“It is unswerving faith, belief and ‘bhakti’ in God alone, that makes a person strong.” ” ‘Bhakti’ mein ‘shakti’ hai ‘ ‘Bhakti’ se hi ‘shakti’ aati hai …”

Swamiji says…

“All of us have undergone that delightful, memorable phase in our childhood, when we were introduced to our Creator – God, by our elders. They showed us fascinating and awe – inspiring pictures and idols of various Gods and Goddesses …and taught us to fold our hands in respect and say ‘Jai’ to Him. The first seeds of awareness of a ‘form’, a power Supreme, mysterious and Divine, were laid within us in this manner. And, as we grew up, we learnt the importance of bathing Him, worshipping Him, offering fruits and ‘bhog’ to Him, adorning His idol with flowers, lighting ‘diyas’ and incense – sticks, and singing ‘aartis’ in His glory. It did not matter whose name we took – Ganeshji, Mahadev, Vishnuji, Brahmaji, Kaali Ma. The aim was to take His name and make an attempt to cleanse ourselves from our past sins. These rituals, performed by us, matured the erstwhile seeds into young saplings that were rapidly developing strong roots of love, faith, devotion and ‘bhakti’ within us…bonding us with Him.”

“Most of us follow this routine of worshipping and praying to God – religiously and regularly. It is here that we must pause and think – ‘Are we completely absorbed and totally involved in Him while paying obeisance to Him? Or are we still engrossed with the ‘worldly’ world while doing so? Do our senses awaken to experience and detect the divine beauty of those few minutes that we devote to God, in which we whisper words to Him that we are certain He hears or is it a drill that we perform, mechanically, day after day? We pray to Him fervently to fulfil our wishes, to give us the strength needed to live each day as it unfolds itself before us. Do we say these words with complete and absolute faith in Him? Or is our appeal to Him half-hearted! Do we actually feel stronger, secure and safer after sharing our worries and woes with Him or do we do this purely because we’ve been always told that God takes care of us in good and bad times?”

“It is at this juncture that we need to remember that we will most certainly, experience His presence during every moment of difficulty or otherwise, if … we have reposed complete faith in Him. And, it is when our faith in Him makes us surrender to Him that life becomes truly blissful and meaningful. A new lease of life surges through us when His invisible, but, palpable strength makes us feel rejuvenated and strong…to take on, and, accept any challenge that comes our way. The thought that an unseen power, God …or the silent presence of a ‘sachcha sant’ … a guru…is constantly by our side, guarding and guiding us gives us immense strength to carry out our duties in this lifetime without complaining…and by accepting that our past ‘karma’ is playing out in this lifetime.”

“We cry for our loved ones … but, do we cry for Him? If we call out to Him with un-abiding faith, with a sincere, pure heart … a heart soaked with devotion and ‘bhakti’ in Him… before we know it, He will respond to our call and be by our side to usher us on the ‘maarg’ destined for us in this birth.”

“We love our family members. But do we love God with the same intensity? Try doing so.Our faith in Him will not let our love go unrewarded and His love and concern for us will allow us to ‘discover’ Him…discover the ‘spiritual’ path and…’find’ Him. We will also get a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to discover ‘ourselves’ and give us the much needed strength to burn ourselves out in order to do so. The fruitful hours that we thus spend in meditating…in realizing Him…in knowing the Real me…might enable us to enter the ‘spiritual’ sky one day and merge with Him.”