Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.30.

Care for Prapancha with Mind Fixed on Rama
Try to satisfy everybody but keep your mind fixed on Rama. If we remember Rama and do our worldly activity, there will be no occasion for regret. Let God be a witness to actions. This is true paramartha. Conduct worldly matters with worldly wisdom; in paramartha, follow whatever the guru tells. It is Kaliyuga at present and naturally Kali is all-powerful, rampant. Naturally, there is a clamour of his sway all round us; however, you will escape unscathed if you keep your mind fixed on Rama.
Be cautious and alert in worldly matters, do not spare efforts. Remember Shrirama in the heart. Link your efforts with God. Do not waste time in pondering over whatever happened in the past, or worrying over the future; today, remember Shrirama and do your duty. If efforts alone could make the world happy, there would not have been any sorrow. Therefore, have God always as the base for your efforts. Dedicate everything to Him and do not worry about the outcome of your efforts. One who belongs to Rama and who has brought Rama in his house, will never have a losing business.
Take care of your worldly matters, be cautions in them; simultaneously, establish Rama in the heart, chant nama by the mouth, dedicate your body to Him; associate with saints; give food to everyone who visits you; this alone will lead to real spiritual success. The outer hard shell of a coconut is for the protection of the inner soft layer of the kernel; regard your body similarly, and have Shrirama in the heart.
Saints and sages tell us that it is possible with efforts to attain even God. Always remember this. But at the same time, remember that this is possible only for one who remembers God at the beginning itself. Therefore, constant remembrance of God is essential. While in His remembrance, do your duty, and this will lead to happiness. Therefore be alert and earnest in performing your duty, simultaneously do it unselfishly, without any expectation. So long as we are conscious of the body, the related worldly matters have to be attended to. Therefore, efforts should be undertaken as a duty; and leaving success or failure to God's will. If one eschews doership, one will be free from pleasure and pain.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.30

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.30

Sri Maharaja's Pravachans-September 29

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.29

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.29

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept 28

Pride Dissolves with Awareness of GodHe is a true mystic who performs his duties in a householder's life without pride and attachment. The life of the householder will be happy if pride is discarded. Never insist, 'What I say shall be done.' A building with pride as its foundation is bound to be shaky. Pride is related to the body and subjects connected with it. Pride should be uprooted by eliminating the 'body-am-I' idea. Logically, we accept the body not to be ours, but constant association develops love for it. Once love is developed, pride follows. Closely behind, avarice, anger, etc. are bound to arrive. Pride implies doership. Why can't we work in practical life without pride?
Our mind and body are closely related. But the body being perishable, is not that important. A strong, fat body alone is of no use; our mind must be trained. Once it consciously accepts the concept 'I belong to God,' it is possible to become prideless. Try always to remain in devotion to God; pride dare not touch you. Earnestly pray God with tears in eyes, surrender to Him; then God will definitely shower His grace on you. We should know our limitations. As long as we feel that a certain thing should be done in a particular way, we must make all possible effort for it; however, we must leave its fruit to the will of God and remain contented in whatever happens.
Our mind should be kept pure, taintless. When we go to bed we should honestly, frankly introspect, 'Do I envy or hate anybody?'. If the answer is in the affirmative we must remove the feeling, even by force if necessary; even a small trace will be an obstacle in the spiritual progress. We should be able to say firmly, 'I do not envy anybody.' Our mind should be so pure and straight that we should not allow even the idea that someone envies us. Why will it not be possible for us to merge with God by constant awareness 'I belong to God, not to this body'? He alone is really enlightened, who is filled, in and out, with God or His knowledge. He alone is a true sadhaka maintaining true awareness, and really liberated, whose mind is pervaded by God's remembrance, just as consciousness pervades the entire body.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.28

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.28

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.27.

Remembrance is an Action
It is true that the guru should do everything; and that he unfailingly does. But we should examine if we are really worthy disciples. What else is required to transcend body-consciousness, except to abide by the word of the guru? If I reflect on the thought, 'I am not the body' I shall sometime transcend body-consciousness. Alternatively, I say, 'God is mine.' so that I forget body-consciousness.
I tell you on the authority of Samartha Ramadas, 'take care of your moral discipline, and whatever be the circumstances, do not forget nama.' He is a real devotee who says, 'Whatever I do is for God.' One has to become an excellent devotee for elimination of doership. To aspire for nothing other than God is the sign of an excellent devotee. That obstacle which holds God off from us is a true obstacle. That period which is spent in the remembrance of God is a happy period. Remembrance is an action and forgetting is a natural impulse. Remembrance is like an offering to the fire, and anhilitating ego is a complete final offering. The impulse must be submerged with God. We instinctively remember sense pleasures as they have taken complete possession of us. But remembering God has to be intentional. It is not so easy but not so difficult either. It is possible for human beings to do it.
Devotion to God is naturally achievable. It can be achieved by constant awareness of God. This awareness must be consciously maintained; then experience will come early. A sentry on duty is vigilant; similarly, if awareness of God is maintained consciously, worldly desires will be destroyed. There should not be the least slackness in this awareness; else desires will get an opportunity, like a thief.
Fever gives a bitter taste to the mouth, which remains even with rubbing sugar on. The bitter sense disappears only when fever is gone. Similarly, the sense of pain and sorrow leaves us only when we have unbroken awareness of God. So free yourself from the attachment to prapancha, then alone you will really enjoy family life. Just as a lamp kept on the threshold lights both sides, awareness of God throws light on paramartha as well as prapancha. Keeping God at the base of our attention towards prapancha is awareness of God or anusandhana.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.27

