Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April.26

Saints Made the Supreme Being Perceptible
Total dedication is the supreme form of devotion. While worshipping, say to yourself, "Lord, I am Your humble servant"; this will generate in you love for Him. Dedicate yourself to Him and then worship Him; there is nothing in this to be ashamed of. We slave for people, passions, and circumstances; only what remains thereafter we offer to God; this is far from total dedication. You can achieve this total dedication by mental worship, manasa-pooja, in which everything is done mentally. Offer to Him whatever you yourself like. Love is not generated by physical toil, unless this is accompanied by the utmost sincerity of heart. Do not worship only outwardly, with the mind engrossed in worldly matters, for this is feigning, which is harmful. Sagunopasana helps most in developing love for God. Do this at a fixed hour and in a fixed place. The deity we worship, albeit mentally, is saguna too, and will thus expect pooja at that hour and place. The effulgence of the idol we worship will wax in proportion to our ardency. If an idol has been worshipped by a very devout, righteous man, it will radiate a peculiar effulgence, will be useful to many others, and will last long.
Sagunopasana will alone impart to us knowledge of the creation. Real devotion must remove all anxiety from the mind, while the body passes through the cycle of prarabdha. The lustre which a true devotee radiates is really of a special kind, and is unequalled by that imparted by learning or wealth. He alone can achieve something worthwhile in this world who is backed by sincere upasana.
A certain woman would sit with closed eyes, and she would see the vision of the goddess she worshipped, who would give her guidance about many matters. Later the woman stopped meditating on the goddess, and lost her special vision and guidance. Therefore, we should not stop our upasana whereby certain supernatural powers support and guide us.
The saints have given a tangible form to the intangible Ultimate Reality, and thereby they have conferred a great boon on us. It creates in us an awareness that it is God who is the giver, the supporter, and that He will certainly look to our ultimate welfare.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-April 26

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravchan-April.26

Saints Made the Supreme Being Perceptible
Total dedication is the supreme form of devotion. While worshipping, say to yourself, "Lord, I am Your humble servant"; this will generate in you love for Him. Dedicate yourself to Him and then worship Him; there is nothing in this to be ashamed of. We slave for people, passions, and circumstances; only what remains thereafter we offer to God; this is far from total dedication. You can achieve this total dedication by mental worship, manasa-pooja, in which everything is done mentally. Offer to Him whatever you yourself like. Love is not generated by physical toil, unless this is accompanied by the utmost sincerity of heart. Do not worship only outwardly, with the mind engrossed in worldly matters, for this is feigning, which is harmful. Sagunopasana helps most in developing love for God. Do this at a fixed hour and in a fixed place. The deity we worship, albeit mentally, is saguna too, and will thus expect pooja at that hour and place. The effulgence of the idol we worship will wax in proportion to our ardency. If an idol has been worshipped by a very devout, righteous man, it will radiate a peculiar effulgence, will be useful to many others, and will last long.
Sagunopasana will alone impart to us knowledge of the creation. Real devotion must remove all anxiety from the mind, while the body passes through the cycle of prarabdha. The lustre which a true devotee radiates is really of a special kind, and is unequalled by that imparted by learning or wealth. He alone can achieve something worthwhile in this world who is backed by sincere upasana.
A certain woman would sit with closed eyes, and she would see the vision of the goddess she worshipped, who would give her guidance about many matters. Later the woman stopped meditating on the goddess, and lost her special vision and guidance. Therefore, we should not stop our upasana whereby certain supernatural powers support and guide us.
The saints have given a tangible form to the intangible Ultimate Reality, and thereby they have conferred a great boon on us. It creates in us an awareness that it is God who is the giver, the supporter, and that He will certainly look to our ultimate welfare.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-April 26

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April.25.

Saints Conjoin us with the Supreme Being
Our heart is crammed so full with sensuous passions and mundane desires, that there is no room for love for the divinity. If we try to force this love in, it is spilt out and immediately evaporates. To fill this heart with love for God, we must first evict those passions and desires, and then charge it with love for God. It is common experience that a thing which is obtained repeatedly and in abundance cloys us. Let us now try to acquire something which will not so cloy; and there is only one thing which answers to that description: it is God.
A very high-ranking officer gets a stamp made of his signature, and authorises a trusted subordinate to use it at his discretion and in his name. Similarly, God gave the saints His name, to be used at their discretion, and to give to a deserving person.
As a human being, there is little distinction between us and a saint, except that while he acts as he preaches we only talk tall and glibly, but if anyone crosses our path of selfishness, we talk ill of him. We dislike a person who loves to do what we love to. We talk approvingly of moral principles, but do not act up to them. Let us therefore learn to practise what we preach.
One does not take a railway train for its own sake, but for reaching a certain destination. Similarly, saints leading a family life did not do it for the pleasure of it. They always strove to save ignorant souls, without ever deflecting from their spiritual level. They have provided us with the support of the Lord just as a drowning person may be saved by casting a rope to him. One who lives in the company of a saint himself becomes a saint in course of time, just as the wood of a tree in the vicinity of a sandalwood tree acquires the same scent. Indeed, the greatness of a saint lies in leading an ordinary person to spiritual height without his performing austere disciplines.
Even righteous persons feel that their mind is not yet purged of passions. But if we merely harp on these passions every now and then, they may thereby multiply rather than diminish. So just ignore them, only see that the body does not act up to them. Then they will automatically diminish.

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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-April 25

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-April 25