Accepting prasad with devotion

Whenever I offer you a gift, please take it as a blessing, even if I give it in a joking manner. When I bless one of you or give you anything, it is absolutely meant only for the person to whom it is given and not for anyone else. I know of a spiritual Master who used to become absolutely furious when disciples gave to others things which they had received from him. If you are in a very, very high mood and you feel that I would be equally happy if you shared something with someone else, only then may you give it to your absolutely dearest one — your husband or wife, your child, your brother or sister.

What I give is for your soul, and your soul gladly receives it. Your soul is always hungry for light, whereas the other parts of your being are often hungry in a negative way. The mind, heart and vital can be very jealous, insincere and undivine. When you are captured by undivine forces, at that time you are not hungry for my love; you are insecure and depressed and you stand in front of me in a negative way. But if you can stay in your soul, you will feel very hungry for my Light and my Compassion, and you will always get everything that you need.

If what I give you outwardly you receive with devotion, then your soul can eat the full quantity. You are taking all my blessings from me and offering them to your soul. But if you don’t take prasad devotedly, the soul does not get the necessary nourishment.

You may say, “I don’t need that candy,” but if you take it with devotion, like a magnet you are receiving from me. Otherwise, it is absurd. If you don’t take the prasad with devotion when I give it to you, even if you eat it later on when you are in a better consciousness, you won’t be able to feed your soul wholeheartedly. I always say that you should receive prasad with both hands, but if you take it even with one finger it doesn’t matter so long as there is devotion. And this devotion is not going to the human in me. No, the Supreme in me is getting it. Yesterday I gave away a small booklet with some of my paintings in it. Some people thought it was just a silly book worth only twenty-five cents. They said to me that they would share it with their wives or their girlfriends. True, those booklets were silly, but anything you get from me, please take devotedly.

Please, please, in this incarnation take whatever I offer you devotedly — even if it is a blade of grass. You are not getting merely a blade of grass. No, the moment you touch it you can also get Peace, Love and all my divine qualities, which can never be bought. No matter how much love, devotion and surrender you have, they don’t qualify you to get my love. You may offer me every penny that you have, but if I don’t want to give you my soul’s infinite love, then what help are they? If you can get my love, there is nothing on earth or in Heaven which can compare with it. If you come to me and take my blessing-gift with a soulful attitude, what I give you during the second that you stand in front of me you could not get on your own in ten or twenty or God knows how many years! When I give you something, please take it with that feeling. I know of a spiritual Master who used to give blessing-gifts in a funny, childish way. Sometimes she even used to throw them and the disciples had to be real catchers. But even then the disciples used to receive the gifts with such love and devotion. If this Master was displeased with anyone, when that person’s turn came she used to throw the blessing-gift on the ground. Then, like a dog the person had to go and get it. I don’t do that, but out of the one hundred disciples to whom I gave my drawings yesterday, I could have thrown the booklet on the ground for at least forty people who had a wrong kind of attitude.

Also, if her disciples had any kind of silly desires, this Master would expose them like anything. Once, someone wrote the Master a note asking for butter and tea. Later, when hundreds of people were queuing up to receive a blessing from the Master, she asked that person to read out what he had written. Poor fellow, he had to read out that he wanted butter and tea and he was exposed. But in this way hundreds of people learned from his mistake. I, too, could expose people. Hundreds would learn from it if I threw the blessing-gift on the ground after I saw that the consciousness of the disciple was bad, or that the disciple was not receiving the gift with devotion. So when I give material things, please change your consciousness even if it is only for a few minutes. If this is unnatural, then be unnatural for a few minutes when you receive; afterwards you can go back to your usual normal consciousness.

Let me end with a funny story. There was once a spiritual Master who used to say to his disciples, “Take difficulties as prasad. Take them as blessings of the Supreme. The more difficulties you have, the more progress you will eventually make.”

Now, one of his disciples assimilated the Master’s philosophy in his own way and he began stealing and doing all kinds of undivine things. He felt that he would realise God by doing wrong things and getting into difficulty, since doing the right thing was so hard.

One day the Master called him and said, “My son, do you have to create more problems for yourself? You have already inherited so many problems from the world. You have no many difficulties which you cannot cope with. Why do you want to add to them? What I meant by taking your problems as prasad is that you should not be disturbed by them or try to destroy yourself over them. Feel that the problems which you already have inherited from the world are from God, and that God definitely knows how to perfect and illumine you. Identify yourself with God, you will always be able to cope with your problems.”

In gratitude the seeker bowed to the Master and began a new life, with new illumination.