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.27

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.26

Forgetting God is SuicideOnce a person started a school for teaching how to prepare different recipes. There he used to explain with oral description, the procedures for these preparations. But his students could not get even enough flour for their bread; what use could they make of this knowledge? The wordy knowledge of vedanta is similar. A man who only studies vedanta merely academically, without applying it in practical life, does not benefit from it. Knowledge which is not applicable in practice, is not useful to us, even though it may be true. In fact, a thing which is very easy to practise is very difficult to explain, it is to be known by experience only. He may be considered as incomplete whose experience is dependent on others.
The difference between us and saints is that we consider that God is for the world, while saints consider that the world is for God. When the mixture of two substances brings taste, both the substances should be considered as incomplete. In this world, God alone is complete in all respects; to forget Him is suicide. So we should try to remain in His association, that is, in nama. This is the essence of all keertanas, only the exposition is different.
Shri Rama told all the monkeys to search for Seeta. Everyone left, saying 'yes'. But Maruti, who was very intelligent, asked how to recognize Seeta. Shrirama tried to describe her in different ways, told him that she was very beautiful. But Maruti, a confirmed bachelor, did not know what a beautiful woman looked like! Finally Rama said, 'You don't seem to understand what I say; now you remember only one thing; where you hear the constant sound of my nama, there she must be.' Maruti could easily understand this. One who understands the sign of nama, has his life fulfilled, his paramartha is fruitful, and for him nothing remains to be achieved in this world. The devotion of Maruti was really great! Shrirama felt that he will not be satisfied unless he is given something permanent or 'chiranjeeva'; He therefore gave him his own name, which is chiranjeeva. With that name Maruti became chiranjeeva or deathless. In this Kaliyuga, God Himself manifests, not in a physical form, but in nama, which alone is truly the saviour.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.26

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.26

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.25

How to Maintain Unbroken Awareness of God
God has gifted us with intellect and we use it for our work; this means that God himself gets the work done by us. With the faith that everything happens only by His inspiration, you develop love for God. Do everything for God and you will not be affected with sin or merit.
Once Kabeer had some guests. There was nothing in the house. Tradition requires guests to be regarded as God. So Kabeer stole just enough grain to feed them. Stealing is a crime; but, in stealing for God, there is no sin. Remembering God, at least after a deed and dedicating it to Him, will reduce pride and develop love for God.
Resolve firmly, 'I belong to God and not to the world.' This resolution should be as firm as the conviction that, I am a human being. This, however, may be difficult to achieve. The next, simpler way is to maintain the faith in the heart that whatever is happening is according to the inspiration, power, and will of God. If this also is not possible, maintain unbroken remembrance of God by chanting nama aloud by tongue. In this process of awareness the mind is constantly attached to God. At present we are going in the opposite direction. We physically worship God, go for pilgrimages, etc; but our mind is attached to prapancha.
A daughter-in-law labours hard for everybody in the family, but in her heart she is for her husband alone. Similarly, we should do everything required for everybody in the family, but in the mind constantly maintain the awareness, 'I belong to Rama'. When we enter a train, various things may happen, we may have to stand, we meet a variety of people; but later, we forget all this in the happiness of reaching our destination. Similarly, our aim is God, and we remain in His awareness; the difficulties in the worldly life get only transitory importance. Nama should be chanted for His grace, and not for fulfillment of worldly desires. Nama alone will help us attain the aim.
Like God, we should be aloof from prapancha while being in it. Learn to look at the body as a detached spectator. If this is not possible, while attending to the worldly affairs, maintain constant awareness of God. You may forget what you have read, seen, or done, but the awareness of God firmly held in the heart will never be forgotten.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.25

