Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Nov.3

Think of God when Temptations Arise in Mind
If we do not seek amelioration of our lot, the thought of God will certainly arise in the mind, and restore the feeling of bliss; thereby sorrow and pain will become definitely less poignant. It is this blunting of pleasure and pain that is the aim of anusandhana. Ignore whatever bars the way to God. Never put God out of sight and thought, even if you are reduced to beggary. They keep a watchman to guard a mansion, and remain alert against burglars; similarly we should be on guard lest we forget God. Whenever thoughts of sense-pleasures appear in the mind, we should plug the breach with remembrance of God. We have a saying that the thought uppermost in the mind at the moment of death determines the next birth. Now, how can one remember at the final parting what one has never thought of in the whole lifetime? Therefore, keep in constant remembrance of God. Consider nama as the medicament; if you constantly sip it drop by drop, you are bound to attain to God. If nama- smarana continues to the end, it is equivalent to yoga, and thus the person who so does it is a yogi, 'united' to the one Ultimate Reality.
A single spark can grow into a conflagration and gut a whole warehouse of cotton; nama, like that spark, is capable of consuming a host of sins. The trouble, in our case, is that we do not bring to it the requisite feeling, earnestness, faith. To enhance the faith and intensity of love is upasana. Singing hymns and prayers may be tainted with the 'body-am-I' feeling, but nama is not open to that risk. The fear of death should be combated by a constant repetition of nama.
Truly speaking, one should have a real, irresistible yearning for nama. True contentment, peace, and bliss can only be attained by chanting nama without break, never remaining without God, and His remembrance. That human life alone can be called useful which is devoted to nama, and too the propagation of nama among others. One may execute prapancha with full efficiency but without forgetting God. One should forget one's own existence and remember God. Pride should be ousted by humility toward every being. Remember that constant awareness of God achieves nothing less than any sadhana, in the present degenerate times.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Nov.3

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Nov.3

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan- Nov.2

We Should Have Attachment for God Alone

We should never run down any religion. Rites and procedures are prescribed by every religion, because they are essential.
We go for a dip in the local stream, saying that we are going to the Ganga for a bath. Where is the sense in bathing in the river Ganga unless we purge the mind of all evil, unholy, polluted thoughts? The restrictions prescribed by the shastras aim at preventing the restrictive effect of all actions. For instance, the practice of offering of some money before the idol in a temple is a tacit prayer that the offerer's mind be purged of covetousness.
No man can stay perfectly still, inactive. If one were sentenced to cessation of all movement, it would be the severest of punishments. If one must do something or other, why not better do what is proper? Anything done with pride of doership causes binding, militates against liberation. What, after all, does our religion ask us to do, but that everyone should discharge his duty conscientiously? What, again, does this duty seek to achieve? Briefly but essentially, God.
What will really conduce to a happy mankind? That everyone should perform his duty, with full faith in God. The so-called progress and industrial advancement has basically brought more sense pleasures within the means of more people. This has only made man more dependent on more things. And dependence never makes for happiness. The present-day education is really not knowledge, but ignorance masquerading as learning. Real education must either bring true contentment or assure adequate income. Present education does neither. Even a scholar has to apply and beg for a job.
Fresh air, good water, proper shelter and clothing, adequate food, are the basic necessities of life. Adequate effort for these must be made. Of other things, some are a matter of personal choice, some others give social prestige. A person who can afford them may acquire and 'enjoy' them. One should not feel dependent on them or mentally attached to them. Truly happy is he who has neither friend nor foe. One who depends on nothing, nobody, and who is hindered by nothing, is a truly liberated person.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-Nov.2

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-Nov.2

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan-Nov.1

The Bhagavadgeeta is the Mother of all Scriptures
The Bhagavadgeeta is the mother of all books. It is superior even to the vedas, because while the latter were the result of God's exhalation, the former emanated from His own lips. What is the subject of the Geeta? It discusses both the theoretical and practical aspects of philosophical ignorance and its removal. It begins with the misconception that overtook Arjuna: he had a fit of discontentment owing to the pride of doership, and this gave rise to doubts about what to do and what not to. The Geeta ends with the clarification of these doubts; that is, the pleasure and regret both disappeared with the restoration of the knowledge that it is God who is the real doer.
The exposition of the Bhagavadgeeta in the Jnyaneshwari is so masterly that one can only think that the exponent was but a re-incarnation, centuries later, of the Lord Himself. The exposition, no less than the original, was from the same divine source of inspiration. We should try to practise its preaching, which, very succinctly, is that God is the real doer and we have only to act without a feeling of ego and pride.
If a marriageable girl goes to attend the wedding or betrothal of a friend or relative, she watches the ceremony with a mind crowded with hopes and aspirations about herself. Similarly, as we read, or listen to the reading of, a book concerning spiritualism, we should ponder over the descriptions about the various stages of spiritual advancement and how we can attain them.
Prarabdha will take its due course concerning the body and its conditions, but we should maintain a psychological unconcern or mental detachment. In a law suit an advocate pleads vehemently to defend his client's position, but is mentally unconcerned with the joy or sorrow of winning or losing the case; he may outwardly share the joy or sorrow of the client, but he gets the stipulated fees nevertheless. We should keep a similar attitude.
I behave in a similar way with my disciples in their moments of elation or despondency. Treat prapancha as a game: a win or loss is of little consequence if, all the while, we maintain constant awareness of God. However, we should play the game in all seriousness. This becomes very easy if we continually chant nama. This is why day and night I din into your ears that, come what may, one should never forget nama.
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