Earth
contains so many elements and minerals, our crops grow in it. It gives
sugarcane its sweet juice, and the pomegranates their deep red colour
and pearly seeds. Just think how many types of fruits exist, with an
outside skin and inner seed or stone. How has Nature made all these
things? Grass and hay come from the earth. Cows eat this and produce
milk, which we turn into butter then ghee for cooking delicious sweets
and pastries. What good things the earth produces - not for itself, but
for you and me. Mountains, trees, rivers, earth and saints are described
as selfless. Saints are the best of all. They dedicate themselves to
serving others by showing them the way to salvation. It is written that
even greater than Rama is the devotee of Rama. God is the ocean while
saints are the clouds which carry its moisture. God is the sandalwood
tree whose fragrance is carried by the breeze of the saints.
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There
is endless water in the ocean, its dimensions are fathomless, but
seawater is useless for drinking, washing clothes or irrigation because
of its salinity. In the same way, God is omnipresent, but so what? But
just as the sun draws up water from the sea to form rainclouds, so the
saints evaporate our ignorance with their satsang and free us through
spiritual knowledge. Then all is bliss.
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The
sandalwood tree is very fragrant. When the wind blows, that scent
reaches us, but the tree cannot spread its own perfume. In the same way,
even though God is everywhere, in every heart, He can't be seen. But
when a saint comes along, he carries the fragrance of God's Holy Name.
But saints are only found at satsang. Suppose there are no sandalwood
trees in Delhi.
Where will the fragrance come from? In the same way, without satsang,
you cannot get the fragrance of the Name. Only one who has experienced
satsang realizes its importance.
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There
are always negative forces opposing satsang and meditation. In the
Ramayana it is written "indriya dwar gharokha nana/tana-tahan sur
baithey kari thana/aawat dekhi vishay banjari/tey jhat det kapat
ughari". It says that the senses are like doors and windows which are
guarded by various deities. For example, you are sitting in meditation
and sense-stimuli come to you as if on the wind. Your eyes open to
look around, your ears pick up sounds, your nose perceives good and bad
smells. No matter how hard you try to overcome them, these gates of the
senses take you away from meditation. They have other things they
prefer to spirituality. They do all they can to prevent you from
achieving liberation, so that you are stuck in the cycle of
reincarnation and they have a vehicle for indulging themselves.
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What
are saints like? There is a story that once a saint was walking beside a
river. He saw a scorpion drowning. As he lifted it out of the water it
stung him and fell back in the river. So the saint picked it up again. A
passer-by asked him, "Why do you keep on trying to save it?" The saint
replied, "It can't help doing what it does. It is acting naturally, and
so am I."
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Indra by nature is obstinate so he sends heavy rain and storms, but even this god's pride was broken by Krishna.
Only the Lord can do that, but even He depends on devotion. God cannot
be realized without meditation. So meditation is most important. That is
the main thing. God is not realized by reading scriptures _ that
ultimate state of bliss is absolutely indescribable and can be reached
only with the help of a saint.
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Nowadays
people make a fuss about `paropkar', which means beneficence, going out
of one's way to help others. Everyone agrees that there should be more
of it . But do they know the real meaning of that word? No! First of all
we have this mortal world, where creatures are born then die. This is
the realm of reincarnation, where the soul encounters obstacles and a
variety of miseries. Secondly, there is parlok, the next world, or after
life. Lord Rama said that the human body is a gateway to liberation and
a soul is very fortunate to get it. Even gods long for it. If you put
halvah in front of a god, or any creature for that matter, it will eat
it, but only human beings can cook halvah for themselves. That is why it
is also written that one can experience paradise in this very life. The
human body is the only way out of the cycle of birth and death _ no
other species has this capacity. Only humans can work for their own
salvation.
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Many
people think that altruism means donating cheap wheat or clothing. Even
if it rains gold for two hours and you collect as much as you can, it
won't benefit you if you don't do anything with it. You may spend your
life giving food and clothing, but will the real need ever be met?
People die and are reborn, because we have more than one life, so there
is never an end to people's needs. The real meaning of paropkar is not
understood. Nor is the real meaning of updesh (initiation). People
proclaim loudly from high stages and call this "updesh", or teaching.
But on the one hand is this desh, or mortal realm, and on the other is
the realm from which there is no return, about which Lord Krishna says,
"Once the soul reaches the self-effulgent realm beyond the light of sun,
moon or fire, it does not return." But nowadays people think that
simply bestowing a rosary is "updesh".
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It
has been said that a river does not drink its own water, a tree does
not eat its own fruit and saints come only for the sake of others.
Kabir, the Indian mystic poet, describes the greatness of saints in
these words: “God is like the ocean, and saints are the rainclouds; God
is the sandalwood tree and saints are the breeze which carries the
fragrance.” God is within every heart, but is experienced only by the
grace of a living enlightened saint. Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was one such
saint, who dedicated his life to making available to one and all the
paravidya–the practical spiritual Knowledge which leads to liberation.
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