Devotion and familiarity

Sometimes when I leave my shoes outside the meditation hall, I see that some of my disciples rearrange them with their feet. Bharata placed Rama’s wooden sandals on his heart when he had to rule the kingdom in Rama’s absence, and my disciples sometimes kick my sandals! My realisation will not be affected if you touch my shoes with your feet; but because of your lack of devotion, you may delay your own realisation for one more second. When you lose devotion, you lose everything. Devotion is like a magnet. When you show devotion, it pulls something good and divine from me.

Here when I show my human aspect it is easier for you to show devotion, but you should not misunderstand me. Feel that our relationship on the physical plane is the sweetest thing, but it is not all, because tomorrow if you die you will say, “Oh, everything is gone!” Sometimes if certain disciples stay with me for two or three hours, they become tired because they feel that I am doing all kinds of ordinary things. But I wish to say that I am doing many, many significant things inwardly at that time. Whenever you are with me in the Centre or anywhere else, please feel that it is an opportunity in your spiritual life. Today you are getting an Indian feast for an hour or so, but tomorrow you may get only a morsel. Again, if you see me for an hour or more today and tomorrow you have the opportunity only to catch a glimpse of me, you should not say, “Why should I bother to see him? Yesterday I had a grand feast!” Please feel the importance of even one morsel of food, since that particular morsel will add to your inner strength in the spiritual life, and the day after tomorrow you may not even get that morsel.

The more you can approach me inwardly and outwardly, the closer you can become and the faster will be your progress. But you have to know that there are different ways to make progress. If you are not close to me outwardly, it is for your own progress that I have to do this. I know what is best for you. One person needs one kind of treatment, someone else needs another kind of treatment.

At times I become the disciples’ worst enemy. Most of the time you love me but sometimes when I look at some of the disciples, I feel that if I were left alone with them, they would do something to me. They are so displeased and furious with me that if I were to give them a knife, they would stab me. God has not supplied them with a knife and that is why I am still alive. I am dealing with omnipotence, while they have only a needle, which is their hydrogen bomb. I also have a hydrogen bomb, but not the one that destroys. No, my hydrogen bomb is Compassion.

You will use your own weapon, your needle, to try to destroy me, to kill me inwardly, and I will use my weapon — my Compassion — to perfect you. Unfortunately, sometimes when I show you abundant Compassion, either you feel that you have become the emperor of spirituality, or the Ignorance-King Satan attacks you and you think that now is the time to kick me right and left. God has not opened up your third eye for you to see how some of my disciples literally kick me if I don’t fulfil their desires. But you do not know that if I used my indifference-power, it would be your death blow. When I am indifferent to your inner life, feel that you have already gone to the other world. But I can’t use this indifference-power unless the Supreme says that you don’t belong in my boat. Otherwise, unless and until a disciple has accepted another boat, it is my duty to carry him.

Some of the disciples find it beneath their dignity to behave like the other disciples. They always have to do something different, to have their own individuality. If some of you sit down, they have to stand up to prove that they don’t belong to your group. If you want to apply this kind of will-power, you can; but the power that tells you that you also can act and be like the others, that you can remain in a group — that power requires tremendous discipline, will-power and capacity.

If someone says, “Please sit down!” why should you sit down? If someone says, “Please stand up!” why should you listen? Or, if someone says “no”, why should you try to see eye-to eye with him? It is like this. The force that you cherish in order to remain separate from others is a very bad force. To remain separate is called individuality or personality; but why don’t you treasure the other force that enables you to be in a group? Why don’t you use the other will-power that enables you to go together with others? “United we stand, divided we fall.” If we have this kind of will, then our mission will really be fulfilled. How can we cultivate this feeling of oneness? Early in the morning when we meditate, we have to feel that we are a river. The nature of a river is to enter into the source. Morning, noon and evening it is continuously flowing towards the sea. If we can feel this, then easily we can cultivate the feeling of oneness.