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept25

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.24

Mutual Behaviour in the Family

In this human life, one should do appropriate duty towards others. There should be perfect harmony in the house. The young should not find faults with elders. Children should follow the righteous behaviour of the father, this enhances the reputation of the family. The elder members, on retirement, should regard themselves as the servants of God. A wife should have no other deity than the husband. All should stick to the name of God. He who behaves according to his inherent normal nature in his youth, can easily do so in his old age; his old age will not at all be painful to him. We behave unnaturally, that is, with attachment; in old age our capacity for work gets reduced, but attachment remains unchanged, and that becomes the root cause of trouble. The person who is free from attachment and insistence in his old age, will be liked by others, in spite of his bodily weakness. His hearing may be impaired, his eyesight may get affected, he may not be able to recollect past events, his sleep may diminish; in spite of all this, none may feel like avoiding him, and he himself will not be tired of life. How splendid it will be if our ego melts away in old age! There will be no sorrow if the feeling of doership is absent and the tendency, 'but I tell you this' is eliminated.
Everybody in the family should introspect, find out his own defects, and try to eliminate them. The age between sixteen and twenty-five years is a period of growth of intellect. For its proper growth, some regulation is necessary. The best regulation is to obey the parents; because they don't have any motive except the welfare of the children. How can we hope to learn everything in the world by self-experience? Therefore we should certainly benefit from the experience of our parents. Not that our parents will not err sometimes, for to err is human. But their error will not do permanent damage to us because they have only our well-being at their heart. No one can foretell whose good luck brings a good period to the family; therefore, never feel despaired.
The greater the righteous deed, the greater are the obstacles. Constant remembrance of God is the greatest righteous deed. We should therefore resolutely and with a doubt-free mind chant nama and live in its joy.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.24

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.24

shrI Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.23

Words of Scriptures, of Saints, and Self-searching

Once Uddhava requested Shrikrishna, 'You Yourself tell us how shall we attain You.' Shrikrishna told him, 'You will be able to attain me by devotion alone'. There are three-fold means of devotion; words of the scriptures, words of the saints (or seniors), and inward search by oneself.
Everything has become topsy-turvy these days. We have become so 'learned' that we are ashamed of putting faith in scriptures. Similarly, when the son is even a little more educated than his father, he thinks, "Why should I obey this ignorant father? What shall I gain by that? " The same is with our search. What is our research? Where did Pandavas reside? Where was Rama born? Where did the Mahabharata war take place? Now tell me, what shall we gain by this research? A professor once told me, ' I have researched a lot into Shrikrishna's life and now I am sure of the places of His birth and death.' What they are doing may be all right, but saints did not feel the need of being certain of Shrikrishna's birthplace. They made Shrikrishna their own by intense devotion to Him. Really speaking, with the earnest devotion Shrikrishna must be born in our heart itself; that is His real birth-place.
If we examine our behaviour and the thoughts in our mind, we shall be sure that people will not like even to look at us, if they are aware of our mind; in spite of this we are proud of our thoughts and research! Shall we attain love for God with this kind of knowledge? There is no need for someone else to tell us about our spiritual progress. We know about it fully well. Deep-rooted pride, no control over thoughts, laziness in spiritual discipline; with all this, how shall we attain God's love? Saints have prescribed only one remedy for this, and that is total surrender to God. With an earnest supplication, say to Shri Rama, 'Rama, I am now Yours; whatever happens henceforth, I shall regard it as Your will. I shall try my utmost to chant Your name; kindly accept me as Yours.' How compassionate God really is! Swallowing hundreds of offences, and wrong actions of people, He is ever ready to help those who surrender to Him. So concentrate on nama and forget your existence as a 'body'.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.23

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.23

Sri Brahmachaitanya Maharaja's Pravachan in English- Sept.22

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.22

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.22

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.-21

Mind Reading should Begin from One's Own Self.

It is no great art or acquisition to be able to read the mind of others. If your mind is in tune with that of the other person, you can read his mind; but this will be possible only if your mind is pure. There is a certain discipline, for achieving this. So long as this discipline is practised this power exists. When it stops the power is lost. One who uses such power commercially, need not necessarily be graced by God; and it is worthless if God’s grace is not there.
It is not essential to know each other’s language for knowing the mind. Suppose a beggar from a different region comes to your door-step and sings in his language. You cannot understand his song, but you certainly understand that he is begging. Similarly, one may understand the broad outline of the thoughts in the other person's mind. It does not matter if the actual meaning of the words is not understood. If the listener comes with a keen interest, he automatically understands the essence of the speech. However, if the listener is not keen, then in spite of the clarity of the speaker, he does not really understand. Philosophical thought is eternal, never-changing. It has to be expounded in different languages according to the needs of place and time. Suppose we are travelling in a train. We remain on our seat but are moving with the train continuously. Similarly, if we stick to God, we shall reach our destination.
The lesson to learn from Rama's life is that while in this human body, you should do your duty properly in respect of everyone. Stand before Rama and tell Him, 'I am doing such and such a thing;' and then do it. Remember God while doing the work. You will then feel contented. If you remember, 'whatever I do is due to the grace of God,' how can pride grow? Focus the searchlight inwardly on yourself. Find out where you have gone wrong. Don't learn logic and become merely argumentative. Do not scrutinize the sayings of saints, for they are based on their personal experience. Their advice is in very straight-forward language. People start their scrutiny from the question, whether God exists or not; they get confused; and ultimately their progress is thwarted. Scrutiny must be done accepting God as a fact.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.21

