at his very sight. There were such cases too.

MH: Suppose people write to you. Don't you reply to them at all? Are you asking S to write on your behalf?

Papa: Ramdas asks him to send replies and gives him some hints here and there. He sends the replies all right.

MH: From what you are doing one may wrongly think that you are going to drop the body. Devotees may be anxious.

Papa: People are anxious. They write letters enquiring after Ramdas' health.

MH: Are you going to write another book?

Papa: No. He has already written in his books what he has to say.

MH: Then your stopping the work is perhaps to give me the strength to start on my writings. I have been trying to put in writing my visions and other experiences. But I have not been able to make a start yet. I felt this morning that I have come here to get the fullest spiritual experience.

Papa: You will get it. That is what you have come here for, thousands of miles from your home. You are being prepared for it and you will get the experience you have been longing for. You can put all your experiences in books for the western people. You will be a great spiritual force to guide people in America. God will make you a blazing and powerful instrument to spread His message in America.

MH: May it come to pass by your blessings!

Papa: Yes, it will.

MH: I have been anxious to get a start on my writings. I know I am doing God's will.

Papa: When you allow things to work according to God's will you will have nothing to worry about. He will bring about everything at the proper time. You need not be anxious at all. You have only to remember Him constantly and meditate on Him.

MH: There is no moment when He is out of my thoughts.

Papa: That is good.

November 6, 1957

591. Why saints meditate

It was a pleasant morning with light drizzle after heavy showers overnight. Papa along with DG Karanjgaokar, PV Subramania Iyer and S was inspecting the construction work of the platform. There was some casual talk; otherwise the party was silent, each lost in his own reverie. As if to break it Papa asked: "Do you find any change in Ramdas since he started sitting for meditation in the mornings?"

Nobody answered for a while as the question was a little thought-provoking.

PVS: Papa's presence is inspiring and helpful to the devotees who come for meditation.

S: I thought Papa's question was not relating to the help devotees get, but the change in himself. There is no doubt about the help which devotees get.

There was silence again and Papa's question was not answered. After a while Papa said: "How Ramdas' coming for meditation helps others may also be considered. But about himself, he feels that after he started meditation he is more indrawn. He feels more unconcerned with things. That must do others good. He has nothing to gain for himself."

PVS: We read in the books that Sri Krishna was also regular in his daily meditation.

Papa: Is that so? How do you know?

PVS: That is mentioned in the books.

Papa: That was for the good of the world. In the case of Ramdas he finds that by sitting for meditation he keeps his body fit and will therefore be more useful to the world.

S: So do you mean to say that your meditation is only helpful to the physical part of your being?

Papa: Yes. He finds that he is able to talk more clearly or, shall Ramdas say, there is more transparency in him.

S: Papa mentioned something about being indrawn. People who have not attained Truth meditate so as to be in tune with the Reality and by such practice enter into a state of nirvikalpa samadhi or divine consciousness. Saints are those who have experienced nirvikalpa samadhi and are established in it. That being so, where can they take their mind farther than that?

Papa: The purpose of saints sitting for meditation is only to throw more light and power on others. They have nothing to gain for themselves. They withdraw the mind from the manifestations and make it still. Ramdas will be able to keep his body in a better condition by meditation on his own initiative. He is prompted by Ram to fulfil His own purpose. Even if he does not sit for meditation he is all right. During the tours, for months together, he was not meditating. During the world tour, there was no bhajan either. But he was in no way the worse for it. Even in the ashram, when he was ill he was not sitting for meditation. He started it only recently. The body must be fit to transmit the power of God. If the body is ill, it is no good.

S: Should all saints then regularly meditate?

Papa: Not for themselves, but for others.

S: Is that the reason why some saints never give up meditation all their life, even after they have attained the goal?

Papa: Must be. There may be also some who have not attained the fullest spiritual experience. In the case of Ramdas, he has had no meditation now for years together. During his sadhana days he had prayed to Ram to give him His vision and make him wear his body out in His service. He has recently been praying that Ram may make him talk less, but make him so radiant and dynamic that those who come near him should be elevated and given the experience of the Divine presence.

