201. He who has faith has all, and he who wants faith wants all.
202. The faith-healers of India order their patients to repeat with full conviction the words, 'There is no illness in me, there is no illness at all.' The patient repeats it, and, thus mentally denying, the illness goes off. So if you think yourself to be morally weak and without goodness, you will really find yourself to be so in no time. Know and believe that you are of immense power, and the power will come to you at last.
203. Bhagavân Srî Râmakandra had to bridge the ocean before he could cross over to Lamkâ (Ceylon). But Hanumân, his faithful monkey-servant, with one jump crossed the ocean through the firmness of his faith in Râma. Here the servant achieved more than the master, simply through faith.
204. A man wanted to cross the river. A sage gave him an amulet and said, This will carry thee across.' The man, taking it in his hand, began to walk over the waters. When he reached the middle of the river curiosity entered into his heart, and he opened the amulet to see what was in it. Therein he found, written on a bit of paper, the sacred name of Râma. The man at this said deprecatingly, Is this the only secret?' No sooner had he said this than he sank down. It is faith in the name of the Lord that works miracles, for faith is life, and doubt is death.
205. Q. How can I perform devotion when I must always think of my daily bread? A. He for whom thou workest will supply thy necessities. God hath made provision for thy support before he sent thee here.
206. Q. When shall I be free? A. When thy I-hood (egoism) will vanish, and thy self-will be merged in the Divinity.
207. Out of the myriads of paper kites that are made to fly in the air, only one or two rend the string and get free. So out of hundreds of Sâdhakas, only one or two get free from worldly bonds.
208. As a piece of lead, thrown into a basin of mercury, is soon dissolved therein, so the human soul loses its individual existence when it falls into the ocean of Brâhma.
209. Q. What do you say about the method of religious preaching employed now-a-days? A. It is inviting hundreds of persons to dinner, when the food supply is sufficient for one only.
210. Instead of preaching to others, if one worships God all that time, that is enough preaching. He who strives to make himself free, is the real preacher. Hundreds come from all sides, no one knows whence, to him who is free, and are taught. When a flower opens the bees come from all sides uninvited and unasked.
211. Hast thou got, O preacher, the badge of authority? As the humblest subject wearing the badge of the King is heard with respect and awe, and can quell the riot by showing his badge; so must thou, O preacher, obtain first the order and inspiration from God. So long as thou hast not this inspiration, thou mayest preach all thy life, but that will be mere waste of breath.
212. He alone is the true 'man' who is illumined with the Spiritual Light.
213. The soul enchained is 'man,' and free from chain is 'Siva' (God).
214. The heavier scale of a balance goes down while the lighter one rises up. Similarly he who is weighed down with too many cares and anxieties of the world, goes down to the world, while he who has less cares rises up towards the Kingdom of Heaven.
215. God is in all men, but all men are not in God: that is the reason why they suffer.
216. There are two sorts of men. The Guru said to one of his disciples, 'What I impart to thee, my dear, is invaluable; keep it to thyself,' and the disciple kept it all to himself. But when the Guru imparted that knowledge to another of his disciples, the latter, knowing its inestimable worth, and not liking to enjoy it all alone, stood upon a high place and began to declare the good tidings to all the people. The Avatâras are of the latter class, while the Siddhas are of the former.
217. No man keeps a total fast. Some get food at 9 a.m., others at noon, others at 2 p.m., and others in the evening Similarly, at some time or other, in this life or after many lives, all will see God.
218. When fruit becomes ripe and falls of itself, it tastes very sweet; but when unripe fruit is plucked and artificially ripened it does not taste so sweet and becomes shrivelled up. So when one has attained perfection, the observance of caste distinctions falls off of itself from him, but so long as this exalted knowledge is not reached, one must observe caste distinctions.
219. When a storm blows, it is impossible to distinguish an Asvattha (pippal) and a Vata (banian) tree. So when the storm of true knowledge (the knowledge of one universal existence) blows, there can be no distinction of caste.
220. When a wound is perfectly healed, the slough falls off of itself; but if the slough be taken off earlier, it bleeds. Similarly, when the perfection of knowledge is reached by a man, the distinctions of caste fall off from him, but it is wrong for the ignorant to break such distinctions.
221. Q. Is it proper to keep the Brâhmanical thread? A. When the knowledge of self is obtained, all fetters fall off of themselves. Then there is no distinction of a Brâhmana Or a Sûdra, a high caste or a low caste. In that case the sacred thread-sign of caste falls away of itself. But so long as a man has the consciousness of distinction and difference he should not forcibly throw it off.
222. Q. Why do you not lead a family life with your wife? A. The God Kârtikeya, the leader of the Heavenly army, once happened to scratch a cat with his nail. On going home he saw there was the mark of a scratch on the cheek of his Mother. Seeing this, he asked of her, 'Mother, dear, how have you got that ugly scratch on your cheek?' The Goddess Durgâ replied, 'Child, this is thy own handiwork,--the mark scratched by thy own nail.' Kârtikeya asked in wonder, 'Mother, how is it? I never remember to have scratched thee!' The Mother replied, 'Darling, hast thou forgotten having scratched a cat this morning?'
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Kârtikeya said, 'Yes, I did scratch a cat; but how did your cheek get marked?' The Mother replied, 'Dear child, nothing exists in this world but myself. I am all creation. Whomsoever thou hurtest, thou hurtest me.' Kârtikeya was greatly surprised at this, and determined thenceforward never to marry; for whom would he marry? Every woman was mother to him. I am like Kârtikeya. I consider every woman as my Divine Mother.
223. When I look upon chaste women of respectable families, I see in them the Mother Divine arrayed in the garb of a chaste lady; and again, when I look upon the public women of the city, sitting in their open verandas, arrayed in the garb of immorality and shamelessness, I see in them also the Mother Divine, sporting in a different way.