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.21

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.20

Remembering Prapancha Causes Sorrow
Everyone undergoes the experience that whatever and whoever you treated as yours and loved with attachment, ultimately failed to give real, genuine happiness. Therefore we should pray and ask Rama ,'this whole world is working on Your will alone. I am a petty creature, Rama, do You really find me to be a burden on You? Be kind, and forgive me for my innumerable unjust acts. I have heard stories of Your protection to those who surrender to You. Kindly have grace on me. I have come to your doorstep in the faith that You are the protector and giver; where else could I go except to You? The whole world is worthless, meaningless, without You. Everything about which I had become selfish has turned into a source of sorrow and pain. O Rama, whatever be my feeling, I now certainly belong to You. I have thrown myself at your doorstep, on Your mercy; I have no interest in worldly honour. Do whatever You like; eliminate my ego.'
So long as we associate with the body, the idea of 'me, mine' will stick on along with pride, and it will not allow awareness of God. When there is pitch darkness, there is no other remedy or its disappearance except the arrival of the sun. Similarly, the difficulties in the prapancha are inescapable. But, we should not get disheartened. Remembering and harping on these difficulties and sorrows is the real cause of unhappiness and of spoiling the inherent, inborn joy. Pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, are certainly creations of our attachment; selfishness means attachment. Thus, we ourselves are responsible for the sorrow. We are the owners of happiness and sorrow, worry and repentance, due to our attachment. Thoughts arising in a restless mind, create worry, and disturb the real, natural balanced state of the mind. Happiness and sorrow do not depend upon circumstances; they depend upon the attitude. We have regarded the world as real; this has caused sorrow, our mind becoming engrossed with sense-pleasures.
Remembering the past and worrying for the future are the real causes of unhappiness. There is only one remedy for this. Don't regard prapancha as a means for happiness, regard it as a field for doing duty; try to make the mind steady by continuous remembrance of God.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.20

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.20

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept 19.

You can Transcend Time by Belonging to God
Our life is under continuous development. Compared to today we were behind yesterday, and tomorrow we shall be ahead of today. Even if this is true, if we don't do today what we are expected to do, we may slide backwards tomorrow. Our next life is the result of the present one. So if we are good today, our next birth may be good, according to the saying, 'the last dominant desire at death determines the next birth.'
Time has three dimensions; past, present and future. The past, which is already gone, will never return; you should never worry about it. When some one loses a near relative, we console him by saying, 'whatever has happened is a thing of past; what can you do? What is the use of grieving over it?' You should yourself follow your own advice; by conscious deliberation, you can forget past events. Similarly, you should not worry about the future, which is unknown. After doing today's duty, you should remain composed, remembering that,' whatever has to happen will happen'. Don't grieve over the past and don't worry about the future. At present, we cannot transcend time; and without transcending time, we can never attain God. Incidents are continuously unfolding in the world, and our anguish is ever there! This anguish is due to our shortcomings and incompleteness.
God is very happy when a human being is born, because He desires every one to know the Ultimate Reality, and this is possible only in human life. Everyone should remember that it is possible for him to comprehend God. For this, our mind should develop the feeling, desire, urge, anguish for God. What is the use of very good cooking, if you forget to put in salt? If you continue to feel or maintain an attitude of your separate identity, how can you claim to be a good devotee? There are nine ways of devotion. If you follow anyone of them single-mindedly, the remaining eight get automatically included. That alone is true listening where, whatever is understood during listening, is brought into practice in day-to-day life. That alone can be called true vedanta, which gets assimilated in our nature and is practised in everyday conduct, and it is the real essence of vedanta, to do our duty with remembrance of God throughout.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.19