592. Mildred Hamilton and her experiences

PVS now reminded Papa of his intention to go to the rooms of the Hamiltons. Papa immediately got up and the whole group except PVS walked towards the new building (Lalitha Devi building) and entered the room. Ralph received Papa near the entrance and took him and others with him to the adjoining room which he called his 'sitting room', where Mildred greeted Papa and asked him to sit on the sofa that was recently sent to them. Papa remarked: "Oh, this is a fine sofa. You can sit on it even for meditation." He then sat cross-legged on the sofa. All others also sat, some on the chairs and some on the cot.

Papa: We were talking about Ramdas’ sitting for meditation in the mornings nowadays.

Papa then told them the gist of the conversation and continued: "Ramdas was praying to Ram that he must have so much power and radiance that those who came before him must get spiritually illumined.

MH: I feel that already when I sit before you.

Papa: See, your face is so radiant and full of joy, your eyes – how bright they are!

MH then took some typed sheets of paper from her table and said, "This is what I noted down when S could not be with us one afternoon and when you said the most wonderful things. I wanted to give this to S for his record." She then read out the typed matter containing Papa's talk with her on the 5th November.

"I had asked Papa about the various states of samadhi and from that subject he went on to talk about the various sadhanas necessary in order to have complete self-realisation, stressing the need for the spiritual aspirant to be quiet and alone at times so that he might meditate uninterruptedly upon God.

"As he went on talking about the various practices and the stages one goes through in order to attain, I tried to determine, after thinking over the events of my own busy life and the fact that I had had but very little opportunity to do any of the things which he said were necessary, just what my actual state of development was; so I said: 'Papa, I have never had the opportunity to do any of the things you have said, yet in spite of the fact that I could seldom sit in meditation, the bliss of God has filled me so greatly that I have been almost helpless in it, Will you please tell me what state of development I am in?'

"How can mere words describe the radiance which appeared on his face – the wistfulness and the look of ineffable love and tenderness? In the pause that followed, he put his hands together as he does when he is filled to overflowing with bliss and said like a small shy boy: "Ramdas can only tell you that you are his divine mother. He sees you as the very embodiment of God's light. You are a shining being spreading your love, light and bliss on all." For a moment the whole world stood still as I got the full impact of his words and of the Spirit within him, realising that here from the lips of God Himself was the verification of what He had told me when I was in samadhi. In the suspended state in which I found my consciousness it seemed as though this was at once both my destiny and its fulfilment. When finally I could speak I said, 'I feel that I have attained God but the terrible way of the Cross over which I have come remains in my consciousness and makes me doubt. God has revealed to me the inner Truth about much of the scriptures. What about the rest of them; do I not still have to receive that?' And he replied, 'Forget the scriptures. You have risen far above them. It is not necessary for you to follow the practices laid down for others. The scriptures are only for the benefit and guidance of those who are still on the path. Let the love of God overflow within your being, to enlighten others. He will use you to give His truth, His wisdom and His love to all with whom you come into contact.' I said, 'You mean He will supply the rest of the knowledge of the scriptures as they are needed.' He answered, 'God's grace has come to you through your Guru. He is working through you to do all things.'

"That morning my husband had expressed doubt about his own ability to realise God and I had assured him that he would. However, to verify my own feeling about it and also for his satisfaction I said, 'Papa, Father doesn't believe he will receive full enlightenment and I have told him that he will. Is this not true?' He answered, 'Yes, it is true.' Then looking at him, he said, 'How could it be otherwise when you have come here so humbly, so sincerely and with such a pure heart?' Then he added,' 'You should be very happy to have such a wife.' And then, with just a breath of a pause, he turned to me and said, 'You should also be very happy to have him as a husband.' We both assured him that such was our feeling and he beamed at us with joy.