224. The light of the gas illumines various localities with various intensities. But the life of the light, namely, the gas, comes from one common reservoir. So the religious teachers of all climes and ages are but as many lamp-posts through which is emitted the light of the spirit flowing constantly from one source, the Lord Almighty.
225. As the rain-water from the top of a house may be discharged through pipes having their mouth-pieces shaped like the head of a tiger, a cow or a bull, &c., although the water does not belong to these pipes, but comes from the heaven above, so are the holy Sâdhus (saints) through whose mouths eternal and heavenly truths are discharged into this world by the Almighty.
226. The cries of all jackals are alike. The teachings of all the wise men of the world are essentially one and the same.
227. Whatever gives happiness in this world contains a bit of divine enjoyment in it. The difference between the two is as between treacle and refined candy.
228. He who is absorbed in others' affairs, forgets his own outer and inner affairs (i.e. does not think about his own lower and higher self, but is absorbed in the affairs of other selfs).
229. When the mind dwells in evil propensities, it is like a high-caste Brâhmana living in the quarters of the out-castes, or like a gentleman dwelling in the back slums of the town.
230. If a man sees a pleader he naturally thinks of cases and causes; similarly, on seeing a pious devotee, the man remembers his God and the hereafter.
231. Q. What is the reason that a Prophet is not honoured by his own kinsmen? A. The kinsmen of a juggler do not crowd round him to see his performances, while strangers stand agape at his wonderful tricks.
232. The seeds of Vagravântula do not fall to the bottom of the tree. From the shell they shoot far away from the tree and take root there. So the Spirit of a Prophet manifests itself at a distance, and he is appreciated there.
233. There is always a shade under the lamp while its light illumines the surrounding objects. So the man in the
immediate proximity of a Prophet does not understand him. Those who live afar off are charmed by his spirit and extra-ordinary power.
234. The waters of a swiftly-flowing current move round and round in eddies and whirlpools, but quickly crossing these they resume their former course. So the hearts of the pious fall sometimes into the whirlpools of despondency, grief, and unbelief, but it is only a momentary aberration. It does not last long.
235. A tree, laden with fruit, always bends low. So, if thou wantest to be great, be low and meek.
236. The heavier scale goes down and the lighter one rises up. So the man of merit and ability is always humble, but the fool is always puffed up with vanity.
237. The anger of the good is like a line drawn on the surface of water, which does not last long.
238. If a white cloth is stained with a small speck the blackness appears very ugly indeed by the contrast; so the smallest fault of a holy man becomes painfully prominent by his surrounding purity.
239. The sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but bright surfaces like water, mirror and polished metals, &c., can reflect it fully. So is the Light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and clean hearts of the good and holy Sâdhus only can fully reflect it.
240. As in a pane of glass on which quicksilver has been laid, one can see his face reflected, so in the chaste heart of a totally abstinent man is reflected the image of the Almighty
241. So long as one does not become simple like a child, one does not get Divine illumination. Forget all the worldly knowledge that thou hast acquired, and become as ignorant about it as a child, and then thou wilt get the knowledge of the True.
242. The Hindu almanacs contain predictions of the annual rainfall. But squeeze the book, and not a drop of water will be got out of it. So also many good sayings are to be found in books, but merely reading them will not make one religious. One has to practise the virtues taught therein.
243. Q. Why do religions degenerate? A. The rain-water is pure, but becomes soiled according to the medium it passes through. If the roof and the pipe be dirty, the discharge is dirty.
244. Money can procure bread and butter only. Do not consider it therefore as if it were thy sole end and aim.
245. As by rubbing gold and brass on a touch-stone, their real worth becomes known; so a sincere Sâdhu and a hypocrite are found out when they are rubbed through the touch-stone of persecution and adversity.
246. The iron must be heated several times and hammered before it becomes good steel. Then only it becomes fit to be made into a sharp sword, and can be bent any way you
like. So a man must be heated several times in the furnace of tribulations, and hammered with the persecutions of the world, before he becomes pure and humble.
247. Remain always strong and steadfast in thy own faith, but eschew all bigotry and intolerance.
248. Be not like the frog in the well. The frog in the well knows nothing bigger and grander than its well. So are all bigots: they do not see anything better than their own creeds.
249. There was a man who worshipped Siva, but hated all other Deities. One day Siva appeared to him and said,
I shall never be pleased with thee, so long as thou hatest the other gods.' But the man was inexorable. After a few days Siva again appeared to him. This time he appeared as Hari-Hara, that is, one side of his body was that of Siva, and the other side that of Vishnu. At this the man was half pleased and half displeased. He laid his offerings on the side representing Siva, and did not offer anything to the side representing Vishnu, and when he offered the burning incense to his beloved God (Siva) he was careful as well as audacious enough to press the nostril of Vishnu, the other half of Hari-Hara, lest the fragrance should be pleasing to Vishnu. Seeing him altogether inexorable, the God Siva was sorely displeased with him, and at once vanished from his sight. But the man was as undaunted as ever. However, the children of the village began to tease him by uttering the name of Vishnu in his hearing. Displeased with this, the man hung two bells to his ears, which he used to ring as soon as the boys cried out the names of Vishnu, in order to prevent the sound entering his ears. And thus he was known by the name of Bell-eared, or Ghantâ-karna. He is still so much hated for his bigotry that every year at a certain period the boys of Bengal break down his effigy with a cudgel, and this serves him right.
250. As the young wife in a family shows her love and respect to her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and every other member of the family, and at the same time loves her husband more than these; similarly, being firm in thy devotion to the Deity of thy own choice (Ishta-Devatâ), do not despise other Deities, but honour them all.
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