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.19

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.18

Uniqueness of Rama at GondavaleI
 earnestly wish everyone goes at least once to Gondavale and pays homage ,to Rama there. Rama there is unique; when you stand before Him, He makes you aware of your defects, which is most important. Only when a man knows that he is suffering from some disease, does he find a way for its cure; similarly, when he knows his defects, he will surrender to God for their removal. Rama will certainly bless him, because it is His vow to shower Grace on anyone who totally surrenders to Him.
Who is a good physician? He who increases the patients appetite by medicine, allows him nourishing food, and gives him medicine that digests it and eventually the patient becomes free of the disease. My Rama is similar to this; I, therefore, earnestly desire everyone to see Him at least once.
A temple should have its door open, but only for genuine devotees of God. Even if only a few persons gather for a festival, it is the real joy, if they are absorbed in nama. The objective should not be merely a large gathering. A temple is primarily a place of devotion; it should therefore be simple; and intense devotion should be practise there. A temple should be maintained only on charity, not on stable assets. It should produce aspirants with high spiritual ideals, and sworn to strict moral discipline. Devotion is very dear to God. Instead of building temples of gold, efforts should be to intensify devotion in simple temples built of stone and clay.
Remember, everything happens according to God's will; so don't reject what you get, and be not sorry for what you don't get. We have forgotten God. Festivals are necessary for creating remembrance of God and its constant maintenance. Like the sun staying at one place lights the entire world, God pervades everywhere by His divine power. An unsuspecting person with purity of attitude, sees God even in stone idol; purity, of course, must be of a hundred percent standard, with no adulteration. One who inwardly maintains constant awareness of God, and in his conduct controls his impulses, gets spiritual experience very soon. Experience of the effect of nama can be obtained by taking nama itself. Similarly, the experience of God can be obtained in the awareness of Him.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.18

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.18

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.17

Earnest Yearning for God is Essential

Do you really want God? and for what purpose? Of course, you take so much trouble to come over here, how can it be that you don't want God? You certainly want God; but what for? For making your family life happy! Even if it is so, however, it is certainly to the good, for later on, this will show us the proper way.
Whosoever has an earnest yearning for God for the sake of God alone, is really fortunate. Great sages and saints felt the urge for God, and they made God their own. Tukaram, Ramadas and others never aspired for anything except God. Such need for God is felt only by saints. Ramadas felt intense longing for spiritual initiation. He requested his elder brother for it but he was told, 'You are too young, my boy.' But the intensity in the mind of Ramadas could not be quietened. He ran away from the marriage altar. He sustained the intense longing and persisted in this sadhana for full twelve years, until, ultimately God Himself, in His grace initiated him; only with this his anguish was pacified.
The attainment of God does not depend upon age, wealth or caste and religion; it only depends upon the intensity of longing; this intensity is very essential. Only total surrender to God can generate such intensity. Ramadas put his head on Rama's feet and said, 'O Rama, I have dedicated my body to You, I don't need it without You. It is impossible for me to live without You.' With such intense love, such close affinity, such earnest yearning, how long can God hold Himself aloof!
God, in fact, is satisfied with very little. If you walk one step towards Him, He comes forward two steps in your direction. However, we do not have that intense longing to go to Him. Our passions, our ego, our body-consciousness, all pull us back. One who cuts all these chains of bondage and attains God, does not come back. God is very affectionate like a mother. Which mother will not like to embrace her child? But these passions stand in the way. Truly, nama draws aside the curtain between Him and us, eliminates the attachments due to body-consciousness, clears the path towards God, and holding our hand takes us straight to God. So keep nama constantly awake in your heart.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.17

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-sept.17

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.16

Devote Mind to God and Leave Body to Prarabdha

Nobody really can evade the results of past actions, that is prarabdha; but prarabdha affects only the body, not the mind. The body experiences pleasure and pain according to prarabdha. Nobody wants pain, but it has to come, if deserved. Man does not complain about pleasant things, but about painful events, he says, 'I worshipped God with so much devotion; I follow such-and-such a saint; why then should I have to suffer such pain?' But he does not realize that it is the result of his own past deeds. What can God or a saint do about it?Suppose we are in need of money, and a man or our acquaintance, or a very close relative, is the manager of a bank; if we happen not to have sufficient bank balance, then he is helpless. At the most, he may help us with some money of his own. Similarly, according to our prarabdha, if there is no happiness for us, how can we get it? At the most a saint may, if necessary, reduce our burden of sorrow by taking on some of our suffering to himself. Therefore, we should accept the good or bad effects of our prarabdha on our body and mentally remain in the remembrance of God. A true devotee cares not for the body, and is therefore not worried about physical afflictions of the body. He does not wish to evade prarabdha.Just as the limbs of different persons have differences, the good and bad attributes also appear in different proportions according to the deeds of the past births. Of course one cannot relate each effect with a specific deed, and we call the entire collection of past deeds as prarabdha. Happenings in the world as well as in the individual's life take place according to the respective prarabdha. The difficulties that arise are due to it, and not created by God. Like guests, they come and go. We should not invite them, and nor need we be afraid of them. Prarabdha and the planets affect only the body. They do not stop your mind from praying and worshipping God. Prarabdha does not affect one who remains obedient to a saint or sadguru. Practise continuous remembrance of God and you will surmount your prarabdha.* * * * *

