Yearn to reach the stage of perfect Bliss The highest awareness to which all spiritual effort leads is: "Brahma sathyam, Jagan mithya"---"Brahman is real, the world is mythical." Every atom and cell is a bundle of energy, expressing the Divine will. Matter and energy are not really separate. It is all one Will concretising, pervading, prompting and continuing. To experience the world as such, one must transcend all dual categories and reach the unique, unitary base, identifying It and establishing oneself in It. When the eye is filled with Jnaana (Vision of God), the world will be seen as Brahman (the Eternal Absolute). Then the world and the entire complex of being and becoming will assume one colour, the Brahman colour, and you will have perfect equanimity, unaffected by any modification. No mirror, no image! There is only the Person, the Bimba, alone. Yearn to reach that stage of perfect unshaken Bliss. This stage can be known and appreciated only when you strive to be in the company of Saadhakas (spiritual aspirants) and Saints. When a sandalwood tree is felled by an axe, the axe edge too smells of sandal! That is the nature of the good: they bless even those who harm or malign them. Do not pay attention to the cynical laughter and cruel criticisms of the wordly-minded. When a kinsman lands at your door, if you rise to welcome him and speak words of welcome, he will enter and stay; but if you do not cast a look of recognition at him, he will be so hurt that he will turn back and go. So too, do not heed the comments of the foolish. They will then revert to those who indulged in them. I am also the target of such comments! People do not understand the ways of God. How can they know why a particular event takes place at a particular time in a particular manner? He alone can know. But, people try to sit in judgement and talk ill, when for example, some one dies of illness at this place! How can any one escape death? Even Avathaars (Divine Incarnations) cast off the physical form when the task for which they have come is over. It is the height of foolishness to lose faith in God when some one you cared for dies. The sentence that he earned is over and he is released. No one is born and allowed to live for the sake of another. Do not therefore allow any circumstance to affect your faith in God, who is your strength and solace. So, I advise you to utilise every moment of your lives in the most beneficial manner; to serve your fellowmen to the best of your capacity; to cultivate love towards all mankind; to give up hate and malice. Believe that your God, the Form that you revere, is in everyone and sanctify every act as worship of that Form. The Bhajan will continue throughout the night; share in it and fill your mind with the thoughts of the Glory of God, the Glory that you yourselves are. ---Mahaa Shivaraathri, Prashaanthi Nilayam, 9-3-1967