"Each precious moment spent in Papa's presence is like a gift from heaven; but today, because of the words that were spoken, it seemed as though God, through His infinite love and mercy, graciously stooped down and, like a little child, offered me the gift of Himself."

She finished reading, placed the typed notes back on the table and said: "Now I want to ask you a question. Father (Ralph) says that Papa sees all women as the divine mother and that there is nothing special if he says so in my case. What do you say about it?"

Papa laughed and kept quiet for a few minutes. He looked at Ralph, then at Mildred, at Karanjgaokar and S. Then he looked down smiling. All the while, others were eagerly waiting for him to speak, wondering what his answer would be. They were not kept in suspense for long. Papa raised his head. His face broadened into a smile. He said: "He (Ralph) is right in a way. All of you are God. Ramdas looks upon all women as the forms of the universal Mother. But when you (turning to Mildred) asked the question, the reply was suitable for the occasion. When Ramdas looks at others he does not see merely their exterior. He sees deep within them all the divine spirit – God. By so doing alone Ramdas can awaken God in others. That is God seeing God. That is the truth. Ramdas knows that it is God only who has assumed all these forms in the universe. He is the Guru and He himself is the disciple. As a disciple, He pretends that he is ignorant and asks to be guided by the Guru. As a Guru He pretends that he has realised, and guides the disciple. The whole world is a pretence. We must see Him alone in all the forms."

593. Ramdas like a mirror

Papa: Some friends come and ask Ramdas whether they are progressing or not. As Ramdas has already told you, he does not see the exterior of these persons. He sees them as God. So he tells them, ‘You are He. Why do you pretend that you have to attain anything? Give up the pretence.'

It is not that Ramdas cannot understand or gauge the progress of the devotees. It is possible. But he does not tell them because there is a great danger in doing so. If he tells them that they have advanced, they become proud, and pride goes before a fall. If he tells them that they are not, they feel dejected and even give up their efforts to realise Him. In either case there is danger.

Ramdas is like a mirror. All saints are. You see in him your own reflection. Whatever answers he gives are words put in his mouth by yourself because it is you who make him talk. If you come before him with an open mind, revealing the Self in you, you will see the Self in Ramdas. When you put a question to Ramdas you are for the time being raised to that level and therefore that reply comes from Ramdas.

MH: Father (Ralph) still feels that the ego in me has not yet been crucified.

Papa: Others' opinions about us need not be always correct. Nobody can understand another. God alone can understand us. We cannot understand saints from what they talk or do. We must know them only from what they are. Only God can know them. You must, both of you, become spiritual dynamos. You must be able to radiate peace and joy wherever you go in America and lead people on the path of God.

RH: But when are we to get started?

Papa: It is already started, even from Seattle.

RH: I do not feel so.

594. Ralph's experiences

Papa: Feel or not, it is there. Whenever Ramdas gets an occasion, he tells Mataji the gist of our conversations. Yesterday Ramdas told her that both of you are happy here and are getting the expected benefit. She was writing Ram Nam. She suddenly stopped writing and told Ramdas, 'It is very good. Please see that they are fully satisfied and return home with the fullest spiritual experience and all doubts cleared.' See how anxious she is. Even when she is looking after your material comforts carefully, her heart is on your spiritual progress.

MH: Yes, Papa. I can feel it. I love her so much that I know I am one with her. Krishna Iyer who was present during the talks the other day, came here the morning after and said that he wanted to worship the divine Mother. He then prostrated before me, falling flat on the ground, when a spiritual vibration ran through my body with wonderful effect. I asked him to worship God in himself and not anybody outside.

Papa took out his watch and seeing that it was nearing 11 a.m. said, "Ramdas must go now. Mataji will be waiting for him." He got up. Ralph was very much moved by the talks; so were the others. He stood looking at Papa with folded hands. Papa went near him, put his arms around him and gave him a warm embrace. Disentangling his arms, he patted Ralph's chest with his right hand. Ralph's eyes were moist. He stood there still as if dazed. Papa and the two others left for Papa's room.

