sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April 14.

Saints Rouse us to the True Goal of Life

That the company of a sensuous person is more pernicious than that of sensuous pleasures themselves, holds in regard to the spiritual path just as well as in worldly life. Association always affects the mind; therefore we should try to live in the company of the Godly. Our conscience does guide us in picking the good from the bad, but the trouble is that we seek to reform others and not ourselves.
Many people just do not feel it possible that saints can exist in the world. We cannot make out a saint unless we ourselves believe in and have regard for God. We have forgotten the true goal of our life; the saints rouse us to it. Seeing us following the wrong path, they caution and guide us; we should then turn about, retrace our steps, and follow the correct path; we can rest assured that we shall then reach our destination.
The saints do not rest inactively after they attain blissfulness; they continue to act for the welfare of the world, while their own blissfulness remains unimpaired. Even when they appear to be inactive, their mere presence makes for the good of the world. Since they have attained beatitude it behoves us to act as they advise us. In advising people their sole object is to see that mankind may come to know the truth they have themselves seen, and thereby become happy. How can we doubt the verity of their advice when they have no ulterior selfish motive to serve?
When we realise that worldly life is full of misery, we must strive to find a remedy. That remedy we discover in the books written by saints, and we should put into practice what they have advised therein. That alone makes the reading worthwhile. Introspection on what we read is essential. Reading must be accompanied by its practice.
We shall not be able to understand properly the works of a saint without his grace. One on whom the saint bestows his grace will very easily and correctly grasp the gist of the book even though he may not be learned. A learned man will describe the Ultimate Truth, exercising his imagination; whereas the saints describe it with certainty, as a matter of first-hand experience.
When reading a book by a saint, we should bear in mind that we have to bring it into our practice.
* * * * *