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.16

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.16

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Sept.15

Unbroken Awareness is the Essence of Saint's Life

The chief object of the festival of any deity is to further its remembrance. God's remembrance is meant only to attain Him. The name of God automatically destroys all sins. To expect sensuous pleasures with nama, is like asking for an ass when you are likely to be gifted with a wish-fulfilling cow. It will lead to suffering only, if you aspire for wealth, fame or progeny, when God is likely to manifest Himself in your home.
It is the best form of samadhi to forget oneself in chanting nama. He alone will understand my life, who is so immersed in the joy of nama that he has utterly forgotten and lost his own identity; it cannot be appreciated merely by logic. A saint's life is more on a mental plane; physical activities have only secondary place in-his life and miracles have the least importance. The real essence of a saint's life is his maintaining unbroken awareness of God, irrespective of his body's condition. Unless oneself merges with God, one cannot realize how a saint merges with God. Therefore the author of a saint's biography must first immerse himself in the joy of nama, and write his biography only after obtaining his consent. In fact the biographer of a saint's life has to be a person born with this mission.
I am a devotee of Rama but I very much like Shiva's devotee. Shiva and Shrikrishna are two manifestations of the same Ultimate Reality. The shruti-smritis do not distinguish between Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Shiva). Continuously chant nama, which is very dear to Shiva also. Nama has been held dear to the heart by all the greatest realized souls, from Shri Shiva to Shri Samartha Ramadas. A person who repeats nama three and a half crore times will definitely have an experience of his deity. With the help of nama, all of you should obtain the support of Rama. Have faith that Rama will bless you.
I have seen God, but the eyes with which God can be seen are not these physical eyes; they are the eyes of wisdom. You can develop them by continuous recitation of nama. What you have to learn from me is, not to worry and have faith that God alone is the doer. I linger around the place where nama is being chanted.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.15

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.15

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan - September 14

Characteristics of Saints

One who is liked by many is a saintly person. Such a person becomes immortal. He lives unselfishly and keeps control over his mind. He can never have the wickedness to ruin others for his own selfish motive. He mixes and behaves with different persons as if he is of their age and nature. Such a person never praises or censures anyone. Even while deserving honour, he never expects it. He has full control over his passions, and he always endeavours to alleviate others' suffering. He remains in the original blissful state, that is he never gets conditioned by upadhi. Such persons should be considered as liberated souls or saints. All their actions are inspired by God and are for God alone. Therefore such actions result only in the welfare of the world. You will find in every act of the saints love, compassion, benevolence, unselfishness and profound faith in God.
Begin your search of inward state from your own self. Try to see where you have gone wrong. Your suffering indicates that you have missed the path. One who is not affected by pleasure or pain is really contented. We say, 'I daily chant nama, I have never missed my prayers' for four years.' But if you constantly remember, 'I do all this', then it is all futile. All the efforts put in by you are spoiled due to this pride. So long as one feels proud of remembering God, how can it be true remembrance? Remaining conscious of matters other than God, how can I say that I am single-mindedly devoted to Him? I sincerely tell you the truth; surrender your doership to Rama and act according to His will, your body-consciousness cannot but get destroyed. Follow the signs on the path of saints, and you will find the way. If you are earnestly yearning, you find the way; and if you are sincerely interested you develop love in it. It is foolish to expect God to remove the calamities in our life. It is not proper to forget God because of difficulties. The destruction of body-consciousness lies in the chanting of nama. If you keep on worrying about the lack of love in nama, you are likely to forget nama itself. Do not waste time in thinking.



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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.14

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.14

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan- September 13

                                   Everything is Futile without Purity of Mind

Body-consciousness and pride and not circumstances are obstacles in surrendering to God. Dedicate every action to God to eliminate pride. Have a firm attitude that God alone is the doer, we can do nothing; this amounts to dedicating pride to God. Establish a close relationship with God in some way or other. Speak to Him, chant nama; there is nothing true except nama. If you take away the calf, the cow follows it automatically; similarly if you chant nama, He follows it.
Once you develop taste for the sweetness of nama, you feel dislike for prapancha, you do not relish sense objects. It is wrong to say that nama spoils family life. Do not neglect your duties while chanting nama. You may not get encouraging experience of nama because you may not be chanting it as much as you should. Try to develop love for nama by practising it ceaselessly. In this rare human life, remain firm in nama. God is present in the remembrance of nama. Everything is futile without purity of mind; association with saints is the only sure way for this purification. Once you belong to Him, He will find the remedy for your spiritual good. Do not say, 'I shall practise a particular sadhana'; say-'O God, You alone can get it done by me'. You always remember the person helping you with initial capital for your business. Similarly you should not forget God who endowed you with wisdom, wealth and health. You can attain God in the natural course, remembering your original pure self. The nature of pure self is free from any expectation of the fruit of action and pride of doership.
Feel contented in the circumstances in which God has placed you; don't forget Him. God is far away, if you are far away from your own self, or if you look at things with external sight only. He is close by if your sight is turned inwards. Our birth as a human being surely indicates that we belong to God. Therefore, without wasting time in sensuous enjoyment and accompanying pain, fix your sight on God. It is man's real duty to attain God by purifying conscience and discrimination in this very life. There is no easier alternative to establishing a mental link with God by constant meditation.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.13

