Reminiscences

There was a postmaster. He used to chant Nama a good deal. He asked ShriMaharaj, 'If the abstract being of God is the real one, then is it necessary to worship a concrete one?' ShriMaharaj said, "When you are looking for a match for your daughter of marriageable age, you come to know of an eligible boy in another town, and you obtain the complete address of the boy's father. Then you go to that town and look for his address. A person there Informs you, 'Go further along this same street, turn right, and when you have walked further down that street, you will notice a pillarbox on your right. The house is just opposite the  pillarbox.' On hearing this, all your attention gets directed to that pillarbox. The pillarbox is not what you need, but because you know quite well what it Is like, you look for it. When you see the box, you locate the house you are looking for. An idol of God serves the same purpose. By worshipping the concrete, one acquires the eligibility to perceive the abstract. If a ladoo which has been formed into a round shape characterizes the form of God with attributes, the very same ladoo, crushed and amorphous, may be taken to be God's attributeless form*

Reminiscences

God with no identifiable attributes Presides over the world in the form of a Governing authority.

Brajmohan Dixit, a writer of film scripts, was a deep student of Tulsiramayana. He said to ShriMaharaj, 'Saints say, the true being of God is devoid of any charac­teristics; it operates in this world in the form of a govern­ing authority. In what way ?' ShriMaharaj said, 'Suppose you write a story. When a director likes it, he selects the cast and has them memorize the dialogues. Later they appear on the screen. If a film is good, a good seventy per cent of the credit for its excellence goes to the director. But he himself never appears on the screen. The work put in by him is not apparently visible but its effects can be experienced. In a similar way, God with no identifi-able attributes acts in this world in the form of a govern­ing authority.’

Reminiscences

Commence practice of Worship in the faith that God Exists,and confirming experience will automatically follow


A sincere professor of logic met ShriMaharaj and said, 'I am a student of logic. I do not believe in anything un­less I am logically convinced about it. That is my resolve.' ShriMaharaj said, 'I am of a similar opinion. If God has blessed us with intelligence, we must make full use of it and we must not do anything with blind faith.' On hear­ing these words of ShriMaharaj, the professor said, 'I have eliminated blind faith from my life.' Upon which ShriMaharaj said, "But whatever you may propose, in practice, many a time one has to trust in something, and one has to act without a confirming experience.' The pro­fessor said, 'Please illustrate your statement.' ShriMaharaj said, "Your parents have the decisive experience to con­firm that you are their son. But what confirming experi­ence do you have that they, and not any other, are your parents ? In the absence of such an experience, do you not accept them on trust, nay, blind trust, to be your parents ? Suppose you have to go out of town and you are travelling by train at night, you buy an upper class ticket and go to sleep without any further ado. You travel com­fortably in trust, or blind trust, that the driver of the train will safely take you to your destination, without requiring a confirming experience beforehand. This means that you must place trust somewhere. So, begin worship in the trust that 'God exists', and experience will give the confirmation that 'God surely exists'. The main thing is that one who wants to express his opinion in public, should state firmly whatever he has experienced himself. Where one has not experienced it personally, one should hon­estly say, 'So and so has said so'. Thereby there will be no self- deception."

Reminiscences

Solitude is a state of Mind, and not a state of the Body.

A sadhaka asked ShriMaharaj, 'Is solitude a must for experiencing God ?' ShriMaharaj said, "What is solitude? Solitude consists in ending of one's awareness of the self, that is, one's sense of apartness of the self from the one solitary Cosmic Soul. Now you can yourself tell me wlid.her there is a necessity for solitude. Solitude is the source of joy. Even in simple enjoyment of the senses, one cannot experience joy unless one forgets oneself, that is, unless there is an ending of one's awareness of the self. If this is so, then solitude has to be a necessity for experi­encing the everlasting bliss in God. But as one usually Imiigines, solitude is not retiring to a forest. Solitude is a state of the mind and not a state of the body.

Reminiscences

A Subtle Pride lurks behind the Saying, 'Do not pay respects to Me'

Once a learned preacher gave a sermon, with Shri Maharaj in the audience. The subject of the sermon was 'Sakhyabhakti* as described in Dasabodha.' Before beginning the sermon, the learned preacher suggested that no one should prostrate himself before him. After the sermon was over, Shrimaharaj said to him, 'In telling people not to prostrate themselves before you, you as­sumed that people are going to prostrate themselves be­fore you. In truth, those persons who would not have liked the sermon would surely not have prostrated themselves before you. So have you not yourself barred the way of finding out how many persons have liked the sermon and how many have not? One should consider that those who prostrate themselves before you are bowing to the verse that you have taken for exposition, and to the saint who has authored it. Also, prostrate yourself mentally before whoever prostrates himself before you. By so doing the subtle pride arising from people prostrating before you will not cling to you, and also the people will be kept from being disappointed

Reminiscences

Love for Nama will arise only by the practice of chanting Nama

A person practising chanting of nama for attainment of God asked ShriMaharaj, 'If one were to whet an infant's palate with a drop of tea, it rejects milk, for it develops a fondness for tea. Why do you not make us fond of nama in a like way ?' ShriMaharaj said, "This is a very perti­nent question. But as the example you have cited is from the physical world it is not really applicable to nama. A gentleman had two daughters. There was much differnce between their ages. After the elder one was married, she came to her parents' home for delivering her first child. She was blessed with a fine boy. Her younger sister looked sullen. When the father asked the reason, she said, 'You gave a baby to my sister, but not to me.' What will the father say to this ? Likewise, let your growth within take place by the practice of nama. When you mature from within, I will be able to whet your taste for nama."

Reminiscences

The Body is like a "Lodge" meant for a temporary stay: God is the soul's True Abode

Once ShriMaharaj was in Hubli. The owner of a 'lodge' came to visit him.  He was a  disciple of Shri  -Brahmananda maharaj. ShriMaharaj said to him, 'Be ab­sorbed in nama and do not forget your guru.' On this he said, "There is too much of work for me to attend to, and I do not find any time for namasmarana. ' ShriMaharaj asked him, 'If I were to tell you about a means that will not come in the way of your work, will you practise it ?' When he gave an assurance to do so, ShriMaharaj said, "Being the owner, you are always at the cash counter. People who stay in the lodge pay their bills while leaving. Even if they have stayed in the lodge for ten or fifteen days they do not at all feel sorry while leaving. On the other hand, they are happy that they are going home. The body in which we dwell is also a kind of a 'lodge'. We should feel happy when leaving it. For this, it is neces­sary to have a constant awareness that this body is not my dwelling, and that my true abode is with God. One should always remember that just as a customer leaves the lodge feeling happy that he is going home, likewise one must leave this body feeling happy. In this way con­stant awareness will be automatically maintained at what­ever place you are."