TV Channel

There is a beautiful story in the Rāmāyaṇa. Some ṛṣis, or what you call yogīs, were living in the forest. To one āshram, a lady came. Physically, she was not so pretty, as you would say here. Unfortunately, some people are attached only to the outer look. She could not find any husband; her last hope was only this: that somehow God should liberate her, and He should not give her such a life anymore. She wanted to see only God, so she came to one āshram. She put the question to her master: "Will I see God?" The master said to her, "Yes, He will come to you." She smiled. "Even a normal man does not want to come to me; how would God want to come to me?" The master said, "He will come in this life." She asked when He would come; he said He would come in this life. "Always be aware of Him. And I tell you one thing: how will you welcome Him? What will you do if God comes?" This question can be to you also: when a dear guest or someone comes, or some high personality, how will you welcome him? What will you do? You will wash yourself, dress nicely, make up your mind. So she said, "I will welcome Him with flower garlands, and I will put flowers on the path; I will wash the feet of the Lord; I will give Him a nice place. I will give Him some nice fruits from the forest; I will make prayers like this." The master said, "Then you must be ready. What will you say one day you miss? You have not put the fresh flowers on the path and not prepared some mālās and the garlands, and He comes suddenly. Then who will be disappointed, you or He? He will not be disappointed, but you will be disappointed. You will be angry with yourself. So now, every day..." From morning till evening, she was waiting for God: fresh, beautiful flowers, darling, and flowers on the path, and collecting the nice sweet fruits. She was tasting the fruit to see if they were sweet enough. If they were sour, either she ate them or threw them away. She made sure if they were really sweet; she ate twice, biting into it. And when they were sweet, she kept them for God. At night also, to be sure, she put everything beside her. Day by day, with great devotion, day by day expecting, night and day, night and day: "I look for Thee; night and day, will Thou come, will Thou come? Will Thou come, will Thou come?" Just for the hope that she kept, and so on. Every day looking for God; every day looking for the beloved. Never came a negative thought even for one second. Because He can never make a mistake; it is only we who make mistakes. If you think negative about Him, speak negative about Him, that is your own distress. Now, every day it became her sādhanā, cleaning herself every morning. She was so lazy before; she did not wash herself for days, and she had many leaves in her hair, and she was smelling already half a kilometer, and everybody knew that she was coming. That is why no one liked her; now she is changed. Purity began, physically and mentally and consciously. Every day, many, many years passed; there is no sign of God. And her master left this world. Only the hope she had, only the one person in this world whom she loved and who gave her confidence, who gave her shelter before the master left this world. She asked him, "Master, take me with you." The master smiled. "You have forgotten your promise and your wish; your wish is not fulfilled, so I do not want to disturb you." "But my Lord, you are going; there will be no one who will support me. And what will I do if He will not come?" The master smiled. "God will come." "When?" "Time of your life." She continues her practice, thinking God will come. It is her mantra: "He will come, He will come, He will come." Always she is in a hurry to put the flowers and checking if the flowers are okay; otherwise, she takes new flowers. Finally, one day someone came and wanted to walk there. She said, "Please do not walk here; this is only for God. I can put new flowers for you and walk this side." She was so far that she could realize this person, or this one, is not a god. Now you see, if you go to work in the jewelry shop, and there are lying two pieces of diamonds—one is a piece of glass, and one is diamond—same design, the same weight, same form, and they ask you, "Please take the diamond." In my case, I do not know, you know all this; I will take all your... Śrī Mahāprabhujī will do all and take just one. But if you have studied, learned, what is the difference between glass and diamond? The light, the light which is penetrating through. Now, she knows that he is not a god. So far, her consciousness becomes very clear, pure, and divine. After a long time, one day, she got a message: God Rāma is coming with his brother Lakṣmaṇa. And she is waiting; she is physically old, and her head, her body is trembling, but she is waiting. And finally, God is coming; she fell down. She kneeled down to him, and she had so many tears in her eyes, tears of joy. So it is said that God's feet were washed through her tears, and finally he walks, and she says she cannot believe her eyes that really it will be he. He sits beside her; she had nothing to offer him except those fruits which she ate already half. She wanted to give him something else. God Rāma said, "No, no, no, give me the sweet fruits which you brought yesterday." She was hesitating. "How could I give him what I have eaten already?" But he said, "I want this one." This was already eaten. She had only one front tooth, you know; one was missing, so there was only one tooth bite. And his brother Lakṣmaṇa said, "Brother, do not eat this fruit; it is already eaten by her. It is not washed." And God Rāma is singing one beautiful song in poetry; he said, "My dear brother Lakṣmaṇa, how sweet are the fruits of Bhīlanī—her name was Bhīlanī—especially they are indescribably sweet, especially those which are bitten by her. In the whole universe, there is no sweeter taste I have realized than this one." Because that was the test of the love, devotion, a pure devotion. Her wish is fulfilled; God came to her. She is sitting beside Him; she is serving Him. She is giving one after another fruit to Him and talking to Him. Finally, God said, "What do you wish? Now I am going. Do you want mokṣa? Do you want samādhi? Do you want a beautiful body? Do you want... What do you desire now?" Or God said, "Do you want to go with me? What do you wish?" She said to God, "Come with me, Lord." She takes him outside of her hut, and there was the samādhi, the place where her master was buried, and a light was burning. She said, "This is my master, and he blessed me that I will see you. His vākya came true. I wish nothing, Lord, now, only one thing: that the light of my soul merges into the light of my master." God blesses her, and the light of her soul moves toward the place, and the master's light is coming; two flames merge into one flame. That is called sādhanā; that is called understanding Guruvākya. That is called clear consciousness; that is called unbroken love, one without a second. So do not put conditions. Do not ask questions when and how and where. Only you should ask yourself if you are ready every time, everywhere, and in every condition; this is this. Do not change conditions. Nothing is impossible, dears, in this world. But when we become selfish, ego, greediness, jealous, hate, this harms our self, not others. That obstacle does not let your wish come true. Because many times we disconnect the connection. But a single thought can destroy years and years of work in the country. That is it, so mental power. Collect all your energy and concentrate on your end.