All chapters36 of 42

God-Realisation – The Aim

O PAPA, the lover of devotees! You have implanted in the hearts of people a desire to save money for themselves and for their kith and kin. But you being the mother of all your children, with the intention of making them happy, take money from one son and give it to another. Really all people in the world are your children and so you are getting money from the rich among them and spending it on others who are in need.

O Papa, the lover of the humble! Just as the food taken by the mouth is assimilated by all parts of the body, so also, all that you do is for the welfare of the entire world. But, as you in several forms do not take advantage of your teachings and activities but cling to the idea that they are separate from the world and behave accordingly, they are not happy.

When we eat good food it is absorbed only by the healthy parts of the body and not by the unhealthy parts, although these parts are also ourselves and our own. Similarly, those who do not derive any benefit by your action and those who derive it are both yourself and your own. Still, in order to cure the disease in the body we treat ourselves with medicines. In a similar manner we have to strive to remove ignorance and bring eternal happiness to all people who are ourselves and our own.

O love-incarnate Papa! Besides those of whom I have described above, the rich, the poor, the destitute, the miserable, the evil-minded and repentant people, the moment they see you, they place full faith in you and come to the Ashram. Of these, some come with the aim of taking refuge in you, some others with a view to spend their life in your company, still others come to you to get initiated into Sannyas, keenly aspiring for the experience of the bliss of God-realisation. Some others come to the Ashram and, having their own lodging, join the Ashram service and carry on their activities with all faith and love. Those who are given shelter in the Ashram of our own accord do all kinds of Ashram service with love and enthusiasm.

O Papa, the bestower of bliss! I had really a great desire that those who have settled down in the Ashram should be blessed with the realisation of the supreme and immortal Being. We have provided them with all possible facilities. This is true in regard to both visitors and also those who remain permanently in the Ashram, the object being that their minds might flow towards your immortal Being. Besides, in order to prevent their minds from being diverted to the needs of the body, we provide them with food, clothing and shelter as far as possible. In the case of some devotees, whenever they felt a wish even for trifling things, we used to provide them with all the things desired so that this desire might not come in the way of their spiritual advancement. But all our efforts proved in vain because you did not give them intense aspiration to realise you.

O compassionate Papa! Whenever I found fault with anybody, since you have given me the experience that I am the entire universe, I really found fault with myself, without seeing difference between myself and that person. For example, though we love all parts of our body equally, when there is an abscess on any part, we apply strong medicines or use a knife to cut it open, only with the idea of making that part healthy. In the same way, since the whole world is myself, when I find fault with anybody with a view to remove their shortcomings, I do so in fact with regard to myself. This they do not understand and argue with me, assuming the attitude of an opponent. So also, if I admonish them for their erring ways of life they would rather keep themselves away from me than take advantage of the advice which I give them. As this entire universe is myself, just as I cannot discard any part of my body taking it to be extraneous to me, so also I cannot treat anybody with a feeling of separateness or being distant from them.

O blissful Papa! In this way, however much we were anxious about the inner progress of these people to whom we gave refuge in the Ashram, you, dwelling in every one of their hearts, did not give them the aspiration for the Reality; they loved and served you only to achieve transitory happiness. Had they aspired for eternal bliss they would have got not only that but also all other things needed in their lives. Without knowing this they made no attempt to get eternal happiness. On the contrary, we noticed later that they were lacking the intensity they had when they first came to the Ashram. Therefore, I was feeling often that the Ashram has done more harm than good. So if anyone expressed the idea of starting an Ashram, I would tell him, “Don’t start an Ashram. If you do, people by joining it will only be caught up in confusion, and the day for their attaining real happiness will be put off. Moreover, those who started the Ashram would be mentally ruffled.”

O all-pervading Papa! So many people, without themselves realising the immortal Reality, open Ashrams with a view to uplift others spiritually. They don’t consider what their own life was, why they renounced everything, and whether their aim had been fulfilled. As a result, after opening an Ashram, their minds which had been turned inward, came out and got entangled in the maze of external activities; thereby their Sadhana got cut short. Thus their condition became worse than what it was when they were living the worldly life. Once their minds descended to lower levels, their desire for worldly pleasures waxed strong and they themselves fell into the ditch and dragged others also down into it.

O omnipresent Papa! Please therefore do not give the urge to any Sannyasin or anybody else to establish an Ashram. In our body, which is a miniature universe, there are different kinds of bacteria causing various functions in our system. Every moment countless of these are created, preserved and destroyed. Thus the process of creation, preservation and destruction is going on continuously and simultaneously in our body. We are, however, unaffected by these. So also, after one realises his oneness with you who is the universe and beyond, he remains unaffected by the process of creation, preservation and destruction constantly going on in the universe.

O Papa, the beloved of your devotees! Please inspire only the blessed forms of yours who are established in such an exalted experience to undertake the work of spiritually uplifting humanity.