At 2 o'clock, when Mildred and Ralph came to sit with Papa as usual, Mildred said: "Papa, do you know what a wonderful thing you have done? After you embraced father, he was laughing for a while, then crying, and finally he sat and went into samadhi. For an hour and a half, he sat motionless. He had his hands in this posture (mudra).

Papa (smiling): Ramdas expected this report. He expected it and he wished for it.

Papa then patted Ralph on the back and placed his right hand on his head.

RH: Papa, it was wonderful. Will it stay with me?

Papa: Ramdas will give you another embrace so that this experience may remain permanent with you. But it may not be necessary.

MH: I was feeling sorry he alone got the experience. Will you not some day put your arms around me?

Papa: Ramdas shall some day place his hands on your head. That will do.

November 7, 1957

595. Do not externalise your mind by a show of service

It was the day of Kartik Purnima, the reununciation day of Mataji, the Silver Jubilee of which was celebrated two years ago. The day was not celebrated in the ashram every year.

Around 7 p.m., S went to see Mataji in the kitchen. She was then taking idli and milk while the ashramites and other visitors in the dining-hall in the veranda were having their meal. S sat by her side. Mataji started talking about the departure of Kogganna a couple of days earlier. She was, as a mother, anxious about him. She wondered why she should have got angry that time, as she had been very successful in calmly dealing with him for the past fifteen years. He had left the ashram twice before in anger and she did not want to create another occasion for him to go away in a huff. In spite of that, it happened again.

Just then, Y brought and showed Mataji a plate of lozenges which he wished to distribute to the devotees as prasad after bhajan, that day being the renunciation day of Mataji. Mataji's face showed that it did not please her. When he had taken a few steps backwards with the idea that he had obtained Mataji's consent for the distribution, Mataji quietly told him, "Why are you again and again doing things exactly contrary to what I wish you to do? That is not going to do you any good. Who wanted you to do anything special today? Are we celebrating this day every year? Instead of taking your mind inward, why do you still externalise it? I would have been happy if you had written or repeated more Ram Nam today. You do not care to do that. You only want to show to everybody that you have done something and thus get name and fame. This does not please me. Instead of spending money on lozenges you could have given it to some poor man. Yesterday when I asked you to send a letter to Kogganna's wife by express delivery, you forgot to do so. This money could have been used to send her a telegram." Without a word Y went to the bhajan-hall with the plate of lozenges.

596. Lunar eclipse

There was an eclipse of the moon from 6.15 p.m. to 9 p.m. Orthodox brahmins would not take any food during the eclipse and for four or five hours earlier in order to keep the stomach empty during eclipse. They would perform special prayers and so forth on the occasion. Krishna Iyer had asked Mataji that afternoon whether eclipse was an occasion for any observance in the ashram. She had given a negative reply. He however desired to have his food early. Mataji forgot to pass on the information to the kitchen.

Krishna Iyer was coming towards the place where Mataji was standing. Calling him near, she told him: "Now we must go beyond all these observances. Such things are all right for those who are on the lowest rung of the ladder. They all have to be given up when you advance and then, for you, there will be no such thing as auspicious day or inauspicious day. All days are equally auspicious. So many things happen in nature as a matter of course and such happenings cannot make the day good or bad."

Krishna Iyer: People observe eclipse days as special days because they say that period is most favourable to prayer and meditation.

Mataji: That is not for you all. You should not still cling to or depend upon favourable or unfavourable hours for meditation. All hours should be favourable. You are supposed to remember God all the time – all the twentyfour hours of the day and all the days of the year. How can you then wait for a favourable time?

Krishna Iyer: By your grace alone I must be able to go beyond all these.

Mataji: Papa's grace is there.

