God Is Your Only Goal

Intense Desire For God Is True Devotion

Embodiments of Divine Love!

It is Bhakti (devotion) which proves the eternal sacred truth stated in the profound Vedic dictum Tattvamasi (That Thou Art). It means that the devotee and God are one. But man forgets this truth and becomes victim of many diseases and sorrows. The sorrows man suffers from are of three types: Adhibautika refers to the diseases that are caused by man’s attachment to the physical world. Adhidaivika is related to the sufferings caused by natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods as also epidemics like cholera and plague. Adhyatmika refers to the sufferings that result from wrong food and bad habits.

Worldly Desires Cause Sorrow

Diseases related to the mind are more prevalent in the world today as man has many types of worries. The cause of his worries is his attachment to worldly people and material objects. He has attachment to wife and children, property, and wealth. These attachments weaken his mind and cause sufferings. Man today is beset with worries, which he readily takes into heart and consequently suffers. He can get relief from these sufferings only through devotion to God, which can also lead him to liberation. Man should therefore overcome his attachments and develop devotion. Worldly attachments can give only temporary happiness. But he is deluded to think that worldly attachments will give him permanent happiness. All his desires are the cause of his sorrow. All his worldly relationships and material attachments are in fact the cause of his bondage. How long do wealth and worldly relations last? Having intense desire for God is true devotion. Wealth and wife are not permanent. Money comes and goes. So, do not focus on worldly objects and persons; focus only on God.

To Combine The Purified Mind With Actions Is Dharma

You are attached to your wife and children. Your wife and children were not born with you. They came in between your life. They will not remain with you all your life. Similarly, the wealth you amass will not be with you all the time. But God is always with you. God was there prior to your birth, He would be there during your lifetime and will be there even after your death. So, God who exists before, during, and after your life is the truth and your only goal. To lead your life with this attitude is devotion. Your relationship with God is the only true relationship; all other relationships are false. Offer everything to God. Do your duty and please God. You are gifted with this body to transform every Karma (action) into Dharma (righteousness) through love. Karma is performed with hands and other organs of the body. When you combine your actions with love, your actions become Dharmic and divine.

A car has many parts like engine, fuel tank, battery, etc. But it runs because of the battery. Similarly, human body is a machine with many organs, like ears, eyes, hands, etc. But they all function because of the mind. Each organ of the human body has a specific function to perform: the eyes only see; they cannot hear; the ears only listen; they cannot see. According to Vedanta, the mind is the cause of all the experiences of the world. For example, at this time, you are in the auditorium and listening to Swami’s discourse. But if merely your ears and eyes are here while your mind is elsewhere, you will not derive any benefit from the discourse. When only your body is present and your mind is absent, you would not know what Swami said in His discourse. To combine the purified mind with actions is Dharma.

Man requires food to provide Shakti (strength) to his body and clothes to protect it. From Bhukti (food), man derives Shakti (strength). He attains Mukti (liberation) through Bhakti (devotion). But for this, he has to leave Rakti (attachment) and develop Virakti (detachment). In the word Bhakti, ‘bha’ denotes brilliance, effulgence and transcendence. The first syllable in Bhakti is ‘bha’ and the last, is ‘iti’. It connotes that devotion is the source of all powers. But devotion should be pure, steady and selfless. Therefore, man should always keep his heart pure and sacred. Then only can he attain Bhagawan who is the embodiment of purity, effulgence, and selflessness.

Man Should Display Only Goodness And Purity

No one should look at the faults of others. Here is a small example. Once a Japanese lady was travelling by train from Tokyo to Kyoto. She was carrying with her a bundle of dirty clothes wrapped in a clean cloth. A person sitting near her asked her, “Why have you put a clean cloth outside while all dirty clothes are inside your bundle”? She replied, “I have no right to display dirty clothes to anyone. The true meaning of human life is to display goodness and purity.” There are nerves, bones, blood, urine, etc., inside the human body. If people see this, they will have a feeling of fear and nausea. So, God has covered these parts with an attractive and beautiful skin. Similarly, man should not display all that is evil and dirty in him. Rather, he should sublimate all that is bad in him and maintain purity and goodness. The best example of this is provided by Lord Shiva who drank deadly poison which came out when gods and demons churned the ocean. So, he saved the universe from destruction. This is the lesson that God teaches man, “Oh mad man! If there is anything bad and harmful in you, keep it to yourself and do not cause harm to others by your words and deeds.” Lord Shiva dons the moon on his forehead to shed coolness and comfort to all mankind. The compassionate Lord also provides the sacred water of the river Ganga to all. This conveys that God keeps all that is harmful with Himself and gives all that is good to others in order to teach them to give everything for the benefit of all.

At birth, a baby cries which causes blood circulation in its body. Though man begins his life by crying, he should end it in bliss. The Bhagavad-gita begins with misery in human life but ends in divine bliss. The life in the world has both good and bad. Share all that is good with others. But, unfortunately, man today behaves just contrary to it. He always finds faults in others rather than knowing his own faults and making efforts to remove them. If we remove our own faults through self-inquiry, we can advance on the path of spiritual progress.

If you want to progress on the path of devotion, you should first of all know your own faults.

