God is within you as consciousness and bliss. However, we do not have as much faith in the God within as we have for the Deity in the Temple. Although there is bliss in our hearts we do not experience it because our ego stands in the way.

The Guru is the one who uproots this ego in us and enables us to enjoy bliss. To know the truth within you need detachment, knowledge and control of the mind and senses. You can never realise it just from intellectual attainments, status in society or wealth. You must hear about the nature of the Self and constantly think about it. Unless you have that experience how can there be Self-Realisation? Without knowledge of the Self you never can have freedom or peace.

Although you may have love and affection for someone it should not be with attachment, because where there is attachment there is sorrow. It is immaterial whether you are rich or learned, which place you are from or which community you belong to, so long as you have attachment, although you may have millions of lives, sorrow will haunt you in each life time! If you are rich you have comfort but if you have knowledge you have liberation.

We are always seeking ananda, but it is within us. We should have this certainty. When the self merges in Iswara the individual becomes Iswara. The Lord never forsakes such an individual and He grants him unity – that is liberation, the Self. If the jiva does not merge in Iswara after the physical body dies, he goes either to heaven or to hell. In heaven he enjoys pleasure and in hell he suffers pains but it is the jiva that experiences pleasure or pain. From the worldly standpoint all this is true - but it is not spiritual Truth. If the individual merges in Iswara before his physical death he need not go either to heaven or hell. He becomes one with God and there is no need for further births.

Your Guru knows your faults better than you but he does not point them out, instead he removes them and liberates you. Our latent tendencies (vasanas) are deep down within us. It is the Guru who pulls them out and destroys them. After physical death we go away to some unknown place but the Guru keeps track of us; he knows where we go.

Although the Guru has no use for the body still He draws us to himself and imparts knowledge. His teachings remove our anxiety and agitation like extinguishing fire by water. The pull of the Guru is very powerful and He draws us to Him and makes us love Him. Our mind does not easily understand His teachings. It is His Grace that enables us to assimilate them and also gives us the strength to persevere in Sadhana and thereby ensure that we realize the Self.

The only worthwhile training is that which enables you to know Who You Are; all other training only equips you to earn a living. God has given us many opportunities. He has granted us human form and made available the Sastras and the Guru. We should avail ourselves of these opportunities in this birth, instead of postponing sadhana to some future birth. Therefore do not waste this opportunity!

God dwells within but we go around the world in search of Him, this is like throwing away a gold ornament that is in our hand and in its place picking up pieces of glass lying on the road. Whether we are aware of it or not, it is only God’s Will that prevails. If we allow ourselves to be willing instruments in His Hands we will reach a higher plane.

It is the mind that binds us to the body and the world. By letting go of all that is contained in the mind; the sphere of our activity expands, the intellect matures, our limitations get reduced and our bonds of attachment drop away on their own.

Our expanding love is an indication of our increasing devotion. God does not care what we do or how we do it but observes our thoughts. One cannot mislead God as He is within us. By merely changing clothes or acquiring a new body one does not become wise.

The Self is simple, it is the mind that makes it complex. You should conduct yourself with the same simplicity and naturalness that characterises the Self. You cannot become aware of the Self by your own efforts. You can only become aware of it by the Grace of the Guru – (which is no different to the Self).

The love of an Avatar Purusha or a Jnani is not confined to any category or class of people. He loves everything in the Universe. We also have love but it is not like a Jnani’s love, our love is confined to members of our immediate family and friends, Out of hatred some people leave their families but such hatred binds them. If one leaves the family out of love for all beings, such love does not bind. If one leaves home, not out of hatred, but in order to serve society such service is a noble one. If you carry out work with love and faith you will feel the touch of God in that work. One may carry on one’s activities normally, at one’s place, but one should always strive for internal improvement.