Saints are the Visible Embodiments of God
One who cannot conduct his worldly life properly will neither do well by way of spiritual life. One should resolve not to let the mind be ruffled by worldly events, and carry out the resolution with faith in the sadguru. Practise the sadhana assiduously, and get to know who you are in reality. When you realise that God is the only Reality, then only you will realise who you are. Do not abandon saguna even when you understand nirguna. To have a liking for the name of Rama is the greatest of good fortunes. Speech is the result of inspiration in the heart; if, then, we utter the name of Rama, He must be present in our heart.
Implicit obedience to my guru was my sole sadhana; what else, then, can I ask you to do? Association with a saint puts us on the right path. Saints do not cure us of disease, but they dislodge from the mind all fear of it. Saints are the visible embodiments of God. It is their mission in life to direct the minds of thousands towards God. It is impossible that a saint will advocate anything that contravenes the teaching of the vedas and the shastras.
Our feelings of pity are aroused on seeing an offspring of rich parents begging in the street. The saints similarly feel unhappy to see us forget our heritage and grieve, despite the rare good fortune of being born as a human, after the great cycle of rebirth in myriads of lower species. It is a very serious loss for the soul not to be able to attain God even in this unique human life. We should, therefore, manage to remain in the company of saints with the utmost perseverance, and earn their grace. Let us follow unquestioningly the path chalked out by them; then there is no fear of stumbling, falling, or failing. We get ourselves involved head over heels in mundane matters, so that we fail even to notice the rousing call of the saints. Let us keep at least within earshot of that call. Let us put our faith in the teaching of the saints; this will create in us love for God which, in turn, will reduce our attachment to worldly pleasures. Thus, if we maintain association with saints it will eventually lead us to our ultimate good.
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