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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