November 8, 1957

597. You get only what you pray for

7.30 a.m. Mataji was having her breakfast in the dining-hall along with S and a few other ashramites. Krishna Iyer who had performed, a few minutes earlier, pada-pooja to Papa came in with some flowers and a garland on a plate to worship Mataji. Swami Krishnananda followed with a small vessel containing pada-tirtha which was handed over to Mataji. She drank a little from it and distributed a spoonful each to others present there. After taking the tirtha, Krishna Iyer placed some flowers at Mataji's feet, garlanded her and made a dandavat namaskar placing his head at her feet. Getting up, he stood before her with folded hands and prayed, "O Mother, bless me with bhakti, give me bhakti." He repeated the same prayer thrice and Mataji assured him that Papa had given him all blessings. Krishna Iyer then left the hall happy.

There was a peculiar smile on Mataji's face. She wanted to say something, but she seemed uncertain whether to say it or not. Noticing that, a devotee sitting near Mataji told S, "Mataji wants to tell you something."

S: She will tell me if she wants to.

Devotee: She seems to be hesitating to say. Perhaps she does not like others to hear. S looked at Mataji and asked her if she really wanted to say something.

Mataji: When Krishna Iyer came and prayed that he might be blessed with bhakti, I felt why he should ask only for bhakti. You keep asking God to give you bhakti, jnana and so on one by one. By the time you get a chance to ask Him to take you and to absorb you in His own Being, you will have dropped this body and taken another birth. Instead of asking for these one by one, why not straightaway pray for completely merging in Him?

S: We may ask for anything. When you know what is best for us, why don't you grant us that? If we ask for bhakti and you know that we should have prayed for merging in you, why should you not give us that at once?

Mataji: That is not possible. You will get only what you ask for. If we give you something more than you ask for, you cannot digest it. You may not even accept it. Take for example what happened yesterday. I gave you two pieces of halva. You ate only one and gave the other away to Lingappa. You could not eat all that I gave.

S: The question of eating is different. If we overeat the stomach revolts.

Mataji: Ah! That is exactly so. If we give you anything more than what you ask for, your mind will revolt.

S: I feel you should give it to us even if our mind revolts.

Mataji: That is not possible. You must prepare yourself to receive it. Instead of wishing for one thing after another, wish for the highest attainment.

S: Suppose we do not ask for anything, but leave you to give us whatever you think best.

Mataji: If you do so, it is all right. But who is doing it? Mere saying with the mouth won't do. You must feel it. How many are prepared for that?

December 1, 1957

598. Swami Anandashram's visit

His Holiness Srimad Swami Anandashram was the ninth head of Sri Chitrapur Math in Shirali, North Kanara in the Karnataka State. The Math had been ministering to the spiritual needs for over two hundred years of the small but highly cultured community of Saraswats to which Pujya Papa and Mataji belonged. Both had evinced keen interest in and felt deep loyalty to the Math and the gurus who had adorned it; Mataji, especially, took every opportunity that came her way to visit the Math for the darshan of the spiritual head. Both had frequently paid their respects to Srimad Pandurangashram Swamiji, the predecessor and Guru of the present Swamiji who was, at that time, fiftyfive years old and whom they had known from his initiation into sannyas about the age of twelve.

As the Swamiji was to visit the Ashram that day, excitement, gaiety and fervour filled the atmosphere. The ashram grounds had been gaily decorated with festoons, flowers, arches and coloured lights. Over three hundred devotees had gathered to welcome Sri Swamiji and were eagerly looking at every car passing along the main road, keeping up a chatter on varied topics, while the children played about. To provide a better atmosphere, someone started singing Ram Nam which caught up, filling the air with spiritual vibrations.

A car turned towards the ashram and stopped around the Ram chakra and from it stepped out a saffron-clad, bespectacled, tall, fair, handsome, serenely-radiant figure, shod in wooden sandals, a half-smile playing on his lips. Papa received Sri Anandashram Swamiji and put a garland of tulsi leaves around his neck and touched his holy feet. Papa then led him to the asan in the bhajan-hall filled to capacity and again, making pranams, took his seat next to him. The assembled devotees in turn paid their respects to the Swamiji and garlanded him. Thereafter according to the Math custom 'deepa namaskar' invoking the blessings of the earlier heads of the Math was performed. Pada-pooja was performed with the sastric rites by Sadanand Nagarkatti on behalf of the Ashram residents. Finally there was a half-hour bhajan which ended with arati. After receiving the obeisance of the devotees, the Swamiji with his retinue retired to their exquisitely decorated residence.