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.13

Sri Brahmachaithanya Maharaj's Pravachan- SEPT. 12

Nama Destroys Pride

On hearing news about an acquaintance's house having been burnt, a person wrote to him, 'Have faith in God, and remain contented.' After some time, the latter lost his money; thereupon he started wailing! It is easy to advise others but difficult to act on it in our own case.
Unless our sense of doership is completely annihilated, God will not bless us. We should remember God while doing every piece of work. When we earn profit we develop pride. When we are in loss, we blame our fate. We should not claim doership in either event. We must remember that we are only a puppet in the hands of God. We must surrender ourselves to Rama saying, 'It is your sweet will whether to grant me success or otherwise.'
Most of todays' scientific developments cater to physical comforts. Saints alone can discover true and everlasting happiness. We shall certainly achieve true contentment if we follow the ways they have prescribed. Why are we not contented today? It is because our ego comes in the way. While doing our duty or after completing the task, if we do not allow our ego or pride to rise, then we shall experience the love of God, and feel contented. Look, how our pride raises its head even in ordinary petty matters! A gentleman had a daughter of marriageable age. He was well-to-do and the girl was fair looking. But her marriage could not be settled for a long time. Later, after the marriage was settled and over, the gentleman said, "I celebrated my daughter's marriage with great splendour." Somebody asked him, "Why did you not do it earlier?" Then he said, "It could not be settled earlier." The other person retorted, 'Then why do you say, 'I' celebrated, say only, it happened to be settled".
On the basis of their personal experience, saints have told us that surrendering completely and single-mindedly to God is a sure way to kill pride. Once we surrender ourselves at the feet of Rama with single-minded devotion, and say 'Rama, I now belong to You and You belong to me,' every deed of ours thereafter will belong to Him; it need not be dedicated to Him again. We should regard every action as His. While dedicating any action the dedicator remains separate, but that should not be the case. The dedicator should merge completely with God.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.12

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.12

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.11

Scrutiny should not be Done beyond a Limit

You should try to make God your own. If you continue this effort dispassionately, you will certainly receive the grace of sadguru. If you try to practise under compulsion the sadhana advised by the sadguru and if the thoughts continue unchanged, then how can you experience the love of God? We complain that, after having worked hard for some five years and keeping away from the temptation of sense-objects, we still find no experience. Then the tempo of the sadhana slows down and faith gets diluted. We must have profound faith that whatever happens is according to the sadguru's will and inspiration only. We forget that God alone generates love in sadhana. The whole effort will be of no avail, if we start feeling proud that from the earlier stage of doing nothing, now we are practising at least some sadhana. Some people achieve success immediately on dedicating themselves at the feet of the sadguru. But how can we allege that the sadguru is partial? One must examine where one has gone wrong. Till now we wished to take to nama but could not do so. Now that we have started the practice of nama-smarana, why should we not regard even this change as His grace?
Man must have patience in prapancha. We should have no fears if we are in continuous remembrance of God. Too critical scrutiny results into a loss. What is the fruit of entire learning? Whatever we like, we follow without scrutiny, and whatever we don't want to do, we scrutinize it hyper-critically! Critical scrutiny should be only upto a limit. If continued beyond it, we do not understand what we talk.
In spite of the modern amenities that have helped man to travel with speed on water or in air, he is becoming more and more discontented every day. This is not true progress. Whatever be the circumstances and whatever be the times, we can remain blissful. If we look back, we shall find very little which we can claim as done by us. We should not therefore worry about the circumstances. We should do our duty and not allow our vritti to be affected. We shall achieve everything, if we establish firm faith in the doership of Rama.



