- Regarding a woman as mother is a very pure attitude. There is no danger in it. Considering a woman as sister is not inferior. But looking on a woman as one’s mistress, the attitude of a ‘hero,’ is beset with difficulties.
- You have to establish a specific kind of relationship with the Lord to attain Him. Sanaka and other rishis nurtured the shanta (peaceful) attitude, while Hanuman had the dasa (servant) attitude. Sridama, Sudama and the cowboys of Braja took up the sakhya attitude (of a friend), while Yashoda had the vatsalya (filial) attitude – she took the Lord as her son. Srimati (Radha) took up the madhura attitude (that of a sweetheart).
- God! You are the Lord, I am your servant. This bhava is the dasa (servant) attitude. It is a very good attitude for a spiritual aspirant.
- One should, therefore, cherish the attitude of the servant and master – ‘Thou art the Master, I am Thy servant’ – to taste the bliss of the Lord. The attitude of the lover is: Thou, oh Lord, art the rasa and I the enjoyer of the rasa.
- The devotee cherishes the attitude: ‘Thou art my Lord, and I Thy devotee.’ Such I-ness is the ‘ego of devotion.’ Why does the devotee retain the ‘ego of devotion’? It has a meaning. Since one cannot get rid of one’s I-ness, let the rascal remain the ‘I of a servant’ or the ‘I of a devotee.’
- There are two paths, one of jnana and the other of bhakti. Go by either path and you will reach Him. The jnani looks at Him in one way, the devotee in another. The God of the jnani is all splendour, while that of the devotee is all sweetness.
- ‘You are the Lord and I am Thy servant.’ This is a very nice attitude. As long as you take your body to be real, you have the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘You’. Then the attitude of a servant to the Lord is the right attitude.
- The perception that I am He is not right. Whether you look at a room from one side or from the middle, it is all the same.
- One should adopt one particular attitude toward God. God in His incarnation as Rama demonstrated the attitudes of shanta , dasya, vatsalya and sakhya . In the incarnation as Krishna, you have all these attitudes, as well as madhura.
- There is something special. God knows one’s inner feelings. Whatever one cherishes while practicing spiritual disciplines indeed comes to pass – as one desires, so one gains.
- One must establish a relationship with God to attain Him – either the attitude of a hero, or of a female lover of the Lord, or of a handmaid, or of a child.
- Hanuman, having realized God both with form and without, retained the ‘I of a servant.’ Narada and others – Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Sanatkumara – also retained the ‘I of a servant’ or the ‘I of a devotee’ after attaining the knowledge of Brahman. They are like big steamships which not only cross the ocean but also carry others to the opposite shore.
- When love for God matures, one experiences ecstasy. In the state of ecstasy, one becomes speechless contemplating Sat-chit-ananda. An ordinary human being can only go that far. But when ecstasy matures, one experiences mahabhava, prema.
- What a wonderful thing the flood and ebb tides are! But notice this – they only occur in the river when it is near the sea. Away from the sea, the current flows only in the one direction. What does this mean? Dwell on that fact. Only those who are very near to God experience divine emotions and love for God. One or two (ishvarakotis) may have mahabhava, intense love for God, and so on.
- You will find all kinds of attitudes here, for different kinds of people – Vaishnavas, Shaktas, Kartabhajas, Vedantists, as well as Brahmos.
- A person clings to the attitude which is agreeable to his nature and feelings. In a community festival where different kinds of people visit, images of various kinds are made. There are images of Radha-Krishna, Hara-Parvati and Sita-Rama – different images placed in different places. And you see people crowding before each one. Vaishnavas are seen standing for a long time to view Radha-Krishna, Shaktas near Hara-Parvati, and those who are devotees of Rama crowd around Sita-Rama.
- I tell you a very secret thing. Why do I love boys like Purna and Narendra so much? When I went to embrace Jagannath in a loving mood, I broke my arm. He made me understand: ‘You have taken up a human body. Now live with human beings as a friend, a parent, and such other relationships.’
- The Naked One used to say, ‘The world is the product of the mind, then it dissolves itself back into the mind.’ But as long as ‘I-ness’ persists, the attitude of master and servant is the right attitude.
- As long as there is the covering of Mahamaya, cherishing the Vedantist attitude of So ’ham, ‘I am indeed that Supreme Brahman,’ is not correct. Waves belong to water, water does not belong to waves. As long as there is the veil, it is good to call God, ‘Ma, Ma – You are my Mother, I am Your child.’ ‘You are my Lord, I am Your servant.’
- Don’t reason any more. It harms you in the end. You must assume one particular attitude when you call on God – the attitude of a friend, of a maidservant, or a child or a hero.
- I have the attitude of a child. When the goddess of maya notices this attitude, she moves out of the way in shame. The heroic attitude is very difficult. The Shaktas and the Vaishnava bauls practice this attitude. It is very difficult to remain correct with this attitude. Besides, there are the attitudes of serenity, of a servant or friend, as well as the filial attitude.
- It’s only in the state of perfection that a person likes all these attitudes. In that state, there is no trace of lust. The story of Chandidas and the washerwoman Rajakini is in the Vaishnava scriptures. Their love had no trace of lust.
- In that state a man has the disposition of a female – he no longer has the feeling of being a man. Rupa Goswami refused to see Mirabai because she was a woman. Mira sent the message: ‘Sri Krishna is the only male, everyone else in Vrindavan are his maidservants. Was it right for the Goswami to nurse the ego of a male?’
