Saints and the Sun Are Alike
Saints and the sun are alike. Just as the sun sends its rays all over the world without making any distinction between clean and dirty places, in the same way saints give their love and blessing to everyone, whether they are considered righteous or unrighteous, spiritually advanced or not. In the same way, the Ganges gives its coolness to everyone alike. One must love each being, for he is a child of God whatever he may seem to be. Whether one be good or bad, when one dives into the Ganges, not only does one get its coolness but one also benefits from the purification it offers spiritually. It is the same for saints when one goes to see them; whatever your status or the state you may be in, you receive their blessing.
The Guru is God
When I met Sacha Baba [Kulanandji] in 1953 and had his darshan for the first time, I immediately thought he was God Himself incarnated. I had complete faith in him. So whatever he told me to do, I obeyed; I had confidence in Him because for me it was God who was speaking. The Master is God, and one does not disobey. That is why in 1958, when Sacha Baba told me that if I could manage to fulfil the basic needs of the ashram [in Allahabad] for food, then he in turn would satisfy India’s basic needs for food, thus putting an end to recurrent famine in the country. I had faith in what he promised. I therefore went to Punjab to ask the people there to donate cereal, which I transported to Allahabad. I devoted myself to this task every year until 1972. My Master kept his promise, for today, India is self-sufficient in food. Today, Tripathi is the one who is continuing this task for those who live at the ashram in Allahabad, by going around and asking for donations of cereal.
Empty Your Heart for the Master
One day I had a profound mystical experience where I had the darshan of three great Divine Mothers, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi et Mahasaraswati. Tripathi was with me that night. When I wanted to bow down before Them, They refused for they said, “You are Narada, you are Vishnu, you are God.” Then I understood that Sacha Baba wanted to incarnate in me. I sent Tripathi to tell him that I did not want him to incarnate in me because my body was too fragile and could not bear a large amount of divine energy. So if he could incarnate in the body of a young disciple or of a more appropriate person, it would be better for me. Sacha Baba replied that the first thing was that I thought that I would always be just sitting at his feet at his ashram in Allahabad, whereas one day, I would have to take care not only of that ashram, but also of another one and of the whole world too. Secondly, he could only use a place which had been cleared out, not one which was cluttered up, for there was no space at all there. “As you have emptied your heart and your heart is longing to be with me, I will come into you, and will work through you for the whole world.”
If You Worship Your Guru, He Will Give You What You Ask
When time came for Sita to get married, a competition was organized, as was the custom in those days. Only the suitor who won the contest which consisted in breaking a special bow could be given her hand in marriage.
Now Sita had already seen young Ram before and she had seen in a vision that the young man was God Himself incarnated on Earth. So, well before the contest which was held in order to choose her future husband, she performed tapasya [austerities undergone in order to obtain God's help] and asked the Goddess Parvarti for two favours. First of all, she asked that everyone pray to Parvarti and that She grant humanity whatever it wanted — whether the people be saints or ordinary men. Secondly, she wanted to marry God if he was incarnated on Earth, and not an ordinary man. So she implored Parvarti, saying that if God was really present, let him accept her as his wife.
This means that she thought Ram was God and wished that Ram would accept to marry her. And finally, Ram was the one who won and was given her hand in marriage. If you worship your Guru, he gives you whatever you ask.
Whatever a Saint Promises Will Ineluctably Come True : Story of Turkaram and Namdev
In the past, there lived a great saint called Tukaram who lived in Maharastra. One day, someone by the name of Namdev, from Punjab came to visit him. Namdev lived for a long time by his side. When he wanted to return home, he asked Tukaram to help him so he would have God’s darshan. The Master answered, “Go and wait, for one day you will have it.”
And Namdev returned home. One day he was making chapatis [indian flat bread] under a tree. When the chapatis were ready, he went away for a few seconds to wash his hands so as to spread ghee (clarified butter) onto the chapatis before first offering them to God according to the custom, then eating them. But as soon as he turned his back, a dog came and took the chapatis out of the fire and moved away to eat them. When Namdev saw that, he was so angry with the dog that he took a big stick to hit it. As soon as he raised the stick, Lord Krishna came out of the dog, holding all the chapatis. Namdev was both surprised and embarrassed. He bowed down at Lord Krishna’s feet saying,
“Lord, why didn’t you wait until I had put ghee on the chapatis before taking them? They would have been nicer.”
The fact is that he had in that way had God’s darshan. This means that if a saint says something, you must believe him for what he says will ineluctably be fulfilled.
Devoting Oneself to Serving God
Devote yourself to serving God. Do at least one hour of sadhana in the morning and another hour in the evening. He who devotes himself to God does not need to pray for his material needs for God will fulfil those needs, seeing that he knows what they are. Look at this ashram [Sacha Dham], I never ask who is coming to eat, I don’t choose those who should eat here, yet there is always enough food for everyone. God meets the needs of whoever serves him, and he does not even need to worry.
The Good Or Bad You Do Will Come Back to You
Be just and good towards all. If you do good or bad, this will inevitably come back to you. If you cheat someone, in fact you cheat yourself, for karma is inflexible and one can neither escape from it nor get rid of it. Take Lord Ram, for example, when he came to Earth, he killed a demon called Bali by hiding behind a tree. Later on, when he came back in the form of Lord Krishna, he was killed in exactly the same circumstances by a hunter who was hiding behind a tree.