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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.11

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.11

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.10

Be at Rama's Feet, Chant Nama Day and Night

Rama's name is a formless saviour; chant it repeatedly. Hold to it firmly and you will be free from the cycle of birth and death. Shri Shiva recited nama for overcoming the effect of the poison he swallowed. The stories of Valmiki and Ajamela also show the importance of nama. In heaven, earth or hell, nama alone is the most effective remedy. Hanuman jumped across to Lanka by holding nama firmly in his heart. This sense­ world is like an empty dream. Therefore, take the support of nama, the abiding truth.
Chanting of nama reduces sins to ashes. Many precious stones and other items came to surface when, in the mythological times, the oceans were churned. Nama is much more precious than those items. Even the teachings of the vedas are rectified in the process of chanting nama; it is simpler and achieves the same goal as yoga. The human mind itself is Shriram, and the soul animating the body is Atma-rama. It is the same Ultimate Reality that pervades and activates the entire universe, and therefore you should learn to recognize its manifestation among all the people; merge your own 'self' with this manifestation while maintaining nama on the tongue. The great Vasishtha merged with the 'self' and Shriram Himself became enslaved by accepting his tutorship. That is why, like a humble servant, I say that one who remembers Shriram does not have to worry about worldly affairs. Nama is a mine of truth, meditate on it. See Shriram everywhere, amongst all humans and animals. Protect the sacred cow, be compassionate to everybody, feed every visitor coming to you, discard sense pleasures by association with saints and remain in nama, unmindful of everything else.
Do not waste even a single breath, earnestly aspire for nama alone, don't be carried away by the vagaries of the sensitive, subtle mind.
I take your leave now. But please listen to my last earnest request. I have told you today the sacred secret of Rama, nothing else is required. Follow this secret and become entitled to liberation. My sadguru has graced me with the name 'Brahmachaitanya'. I am only a humble servant, constantly chanting nama.




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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.10

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.10

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.9

Forgetting God is a Great Sin

Really, wherever you look, God exists. Those who have realized God have told us what God likes. The essence of their teaching is, "Surrender to God, giving up all desires for sense-objects." This teaching must be accepted as a scriptural authority; with their own personal experience, and having attained the state of liberation, they have shown the way to it. He is our real kith and kin who releases us from the bondage of birth and death. Those who belong to God are not afraid of this world. Do we not surrender ourselves to sensuous objects? Then why should we hesitate to surrender ourselves to God? One can perform all miracles but it is not easy to really surrender to God!
When one begins nama-smarana, one is harassed by thoughts of sensuous desires. That shows how one is completely filled, in and out, with all sorts of desires. One must, however, resolutely continue practising nama. Does not one get upset by bad thoughts while looking after the family life? Then why should we be afraid of such thoughts if they arise during spiritual pursuit?
Once he took to nama, Prahlad never looked back; he was saved by nama only; he could liberate himself due to his faith alone. We must therefore remain in unbroken remembrance of God and strengthen this faith. Never think of past sins. You may not undo the wrong of yesterday, but do not waste the present moment. Never get dispaired.
Every sadhana is best in its own way. Be faithful to your sadhana like a chaste lady to her husband. Remember firmly that of all disciplines and religions aim at belonging to God. We work hard till death to fulfil the needs of our prapancha; then why should we not make some efforts to belong to, unite with God? Really, there is no greater sin than forgetting God. Longing for God is divine consciousness, while longing for sense objects is body-consciousness; when the latter diminishes, the mind will become steady in nama. When you reach the stage, 'You exist, I do not', with the help of nama-smarana, you can consider that you really belong to God.



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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.9

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Sept.9

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan - Sept.8

Read Little, Contemplate and Act on it

What is maya? That which exists without God is maya. Everything that is visible and perishable is maya. As long as we practise nama-smarana we are out of the snare of maya; when we forget God and nama, we fall under the influence of maya. The essence of anything is in doing it, not just listening to it or telling about it. Howsoever you describe nirguna, it will not be possible to comprehend nirguna. We should, therefore, visualize and worship saguna. One who says 'I worship nirguna', does not really know what nirguna is, because in nirguna there remains no one even to tell this.
One gentleman told me that he had read all books on vedanta. I said to him, 'Then you must have achieved contentment;' On this he replied 'That is the only thing which I have not achieved'! Of what use then has his entire reading been? What can we then get from studying vedanta? Let us practise simple and easy devotion. Surrender yourself single mindedly and completely to God, practise nama-smarana; you will get everything. Unless you practise what you read in sacred books the reading is futile. Do not read merely for the sake of reading; it adversely affects your sadhana, and you start developing pride over your reading. Therefore, read only a little, contemplate and act on it.
If you spend even a small part of the day in the remembrance of God, the entire day will pass in the same mood of awareness of God; extending days into months, months into years, and years forming the life, your whole life will pass in the continuous remembrance of God.
You should not be fond of family life itself, but should be fond of your duties therein. It is holy to do your duties, but you should not get involved in attachment to family life. You should mentally belong only to God. If you earnestly remember God, He will definitely keep you happy and contented. To belong to God is to be happy and contented in life. Have profound faith in God and do only what He likes; that is the essence of paramartha.
No one knows when this body may fall; never say, therefore, 'I shall practise nama when I am old;' start right now.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Sept.8