Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.29

Prapancha is a Means; Paramartha is the AimKeep profound faith, 'I am for Rama, not for prapancha.' Do not say, 'I live for myself'; say, 'I live for Rama;' then you will imbibe Rama's virtues. We live for prapancha, so we imbibe its merits and demerits. Therefore, live for God. Prapancha is a means, paramartha is the aim. No one can escape prapancha. Sages, unlike us, however, utilize it to good, we don’t; therefore, we don't succeed in paramartha.
There are three rare things; birth as a human; association with saints; and longing for liberation. Human life is meant for paramartha only, not for sense pleasures. There should be intense longing for paramartha and a purified heart. With these two, one will certainly meet Shrirama. If oil is not provided at intervals, a lamp gets extinguished. Continuous remembrance of God ensures proper burning of the spiritual lamp. Paramartha implies practical application. If interested in a pilgrimage, you must first leave home and start walking; certainly somebody will show the path; at least signboards are there. We don't even make a start on the path of paramartha, then how shall one meet a guide? We will certainly meet a guru on the spiritual path. Therefore, let us begin with paramartha, maintaining constant remembrance of God.
Behaviour and thoughts should be in mutual unison. Whatever is read and understood from holy books should be practised at least to some extent. What is not understood will also slowly become clear later. The destination is not visible immediately on leaving the house. We reach it, step by step, following one road after another. Similarly, even if we don't understand the teaching in a book entirely, let us act on whatever is understood. Have firm faith in the words of saints, sadguru and scriptures. Don't ever allow confusion to enter the intellect. If this is followed, prapancha will be spiritualised. To say, 'I belong to Rama' is paramartha; to have ego is prapancha. Mixing ego in paramartha is prapancha; eliminate ego in prapancha and it becomes paramartha. We supply the tree of prapancha with the water of ego, therefore it grows into a huge size. The root cause, ego, should be destroyed. While the real doer is God, the jeeva unjustifiably regards himself as the doer. The real upasana is in the growth of the feeling, 'Rama alone is the doer, not I'.
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