God Has The Power To Transform You

Offer everything, good and bad to God. When you earn God’s grace, by your devotion to Him, He will turn even all that is bad in you into good. For example, nobody will accept your torn 100-rupee note, but if you take it to the reserve bank, they will exchange it with a new note. God is like the Director of the reserve bank; He will change all that is bad in you into good. Pray to God and say, “Oh Lord, I offer my heart to You that You gifted to me; please purify it and remove its defects. You gave me love that is within me; I offer this love back to You.” Offering everything to God is devotion and surrender. God’s creation is a combination of good and bad but man should have the discrimination to keep only good. Goodness has value because of the existence of evil. There cannot be day without night and air conditioning without heat. Take the example of an orange covered with a bitter rind and containing sweet juice inside. As one cannot eat the rind, it is necessary to remove it in order to enjoy the sweet juice. We are happy when we celebrate the birthday of our child but we do not realize that the lifespan of the child has become less by one year. So, there is happiness in the beginning but sorrow in the end. To offer both happiness and sorrow, good and bad to God is Bhakti. We should realise that sorrow also is a gift of God. To see the presence of God in both happiness and sorrow is the sign of devotion.

These days students are recording the songs and Swami’s discourses. But you cannot hear the songs and discourses when you remove the cassette from the tape recorder. You have also to connect the plug or the battery in order to listen to the tape. In the same way, you have to connect to God through concentration to hear and know Him as He cannot be seen with physical eyes. You can experience the direct vision of God only through devotion. In ancient times, devotees prayed to God, offering their limbs. But today the devotees take a flower, touch their eyes or heart with it, and offer the flower to God. They offer the flower to God instead of their limbs, thus saying one thing and doing another. The devotee should say to God, “I offer my heart to You. Oh Lord! Fill it with Divinity.” There is a saying in Telugu: as is the action, so is the reaction. People today say one thing and do another. So, God too reacts in the same manner. In this way, your own evil returns to you.

Have Strong Faith That God Is Immanent In You

In the food prayer “Brahmarpanam Brahma Havir,” we offer food to God. Then God replies from within us, “Oh mad man, you are offering food to God but where do you think God is? I am present within you and I am selflessly digesting and distributing the essence of four types of food to all parts of your body. I do not receive the nourishment, you do.” So, God is totally selfless and full of sacred love. But selfish man is not able to understand this. Instead, he blames God. Everyone is dependent on God who resides within all as consciousness which makes the body function. It is the consciousness within you which enables you to see, work, move, etc. All the limbs of the body are by themselves inert. It is the consciousness alone that enables them to function. Have strong faith that God is immanent in you in the form of love. It is enough for man if he has devotion to God. But man today is drowned in attachment to the world. He can have faith only when he focuses his mind on God with love. So, develop faith in God and His love to solve all your problems and end the miseries of your life.

God Is The Source And Goal Of Your Life

There are four stages in the life of man: Brahmacharya (celibate stage), Grihastha (householder stage), Vanaprastha (recluse stage) and Sanyasa (renunciant stage). Each stage envisages duties and responsibilities. But man today mixes up all these stages, forgetting the duties required at the particular stage of his life. Whatever be the stage of his life, man should perform his duty with diligence. If he does that, he does not require any other penance. Hence, never forget your duty and offer all your actions to God. The life of man is full of miseries like old age, disease, and death. In whatever state he may be, man should never forget God. It is the devotion to God alone that can lead him to liberation. Attachment to the world will add to his sufferings. At birth, man has nothing with him; he does not have even clothes on his body. His family members and relations are not born with him. He acquires them in the middle, between birth and death. But he develops attachment to all the worldly things and relations, which cause him suffering. Man should try to know, where he has come from and where he has to go. A letter sent by post should have ‘to’ and ‘from’ address, otherwise, it will go to a dead letter office. Know at least one address by inquiring where you have come from. If you inquire deeply, you will find that you have come from God. It is natural for all beings to return to their source of origin. For example, the clay pot will eventually go back to earth; it was a pot in the middle stage only. Like the clay pot, your body is also temporary and impermanent. Ultimately, it will go back to its source only, that is God. So, pray to God and offer everything to Him. Then all your miseries of life will come to an end.

Offer Your Heart Full Of Love To God

Instead of spending time in mere rituals, offer your pure love to God. The mother quietly puts the baby in a crib and engages herself in household work. The moment the baby cries, she leaves all her work and runs to it, not taking time to consider the tune and rhythm of its cry. Likewise, God does not bother about the tune and rhythm of your cry or prayer and comes running to your rescue. God sees only your heart. That is the nature of the love of the Divine Mother who expects only Divine Love and responds to your whole-hearted prayer. Offer your heart full of love to God. This is Ananya Bhakti (supreme devotion).

_(_Bhagawan brought His Discourse to a close with the Bhajan “Chitta Chora Yashoda Ke Baal” and continued His Discourse.)

In the Bhajan “Chitta Chora Yashoda Ke Baal,” God is called a thief. The inner meaning of this is that the butter and milk that Krishna stole were actually the soft and pure hearts of His devotees, and devotees wanted Him to steal their hearts. Ordinarily, if someone is called a thief, he would become angry. But here God is called not a thief of worldly things and pleasures, but only pure hearts. Make your heart pure so that He can steal it.

– Bhagawan’s Divine Discourse in Sai Sruthi, Kodaikanal on 10th April 1996.