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  • Recorded on: 15 Apr 2002
  • Language: English
  • Length: 0h 03m

What is in your heart

A spiritual discourse on discernment and the application of teachings, illustrated by a parable.

"My master said, 'See God in all.' How can God do anything against me?"

"Yes, everyone is God. But you did not listen to God... The other people were warning you. Why did you not consider that God was also in them?"

The speaker narrates the story of a disciple who, after being told to see God in everyone, walks toward a charging mad elephant and is severely injured. When the disciple questions his master, the master explains that God was also speaking through the villagers' warnings, which the disciple ignored. The talk concludes with advice to analyze the impulses of the heart with logic before acting.

Filming location: Adelaide, Australia

A master once told his disciple, "In every heart is God, and everyone sees God." The disciple took these words to heart. One day, while walking through a narrow village street, a mad elephant came charging. Everyone fled, closing their shops and hiding. The elephant was wild and angry—its trunk swinging, tail lashing, and ears flapping. A young sādhu approached, and people warned him, "Escape! Run away! Be careful—the elephant is mad!" But the man thought, "My master said, 'See God in all.' How can God do anything against me?" With innocent faith, he walked toward the elephant. The angry animal rushed at him, seized him with its trunk, and—thank God—did not swallow him. Instead, it flung him over a roof, breaking his ribs and other bones. After recovering, the disciple returned to his master and expressed his doubt: "Master, I trusted your words that God is in everyone. How could He do this to me? My heart believed you, yet the elephant treated me so cruelly." The master replied, "Yes, everyone is God. But you did not listen to God." Puzzled, the disciple asked, "Why?" The master explained, "The other people were warning you. Why did you not consider that God was also in them, warning you through their voices?" Therefore, what we feel in the heart we must analyze: Is it selfish? Is it greedy? Is it some ambition within me, or is it something else? We should examine our heart's impulses with logic and then act accordingly.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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