In deference to Ashram invitation, Sri Swamiji had visited the ashram in 1947 and stayed for three days. On their tours Papa and Mataji had never failed to call on Sri Swamiji and pay their respects to him if they happened to be at the same place. In view of the cancellation of Papa's tour for three years, they could not have the privilege of meeting Sri Swamiji. So Papa and Mataji invited His Holiness to visit the ashram once again which brought about his present visit.

During his week-long stay at the ashram, His Holiness was fully engaged and had hardly any time to relax. Most evenings Sri Swamiji attended the bhajans in the bhajan-hall; he witnessed the film shows, specially screened for him, of Papa's world tour and so on; also he heard Srimati Sita Devi Padukone's discourse in Konkani on ‘Jnaneshwari’, the tape recording of Sri Swami Hariharananda Bharati's harikatha and the violin recital of Sri Ratnakar Bhat. Sri Swamiji also went round the several ashram buildings.

On Wednesday, the 4th December, His Holiness spoke eloquently in Konkani stressing the importance of purifying oneself. He explained the nature of the Atman as Existence, Consciousness and Bliss and of anatma as name and form. Referring to transient worldly happiness, he said that that also sprang from the bliss of Atman and it was futile to search for pure, unalloyed happiness in the world as worldly happiness was always followed by its opposite. The real and eternal happiness was within them – in the Atman. Describing how a jnani would remain blissful, unaffected by worldly contacts, whereas the ignorant soul would be miserable, tossed about by the pairs of opposites, he quoted Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's illustration of a dry coconut, the kernel of which was detached from the shell, while the kernel of a tender coconut broke along with the shell. He spoke in detail of the various approaches to the ultimate Truth – jnana-yoga, raja-yoga, bhakti-yoga and karma-yoga – and the difficulties common people would experience if they resorted to the path of jnana. The different paths, he clearly explained, could not be considered watertight compartments but that they were all correlated. One path alone to the exclusion of the others, he said, could not be practised. The discourse concluded with a prayer to the Lord to bless all for the attainment of eternal peace and happiness.

It would be difficult to render, faithfully and in its entirety, into English his eloquent speech full of high and noble thoughts expressed with precision and brevity.

On the eve of the departure of His Holiness for Calicut, Sadanand performed pada-pooja on behalf of the ashram residents. On the morning of the 8th Sri Swamiji and party, after bhajan, left the ashram to board the train at 10 a.m.

Papa revelled in such meetings; he would prostrate and touch the feet of saints and sannyasins in reverence. "Ramdas is after all their child. He has received countless namaskars and now finds occasion to pass them on to these noble souls. Sannyasins have showered their love on Ramdas and in the company of saints Ramdas fills a huge vessel with spiritual wealth, later to distribute among friends. He keeps the vessel replenished and permits it to be emptied," so would Papa say.

A large number of devotees had come from far and near, to share the rare privilege of having a dip in the holy Triveni Sangam, that is the ocean of bliss called into being by the blessed meeting of the holy trio – Srimad Anandashram Swamiji, Pujya Papa and Mataji.

The meeting of saints is of immense significance. It helps to break down all man-made barriers and to guide aspirants to the only worthwhile goal of Self or God-realization. The atmosphere created by such a meeting seeps into the minds of devotees and inspires them to tread the noble path with steady steps.

“Satsangatve nissangatvam Nissangatve nirmohatvam Nirmohatve nischalatatvam Nischalatatve jeevenmuktih”

'From association with saints comes detachment from the world, from detachment springs freedom from delusion, freedom from delusion leads to one-pointed meditation on Truth, which in turn brings (liberation in this life)."

OM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM