Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Oct.3.

An Egoist will not Attain God
Can man attain to God with the exercise of his own intellect? Truly speaking, one who claims to have known God or the Cosmic Reality is really nowhere near his goal; for, one never knows when he has found the Ultimate Reality. To find It one has to become It; and the moment one so unites with It, he ceases to have a separate identity. Conversely, one who has a feeling of his individual identity can never attain to God. It is our ego that stands athwart our realization of God; it stands as a thin but opaque blind between us and God. Draw it away and you become one with Him.
If your business fails to thrive, you come and complain to me that the business started on my advice, does not prosper; but you conveniently avoid confessing that I had alongside exhorted you to do nama-smarana which you are not doing! Will nama-smarana affect or obstruct the business? You may allege that I am advising you to do something that may upset the pattern of your material and family life. On the contrary, it will make for a smoother working if you follow my advice and take to nama-smarana. Do go about your material and family life but without worrying. After all, Rama cannot be deterred from doing what He plans to; what can anxiety do to further your prospect? What cannot be cured must be endured. So why not bear it with cheer? If adversities come, leave them to the care of the Lord. If there is anything that we want to solicit, pray for cheer in the circumstances which it pleases Him to keep you in; and ask not for relief or change. Then alone can we truly live as His slave or puppet.
In this world there are only two causes that really disturb a man's peace of mind: the befalling of what one does not desire, and the failure to bring about what one desires for. Neither of these is in our hands; why, then, should we make ourselves miserable in either case? This is easy to achieve once you experience the sweetness of nama.
Nama destroys the pride of individuality, and precludes the desire to have or not to have. You should continuously chant this nama advocated by saints and thereby acquire durable contentment.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Oct.3

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Oct.3

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Oct.2.

Saguna Bhakti
Before you can recognize God in everything in the universe, you must first realize His existence within yourself. As a gold ornament will not search for gold elsewhere, one need not search for God beyond oneself. Association with the saintly, or godly persons is an easy means for realizing what one is in reality. It is unnecessary to resort to a forest to realize the Cosmic Spirit, for it inhabits and animates all living things. Give up proprietorship to realize the true 'self'.
Where we err is, we only say verbally that God pervades everything but deny it in practice. We conveniently forget that the same God that lives in me resides in everything else too. Just as a lamp fills a whole room with light, so too does God pervade all creation. Thus, to say that God is the doer, not I, is the fundamental concept, and it corrects all further thought and action. A man is basically the same person though he may wear different apparel on different occasions; so, too, one's action may be different according to occasion but always guided by the basic concept that God pervades everything. Sannyas does not consist only in wearing saffron-coloured clothes; but in maintaining an equable mind in pleasant and unpleasant happenings.
Entertain devotion for the concrete form of God. Chant nama with devotion and faith, and the conviction that God resides in nama; this is the easiest and surest way to realize God. The saints have painstakingly, and with personal experience established the efficacy of this approach. It is a common truth that we easily attune ourselves to one having similarity of form and nature. So we find it convenient to imagine God being like ourselves, only idealized. We love things which, like ourselves, are tangible; and so we find it easy to have devotion for God in a concrete form, rather than as an absolute entity. This devotion will positively culminate in realization of the Absolute, Ultimate Reality. We should be insistent in keeping God for the goal. There may be other ideals, but they should have only subordinate importance, without that degree of importunity. Such complete submergence in God is termed natural, permanent samadhi.

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Sri Maharaja's Pravachan in Marathi-Oct.2

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Oct.2

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Oct.1.

Object of a Festival is to Promote Love for GodIn weddings, while the main ritual itself takes very little time, the other incidental ceremonies are extended over four days. These several ceremonies serve to highlight the importance and solemnity of the marriage itself. Similarly, in a religious festival, the main object is to emphasize awareness of God; the celebrations are intended to promote this object.
In Diwali, the fireworks, sweet dishes, many snacks, are all intended for us to forget miseries and displeasing things of yesterday. Similarly, festivals, religious feast days, religious performances, pilgrimages, etc., are all intended to stimulate a theistic feeling, to promote love for God, to create awareness that God exists everywhere, all the time. There should be an abiding conviction that we do everything at His prompting. This will gradually inculcate love for Him and mitigate pride of doership.
We disclaim faith in the existence of ghosts and spirits, but are inwardly frightened when in the company of a "possessed" person. If we look on God with awe as we do on a ghost, evidently we shall be unable to feel affection for Him. So first of all, disburden your mind of fear for God. Be sure that God will not award you punishment or do anything against your interest. He is a veritable ocean of mercy. Like a mother, He will never think of harming you. The trouble is that we do not call on Him with the implicit faith of a child for its mother; that is, we never bring to nama-smarana the earnestness which it deserves; and this is where we err.
So, having taken the trouble to come to Gondavale, stand before my Rama and pray to solicit nothing but His love. If you acquire devotion for Rama, you can be sure that your prapancha will be happy beyond imagination.
Never relinquish nama. Nama alone will ensure for you company of and love for Rama. Nothing is closer to God than nama. Associate with nama constantly, guard it carefully like your very life; rest assured that it will ultimately lead you to God Himself; for, where there is God there is nama, and conversely, where there is nama, Rama will invariably be found. If you lose your awareness of yourself as a separate entity, you will find yourself face to face with Rama.
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