Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April.15

Saintly Association Eliminates Lure of Money

Saints, having attained omnipotence, have tremendous power of all kinds; for instance, whatever they say will come out true. This is called wachasiddhi, and we, too, may acquire it. To make use of it, however, will be foolish, like serving God for a meagre mundane remuneration. Imagine a person owning the wish-granting cow (kamadhenu) exchanging her for a pony because he would not load the divine cow! Where is the sense in propitiating the Almighty for the sake of paltry, transitory things? Even the hard-earned heaven and its pleasures are not permanent; then why strive for them at all?
Just see how much attachment a man feels for even a lifeless thing like money! It is like the ghost in the fable which agreed to slave for a man on condition that it be kept constantly employed, but if given respite it would devour him. Similarly, money can be very usefully employed; but if not, it becomes a crushing, consuming burden. There is basically nothing wrong in saving money; but it should not be taken as our mainstay, for that would make us lose sight of God, who is our real sheetanchor. I do not suggest that we should give away all we have; but if, say, there is a theft or robbery or other loss of money, we should not shed tears over it, nor should we turn away a needy person; we should not hesitate to help him to whatever extent we can.
It is true that we must save sufficient money for a rainy day; but how much is 'sufficient'? We cannot name a definite sum in this respect. If one has a pension sufficient for the needs of the family, that could be termed 'enough'. For a non-pensioner, there should be enough to enable the family to live decently for about a score of years. One does not need very much money to be 'rich'; if we have enough money to fulfil our needs, are we not rich? Of course, we should spare no effort to earn money by moral means; but beyond that, we should let things take their own course.
Our true welfare lies in keeping company with the saintly. Association with them generates lofty thoughts and noble feelings. To live among persons of high thinking and in constant awareness of God is to be in good company.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-April 15

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-April.15

sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April 14.

Saints Rouse us to the True Goal of Life

That the company of a sensuous person is more pernicious than that of sensuous pleasures themselves, holds in regard to the spiritual path just as well as in worldly life. Association always affects the mind; therefore we should try to live in the company of the Godly. Our conscience does guide us in picking the good from the bad, but the trouble is that we seek to reform others and not ourselves.
Many people just do not feel it possible that saints can exist in the world. We cannot make out a saint unless we ourselves believe in and have regard for God. We have forgotten the true goal of our life; the saints rouse us to it. Seeing us following the wrong path, they caution and guide us; we should then turn about, retrace our steps, and follow the correct path; we can rest assured that we shall then reach our destination.
The saints do not rest inactively after they attain blissfulness; they continue to act for the welfare of the world, while their own blissfulness remains unimpaired. Even when they appear to be inactive, their mere presence makes for the good of the world. Since they have attained beatitude it behoves us to act as they advise us. In advising people their sole object is to see that mankind may come to know the truth they have themselves seen, and thereby become happy. How can we doubt the verity of their advice when they have no ulterior selfish motive to serve?
When we realise that worldly life is full of misery, we must strive to find a remedy. That remedy we discover in the books written by saints, and we should put into practice what they have advised therein. That alone makes the reading worthwhile. Introspection on what we read is essential. Reading must be accompanied by its practice.
We shall not be able to understand properly the works of a saint without his grace. One on whom the saint bestows his grace will very easily and correctly grasp the gist of the book even though he may not be learned. A learned man will describe the Ultimate Truth, exercising his imagination; whereas the saints describe it with certainty, as a matter of first-hand experience.
When reading a book by a saint, we should bear in mind that we have to bring it into our practice.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-April 14

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-April 14

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April.13

Saints and Their Books

The knowledge which the saints possess is so subtle, penetrating and comprehensive, that they easily grasp the essence or the purport of the vedas and their philosophy. They may perhaps not be able to say who wrote a certain treatise, or when, or where, or what appears on such and such a page, but the gist of all books is certainly in their ken. Common people like us often just read the words in a saint's writing; but the real gist can only be understood by the saint's grace; by ourselves, we can understand it no better than the comprehension of the father's message which a child may convey to the mother in its own lisping words.
The saints write books to enable 'intelligent' readers to convince themselves and progress on the spiritual path. We should not try to interpret their words in a strained or far-fetched manner, but just accept them straightforwardly. We should read without prejudice or preconceptions, for a clear understanding; just as overwriting makes the original illegible, preconceptions muddle understanding; so our reading should be with a clear, unprejudiced mind.
Books like the Jnyaneshwari and Dasabodh should be read with close attention, just as a letter from a person near and dear to us is read most attentively down to the last little syllable, as addressed to us in a personal capacity. Many people go to listen to discourses just because it is a social vogue, or as an entertainment, or as something to kill time with. Few, indeed, are those who read saints' books really to find out what they ought to do, and act accordingly. More read them out of blind reverence because they were written by saints; while the majority do not care to read them at all.
People in general usually disregard God and spiritual values; we go to a saint to learn how to go counter to this common trend. Saints have an awareness of the body only to the extent necessary in practical life; otherwise they treat the body as no better, no truer, than a mere shadow. It is not sense to grieve for 'pain' to a shadow, and therefore the saints are unaffected by the body's pains and pleasures.
Many persons unrelated to a saint or unremunerated by him, voluntarily labour for him or for those who visit him; this they do because of his divine love for them.
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