- You have to unite your mind with God in whatever way you can. See that you don’t forget Him even once – it should be like an unbroken flow of oil – no break in it. Even if you worship a brick or a stone as God, with a spirit of love and devotion, you can see Him by His grace.
- The more you rid yourself of your adjunct, or title, the closer to God you will be. Water doesn’t stay on a high mound. It gathers in a hollow below it. It’s the same with the shower of God’s grace. It doesn’t stay where there’s ego. Humility is the only right attitude.
Attitude of a Servant
- The idea of Master and servant is good. The ego won’t vanish, so let the rascal remain a ‘servant I’.
- It is good to retain this much ego: ‘I am His servant.’ As long as one thinks that one does anything, the attitude ‘I am your servant and you are my Master’ is good. It is good to cherish the relationship of servant and Master when one feels that one is performing activities.
- The attitude of the Master and servant is very good for householders. One must act. How can one have the attitude ‘I am He’ in that state? He who says, ‘I am He’ considers the world a dream, his body and mind also a dream, even his I-ness a dream. That is why, with this attitude, he is unable to perform worldly duties. For him the attitude of a servant of the Lord is very good.
- Hanuman had the attitude of a servant. Hanuman said to Rama, ‘Rama, sometimes I consider You to be the Whole and myself a portion of That, that You are the Master and I am Your servant. But when I attain the knowledge of the Highest Truth, I realize that You are none other than I, and I none other than You.’
- The Lord is the Master and the devotee is the servant; the Lord is the Beloved and the devotee the lover; the Lord is the Fountain of Bliss and the devotee its enjoyer. The devotee does not want to become sugar; he wants to eat and enjoy it.
- It is not difficult to drive a nail into a mud wall. But when you try to drive it into a stone wall, its point breaks and no hole appears in the stone. There are people whose spiritual consciousness is not awakened, though they may hear about God a thousand times. They are like a crocodile whose hide remains unaffected even when hit by a sword.
- This little bit of ego exists to enjoy God. It is only when there is the distinction between me and you that one can enjoy – like in the attitude of the Master and the servant.
- One must cherish a particular attitude toward God while worshipping Him. I have three attitudes: the attitude of a child, the attitude of a maidservant, and the attitude of a female lover of the Lord.
- The ego will not vanish, so one must live with the attitude of a servant, a servant of God. Prahlada had both attitudes. At times he would feel, ‘You are I and I am You’ – that is, the attitude of ‘Soham.’ When his sense of I-consciousness would return, he would cherish the idea, ‘I am Your servant and You are my Master.’ When one has been firmly established in the attitude of ‘Soham,’ one should later live with the attitude of a servant – as, ‘I am the servant of God’.
- One should take recourse to a particular attitude when calling upon God. Hanuman had the attitude of bhakti mixed with knowledge, Narada had pure love and devotion for God.
- Rama asked Hanuman, ‘Hanuman, what is your attitude when you worship me?’ Hanuman said, ‘Sometimes I see that You are the whole and I am a part of You. At other times, I see that You are the Master and I am Your servant. And Rama, when I have the knowledge of Absolute Truth, I see that You are I and I am You.’
- Having attained the vision of the Absolute, together with the phenomenal world, one should live with the attitude of being a servant of God. Hanuman saw both God with form and without form. Thereafter, he lived with the attitude of a servant of God, as His devotee.
- The attitude of master and servant is also good. All other attitudes, such as serenity, friendship etc. – follow from this attitude. If a master has affection for his servant, he may say to him, ‘Come, sit beside me. You and I are not different.’ But if the servant sits beside the master of his own accord, won’t the master be cross?
- You don’t have to give up the feeling that you are God’s servant, that you are God’s devotee. But as long as the rascal ‘I’ remains, you can’t do this. When there is a man in charge of the storeroom, the master doesn’t take responsibility for the food in it.
Heroic Attitude
- “This is the tamasic aspect of sattva,” he says, “the heroic attitude. This too is needed. One should not keep quiet at the sight of injustice and untruth. You may find that an unchaste woman is trying to take you from your spirituality. You then must assume the heroic attitude. You must say, ‘Why, you witch, you’re trying to harm my spiritual life! I’ll cut you into two pieces right now!’ ”
- The ‘heroic’ attitude (of a lover) is not good. The shaven-headed Vaishnava monks and nuns, and couples in Tantrik worship practice the ‘heroic’ attitude – in other words, the male aspirant looks upon the female as Prakriti, and tries to please her through intercourse with her. This kind of attitude often brings a downfall.
Attitude of Mother
- The attitude of looking on women as mother is very pure. The Tantra mentions worship in the company of a woman, vamachara. But that’s not good. There’s danger of slipping if you keep an object of enjoyment near you.
- Looking at a woman as mother is like the ekadashi fast without taking a drop of water. There’s not a single trace of desire in it. But then there’s also the ekadashi fast with a meal of fruit and roots. And then there’s also ekadashi when you eat luchis and vegetable curry. I keep the ekadashi without taking a drop of water. I performed the Shodashi Puja with the attitude of a woman as mother. I saw her breasts and female private parts as parts of Mother.
- Do you know that I have the ‘mother-child feeling,’ the filial attitude? The attitude of a child to a mother is very pure – there’s no danger in it. To look upon God as wife, ‘the hero-attitude,’ is very difficult – it can’t be practiced correctly – a man experiences a downfall.