If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.
Some men shed streams of tears because sons are not born to them, others eat away their hearts in sorrow because they cannot get riches. But alas! how many are there who sorrow and weep for not having seen the Lord! Very few indeed! Verily, he who seeks the Lord, who weeps for Him, attains Him.
Let your heart pan for Him as a miser longs for gold.
As the drowning man pants hard for breath, so must one's heart yearn for the Lord, before one can find Him.
Do you know how intense our love of God should be? The love that a devoted wife possesses for her beloved husband, the attachment that a miser feels for his hoarded wealth, and the clinging desire that the worldly-minded people foster for the things of the world--when the intensity of your heart's longing for the Lord is equal to the sum of these three, then you will attain Him.
'I must attain God in this very life; yea, in three days I must find Him; nay with a single utterance of His name I will draw Him to me'--with such violent Love the devotee can attract and realize Him quickly. But devotees who are lukewarm in their Love take ages to find Him if indeed they find Him at all.
Why this attitude of an idler, that if realization is not possible in this birth, it will come in the next? There should not be such sluggishness in devotion. The goal never be reached unless a man makes his mind strong, and firmly resolves that the must realize God in this very birth, nay, this very moment. In the countryside, when cultivators go to purchase bullocks, they first touch the tails of the animals. Some of the bullocks do not make any response to this. Rather, they relax all their limbs and lie down on the ground. At once the cultivators understand them to be worthless. There are some others that jump about and behave violently the moment their tails are touched; and the peasants immediately know that these will be very useful to them. Their choice is then made from among this active type. Slothfulness is not at all desirable. Gather strength, firm faith, and say that you must realize God this very moment. Then only can you succeed.
A devotee asked the Master, "By what means can He be seen?" and the Master replied: "Can you weep for Him with intense longing? Men weep jugfuls of tears for children, wife, money, etc.; but who weeps for God? So long as a child is engrossed in play with its toys, the mother engages herself in cooking and other household works. But when the little one finds no more satisfaction in toys, throws them aside and loudly cries for its mother, she can no longer remain in the kitchen. She perhaps drops down the rice pot from the hearth, and runs in hot haste to the child and takes it up in her arms."
Wherein does the strength of an aspirant lie? He is a child of God, and tears are his greatest strength. As a mother fulfills the desires of a child who weeps and importunes her, so does the Lord grant to His weeping child whatever he is crying for.
As a child beseeches it mother for toys and pice, weeping and teasing her, so he who weeps inwardly, intensely longing to see Him, like an innocent child, and knowing Him to be his nearest and dearest, is rewarded at last with the vision Divine. God can no longer remain hidden from such an earnest and importunate seeker.
Some men shed streams of tears because sons are not born to them, others eat away their hearts in sorrow because they cannot get riches. But alas! how many are there who sorrow and weep for not having seen the Lord! Very few indeed! Verily, he who seeks the Lord, who weeps for Him, attains Him.
Let your heart pan for Him as a miser longs for gold.
As the drowning man pants hard for breath, so must one's heart yearn for the Lord, before one can find Him.
Do you know how intense our love of God should be? The love that a devoted wife possesses for her beloved husband, the attachment that a miser feels for his hoarded wealth, and the clinging desire that the worldly-minded people foster for the things of the world--when the intensity of your heart's longing for the Lord is equal to the sum of these three, then you will attain Him.
'I must attain God in this very life; yea, in three days I must find Him; nay with a single utterance of His name I will draw Him to me'--with such violent Love the devotee can attract and realize Him quickly. But devotees who are lukewarm in their Love take ages to find Him if indeed they find Him at all.
Why this attitude of an idler, that if realization is not possible in this birth, it will come in the next? There should not be such sluggishness in devotion. The goal never be reached unless a man makes his mind strong, and firmly resolves that the must realize God in this very birth, nay, this very moment. In the countryside, when cultivators go to purchase bullocks, they first touch the tails of the animals. Some of the bullocks do not make any response to this. Rather, they relax all their limbs and lie down on the ground. At once the cultivators understand them to be worthless. There are some others that jump about and behave violently the moment their tails are touched; and the peasants immediately know that these will be very useful to them. Their choice is then made from among this active type. Slothfulness is not at all desirable. Gather strength, firm faith, and say that you must realize God this very moment. Then only can you succeed.
A devotee asked the Master, "By what means can He be seen?" and the Master replied: "Can you weep for Him with intense longing? Men weep jugfuls of tears for children, wife, money, etc.; but who weeps for God? So long as a child is engrossed in play with its toys, the mother engages herself in cooking and other household works. But when the little one finds no more satisfaction in toys, throws them aside and loudly cries for its mother, she can no longer remain in the kitchen. She perhaps drops down the rice pot from the hearth, and runs in hot haste to the child and takes it up in her arms."
Wherein does the strength of an aspirant lie? He is a child of God, and tears are his greatest strength. As a mother fulfills the desires of a child who weeps and importunes her, so does the Lord grant to His weeping child whatever he is crying for.
As a child beseeches it mother for toys and pice, weeping and teasing her, so he who weeps inwardly, intensely longing to see Him, like an innocent child, and knowing Him to be his nearest and dearest, is rewarded at last with the vision Divine. God can no longer remain hidden from such an earnest and importunate seeker.
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